BEAUTY: Art--Joram Roukes

The corporatization of violent sports in American culture, the packaging of an unknowingly self-sabotaging hyper-masculine culture, the expression of aimless aggression and violence, and the societal carnage that comes from the worship of these things: this is the stuff of the highly charged artwork of Dutch artist Joram Roukes. His images consist of disturbing hybrid mash-ups of all the previously mentioned elements.  Humans have animal heads and corporate logos and characters (look at the details in Salvation Road, the third painting down) get patched onto car accidents, cartoon characters, football players with massive brain trauma, paunchy wanna-be video game enthusiasts, and soldiers. The artist modestly describes his own work: "My oil paintings are reflections on daily life situations in western society, filtered and reassembled in a collage-like manner."

Top to bottom: Alpha Male; Hypebesed; Salvation Road; The Decay; Wreckface 2; Contestant; The Linebacker

http://www.joramroukes.com/

The Virgin Queen by McQueen

While I do follow women's fashion, regular readers know that I only usually blog about men's fashion. But I will occasionally make an exception and the newest McQueen F/W 2013 collection is certainly one of those occasions.

Sarah Burton reached back to the final Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, as inspiration for this amazing collection.

Look at the wide net veils embellished with teardrop pearls, and those fascinating glove-less fingers! Cinched waists and hip rolls, pearl embroidery, hoop skirts, caging and corsetry... all of her choices come from an historical context. The looks come in pairs: watch how they come together after the final walk...

This bodice...

...was inspired by cathedral ceilings like these:

The detailing in this collection is simply staggering. Head over to the McQueen website to see still photos of the runway looks and zoom in to see the mind-boggling stitching and soutache and embroidery...
http://www.alexandermcqueen.com/alexandermcqueen/experience/2013-womens-aw-fashion-show/2013-womens-aw-fashion-show,en_US,pg.html

International Women's Day 2013

Today, March 8th, 2013, is International Women's Day.

Since the world is still pretty much run by (straight white) men, and pretty much every day is Men's Day, we are pleased to celebrate International Women's Day and to celebrate mothers, grandmothers, sisters, daughters, nieces, aunts, wives, and friends. After all, we all, each and every one of us, came from a woman. (Thanks, Mom!)

To the women in my life, I love you all. I wish the world was a better place for you and treated you better. I truly believe women are still seen as second class citizens. Unfortunately, misogyny is alive and well... feminine things always take a backseat to what is masculine. Manliness is seen as a virtue while femininity is seen as a weakness, something to be avoided or discouraged. And unfortunately, misogyny is the basis of homophobia (an unnatural fear of what is perceived as feminine).

Figures from Amnesty International, The US Census Bureau, and Women's Learning Partnership.

Of course there are countries around the world where women are still literally treated as second class citizens, denied the ability to drive, vote, live alone, own property, and work at a chosen career--or they are treated like property and beaten, raped, mutilated, or aborted even before they are born because they are female.

As a man, there are many things I don't have to worry about like whether or not the clothes I am wearing are too revealing so as to attract the attention of a man who might attack me, being molested or raped on the way to my car at night--or even in broad daylight, being sexually assaulted at work, and having my personal feelings and ideas discounted because I am "hysterical" or because it must be "that time of the month." I have heard many stories from my female friends about what clothing they could wear if they felt safe, and about how their thoughts or suggestions were passed over at work in favor of the exact same thought or suggestion from a man. This still happens. Not all the time and not to every woman, but enough of the time and to too many women.

http://www.internationalwomensday.com/
http://www.equalitynow.org/english/index.html
http://www.weareequals.org/

BEAUTY: Mixed Media--Klari Reis

Klari Reis' work looks like standard fare at an average science lab, but she uses a new media plastic called epoxy polymer to create these "cultures" in actual petri dishes for her current project, "Hypochondria." The epoxy polymers interact and collide with one another creating unpredictable reactions and designs that resemble microscopic cellular structures or bacteria. In fact, Reis uses organic cellular imagery from biotech companies in the San Francisco Bay Area as a model for her work. She is creating a petri dish every day of this year. See all of them at her blog, The Daily Dish, linked below.

http://www.klariart.com/
http://klarireis.blogspot.com/

BEAUTY: Interiors--Clarisse Reade

Brazilian interior designer Clarisse Reade has a signature look in bookshelves deliberately and carefully arranged with art and lovely objets. She is not shy about this and puts bookshelves everywhere including bedrooms and dining rooms. Minimalism can be architecturally interesting but speaking as an interior designer, I love her more-is-more approach. Having interesting things to look and that stimulate your mind is so much more... well, interesting!

http://clarissereade.com.br/

Pantone Food

Really fun images by illustrator and visual designer David Schwen.

http://www.pantonepairings.com/
http://www.dschwen.com/

BEAUTY: Painting--Francis Livingston

What if New Yorkers in the 1940s and 1950s had to share their city with whales, sea turtles, and elephants as if they were birds or stray dogs and cats? Francis Livingston imagines what that could have looked like in his lovely romanticized surreal paintings...

Top to bottom: Light Stream; Mating Season; Penn Station; Portal; Rush Hour

http://francis-livingston.deviantart.com/

"Ingenue" by Atoms For Peace

Atoms for Peace is a side project for Radiohead's Thom Yorke.

Just cool.

http://atomsforpeace.info/