Beach Photography of the 1970s

Lovers of color art photography and suntanned bodies of the 1970s (we know you exist) take notice.  Carlos Pérez Siquier started working for a Spanish bank after his art academy studies in the late 1920s.  He was passionate about photography from a young ago however so he became a freelance photographer for the Spanish Tourism Office.  His remarkable photographs of beaches and its tourists received immediate attention in Spain and beyond.  Carlos Pérez Siquier experienced the change in Spanish tourism and he remembers the once empty beaches of the early 1950s which only featured an occasional fisherman or black-clad Spanish widow.  By the 1960s these once peaceful beaches were suddenly transformed into overcrowded and overbuilt tourist destinations.  He not-so-fondly described the new invasion of tourists from the Netherlands, England and German as the "Barbarians of the North" with their big white red washed-up bodies.  Once in a while, someone would notice him taking pictures and would throw sand at him.  But he returned undeterred time after time.  Every Sunday he strolled the beaches and took pictures of the unassuming flock of blob.  A ritual which he did every Sunday for 10 years from 1970 until 1980.

Marcel Wanders Big Ben Lamps

These incredible custom made oversized Big Ben bell-shaped lamps are enormous. Two of these lamps dominate the red entrance hall of the Amsterdam studio of Marcel Wanders.  Each of these lamps has a white high-gloss finish which reflects the light of neo-classical internal chandelier.  Each bell-shaped lamp comes complete with a bell ribbon.  Each jaw-dropping bell-shaped lamp measures 1.5 meters by 1.75 meters (that's about the average length of a person).  Note the custom mosaic floor which Marcel Wanders designed for the entrance (first and second image).

Marcel Wanders Design

Pictures of the entrance of the office of the Marcel Wanders office / Moooi Design Studio in Amsterdam.

Moooi Design in Amsterdam

We are touring Europe in search of the best of European design and made a visit to the wonderful new showroom of the Moooi design store in Amsterdam. Moooi Amsterdam is a pretty amazing concept presented in an unusually large showroom (knowing space comes at a premium in Amsterdam). Friendly staff will even make you an espresso if you ask them nicely enough. And you are welcome to bring the kids: there are kid=sized tables and chairs with coloring paper and crayons so parents you shop in peace. The center of the Moooi Amsterdam showroom prominently displays a massive floor lamp designed by Marcel Wanders. It reminded us of the interior at the Mondrian Miami South Beach Hotel which was also designed by Marcel Wanders. The Moooi collection exhibits a variety of exquisite taste from signature Moooi items in contrast with other beautiful historic pieces from around the world. Moooi Amsterdam also offers a pretty interesting selection of modern design- and modern architecture books. You are welcome to browse all you want. Moooi Amsterdam is open from Tuesday to Saturday between 10:00 and 18:00 (it is closed on Mondays and most Sundays).

Moooi Design is sold in the US through Stardust and other fine retail stores.

Moooi Amsterdam
Westerstraat 187
1016 MA Amsterdam
Phone: 020 528 77 60

Impressions of Amsterdam

Power to the (Organic) People

Call for action! Stop the toxic madness!

While some regions in the South of France have banned pesticides altogether, the EPA seems to be going in the opposite direction.

Front page news in San Francisco Chronicle.: California State poised to OK supertoxic pesticide.

Farmers planting strawberries and other crops in California will soon have to contend with cancer-causing poison instead of bugs, worms and fungus if regulators get their wish.

Read the article from the San Francisco Chronicle

Read the arcticle from The Huffington Post

Take action and sign the petition against Methyl Iodide:
http://action.panna.org

Pouring Jug by Studio Job

Pouring Jug by Studio Job. Pouring Jug is among the most dramatic and instantly iconic works produced by the Dutch-Belgian design duo Studio Job, formed in 2000 by Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel. Their design objects – sculpture, lighting and articles of furniture – transform industry into fantasy through whimsical permutations of common objects and the marriage of forms; a light bulb, for example, becomes a destructive force in their Wrecking Ball Lamp. whilst a crane stands in for its angle poise support. In the present work, an industrial furnace used for the smelting of iron provides the analogic basis for a highly polished bronze jug out of which pours a cascade of seemingly molten cuboid forms. A process that once revolutionised the steel industry is parodied in high art by an object that, contrary to appearances, serves no obvious utilitarian function. The result, however, is a spectacular work that contrasts epically against the historic backdrop of Sudeley Castle. Over recent years Studio Job have exhibited their works widely and have featured in prominent exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the V & A in London.

Sotheby's

Sculptures by Pablo Reinoso

Huge Sudeley Bench by Pablo Reinoso at the Sotheby's selling exhibition at Sudeley Castle. As impressive in scale and ambition as its name suggests, Huge Sudeley Bench. was commissioned especially for the Sotheby's at Sudeley Castle .exhibition. It represents the first time that Reinoso has worked on this monumental scale, overseeing a team of foundry technicians who employed hydraulic machinery to manipulate lengths of steel girder into exuberant and free flowing forms. Reinoso refers to this process as 'breathing sculpture', referencing the manner in which Calder adapted his mobiles while at the same time acknowledging its architectural properties. Commenting on his early training as a sculptor, Reinoso has stated his will to go beyond prescribed boundaries, 'boundaries you need to know but you don't need to respect'. Huge Sudeley Bench .was created in three individual sections and treated with black autobody paint, a decision made to ensure that future generations could refresh its surfaces and appreciate the work in the pristine state it first left the foundry. It also sees the introduction of Reinoso's new artist's monogram which he intends to apply to all his future creations.

Sotheby's

Kate Moss

Kate Moss Praed St. Hotel London (1990), the controversial image of Kate Moss, originally featured in Vogue Magazine, in three edition sizes. Each edition accompanied by a label signed, numbered and dated by the artist Kate Garner.

Artificial Gallery

Summer of Love

Summer is near, love is in the air.  Which love these hazy 1970s styled photographs in the manner of David Hamilton.  These wonderful photographs were taken by Stephanie Williams.