4 posts tagged "Art Production Fund"
Kowabunga!
If today’s sunny New York weather is any indication, summer’s just around the corner. And Tommy Hilfiger is well-prepared for the warm days ahead. On May 15, the designer will launch a his and hers Surf Shack capsule, which consists of punchy beach-ready wares in shades of fuchsia, cherry, citrus, lime, and aqua. Highlights include easy denim shirts, brightly hued wedges, a cheeky little sky-blue romper, a series of swimsuits, and a clutch shaped like a surfboard. Speaking of surfboards, Hilfiger teamed with the Art Production Fund and commissioned artists Lola Schnabel, Richard Phillips (above), Raymond Pettibon, Scott Campbell, and Gary Simmons to design limited-edition boards, all of which will hit stores alongside the capsule. Perhaps considering those who are more inclined to soak up rays than ride waves, Hilfiger also collaborated with CocoCozy on some graphic pillows. Where else would style-conscious beachgoers rest their bronzed heads?
IMAGINE PEACE In London
Yoko Ono’s bringing her Imagine Peace anti-violence initiative to London just in time for the Olympic Games. For the 12-week-long London 2012 Festival (starting June 21), Ono translated her Imagine Peace message into 24 different languages, and it will appear on the London Live Sites screens, along with screens at Victoria Park, Hyde Park, and Art on the Underground/Canary Wharf, paired with John Lennon’s 1971 iconic “Imagine.” As part of the project, Art Production Fund (the presenter of Ono’s art installation project) will be selling Imagine Peace items under the artist-designed Works on Whatever (WOW) line at Selfridges. Here, Style.com has a first look at the limited-edition Imagine Peace towel ($95; there’s also a water bottle, $28) going on sale at the department store June 21 and online at Selfridges.com.
Artists And Labels: The Continuing Story
If Marc builds it, they will come. The contemporary artist/fashion label complex, that is, which Jacobs sent to new heights with his accessory collaborations with Louis Vuitton. Yes, artists and designers had collaborated before—including Dalí and Schiaparelli way back when—but the runaway success of Louis Vuitton’s Murakami bags (and the follow-up Richard Prince “joke” bags) has given contemporary artists a new form to play with and, just as importantly, a new revenue stream. The latest is the conceptual art star Jenny Holzer, who’s teaming up with Keds to create kicks this summer. (Artist’s canvas, taken literally.) The high-top and low-top styles are emblazoned with PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT, a phrase from Holzer’s text series Survival. They’ll be available online and at select Bloomingdale’s locations in July. The footwear brand is giving back to the art world, too: Keds is sponsoring the Whitney’s summer season.
$70 to $75, available at select Bloomingdale’s locations and www.keds.com beginning July 8.
PLUS: Click below for a few of our favorite recent art/fashion collabs. Continue Reading “Artists And Labels: The Continuing Story” »
Blasblog: Downtown Divas, Delusional and Otherwise
“This is low-budget art life support,” teased Yvonne Force Villareal on Friday night, standing in a small gallery space on the lower half of Wooster Street—the new venue for her and partner Doreen Remen’s Art Production Fund called APF Lab. “Look, there’s not even a handle on the front door,” she pointed out. True, there might have been some jerry-rigging when it came to the entrance, but this part of town should be used to creativity on a shoestring—or at least have a faint memory of when artists were struggling in Soho. Force Villareal was working Wooster Street for the debut APF’s newest collaboration called Delusional Downtown Divas. The five-part video piece features three self-described art brats—young people with high-powered art-world parents—who grow up and realize that they’re going to have to find a way to stay relevant in this creative community. And so we’re treated to footage (a still is pictured here) of Isabel Halley, Joana d’Avillez, and Lena Dunham posing really hard at gallery parties, dancing really hard at Beatrice Inn, and trying really hard to get in with hot young artists like Nate Lowman. (In the episode I saw, two of the girls break into a gallery, get Nate’s number, and attempt to seduce him under the guise that they’re seeking art for an upcoming fair.) “The story is basically about three young girls who, because they grew up in the world they did, never had to try hard to impress people,” explained Force Villareal. “They grew up in the art world, which will take anyone. Now they have to figure it out for themselves.” Of course, Force Villareal is an expert at doing just that. Her new budget-sensitive gallery APF Lab is a donated space that she is happily filling with events for the next five years. (This particular installation, which is set up to look like one brat’s Tribeca lair, is up through this week.) “If you have any good ideas, we’ll take them here,” Force Villareal was overheard telling a fellow art world-er. “I will literally give you the keys.” Presumably by then there will be a door knob.