7 posts tagged "Jeff Koons"
In Seoul, Chrome Hearts Is Bigger than Ever
Chrome Hearts—Richard Stark’s L.A.-based clothing and accessories label with a rocker-cum-skater sensibility—launched its second boutique in Seoul, South Korea, this past weekend. To celebrate the new space, which is nestled inside the city’s massive Shinsegae Main Department Store, the brand collaborated with Korean pop musicians Big Bang & 2NE1 on a range of items (like chokers, sweatshirts, and fingerless gloves), which, along with a host of other exclusive wares created for the opening, will be available throughout the month. The big news, however, is Chrome’s installation—a collection of signatures, like a heart-shaped locket, an oval belt, and the JJ Dean bag, which have been blown up to jumbo size and displayed in the store. (We should also mention that an assortment of giant CH crosses will remain on the store’s roof—across from a Jeff Koons sculpture—for the next year.) Also on view is 28 Images, co-owner Laurie Lynn Stark’s photography show, featuring the likes of Iggy Pop, Shepard Fairey, Brittany Murphy, and Karl Lagerfeld. As for what will garner the most attention, we’d think it’s a toss-up between Karl and Chrome’s thirteen-foot leather-and-metal dinosaur—stiff competition, indeed.
The sculpture and photography installations will be on view until June 27 at Chrome Hearts’ new store, located at Shinsegae Main, 52-50 Chungmuro 1ga, Jung-gu, Seoul.
To New York City, Love Acne Paper
What does it take to be a New Yorker? According to Acne Paper editor in chief Thomas Persson, confidence, energy, vitality, and sometimes, audacity. London-based Norwegian though he is, Persson has spent a good deal of time thinking about New Yorkism of late: The magazine’s 14th issue, dedicated to New York, launches tonight with a party at New York’s legendary Four Seasons restaurant. (On its cover: echt New Yorkers like Fran Lebowitz, Richard Serra, and Mikhail Baryshnikov.) Considering Acne opened a new store in Soho this past June and its designer, Jonny Johansson, married his longtime girlfriend in NYC last weekend, it would seem an appropriate time for Persson to feature the Big Apple. And within the pages of Acne Paper‘s latest issue, he unearths striking images and surprising stories that would intrigue even the most jaded of New Yorkers. There are archive shots by Steven Meisel, a new shoot with Karlie Kloss, a look into apartments in neighborhoods throughout New York, and a series of portraits by Brigitte Lacombe featuring New Yorkers including Martin Scorsese (pictured, above), Jeff Koons (pictured, below), and Lena Dunham. But, adds Persson, “I would love for people to actually read the magazine. There are some really good stories in there. New Yorkers are great storytellers.” Here, he speaks with Style.com about his first time in New York, the difference between New Yorkers and Scandinavians, and the city’s suggestive skyline.
Why did you choose New York for your first city-centric issue?
I had been wanting to do an issue on New York for a long time. It’s a city that’s totally different from any other place in the world. And, it seemed like a good time because Jonny just got married here last weekend. He and his girlfriend met in New York 20 years ago and they had this lovely wedding, so it seemed like a good moment to do sort of a love letter to New York City.
What do you think makes New York so mesmerizing?
Because it attracts a certain kind of person. People who choose to live in New York City are often full of ambition and drive. They have an enthusiasm for what they’re doing and for life. So it has this electric intensity that you don’t find in Europe. You come to New York if you really want to accomplish something. There’s a very high level of energy. Also, because it’s so compressed. It’s this little island, it’s a small place and the whole world has gathered here. I think that is really unique.
How do you feel that your Scandinavian perspective frames your view of the city?
Well, I’m Norwegian and I feel very Norwegian when I’m in New York. I don’t know how to describe it. People here are extremely outgoing, which I like. In the northern countries we are much more introverted. Here in New York, we are overwhelmed by this outgoingness. It’s an extremely social place and people are very open. New Yorkers are very into introducing people to each other and that is very different than where I come from. In Scandinavia we have a general mentality where people are very in tune with the same things but there’s no real class system or anything like that. So that’s very different too. Here, you have an enormous difference in how people live. And their viewpoints and mentalities are so radically different.
What were your initial impressions of the city?
The first time here was in 1990. I was very, very young and it was me and my boyfriend. We just went out to the Sound Factory and Disco 2000 and it was quite funny. One of the first people I met in New York was Michael Alig, of all people. So my impression was it was just so much fun. The nightlife was very different back then and I thought it was super exciting with all the club kids and the music. All that blew me away.
Why did you choose the Four Seasons Restaurant as the location for the party?
It’s just such a beautiful, timeless, elegant, chic restaurant. For me, Manhattan is a man. It’s not a woman. It has these erections of skyscrapers. And this place is so masculine. It’s a bit corporate. And I think that’s very New York. I also think it’s one of the most stunning places in the world.
The issue ($15) is available at Acne Soho, 33 Greene Street, NYC.
Art for Armitage
Karole Armitage has been a driving force on the international dance scene for more than 30 years—and has the friends and internationally renowned collaborators, like Jeff Koons, Carroll Dunham, and David Salle, to show for it. “Jeff Koons and I became good friends in the eighties, when he was not at all successful as an artist,” Armitage tells Style.com. “And Philip Taaffe slept on my floor in Florence.” Now, Koons, Taaffe, and five other artists have bonded together to help out the legendary choreographer and her company, Armitage Gone! Dance, which is in need of financial support. The artists have donated their postwar and contemporary artwork (from $18,000 to $250,000) for a Christie’s auction, taking place in New York this week (November 9).
“The artists are the great heroes,” Armitage says. “They give selflessly over and over again.” In the mix, there’s a self-portrait pastel piece from Francesco Clemente, an inkjet print from John Baldessari, a bronze dancer sculpture from Eric Fischl, and the inflatable pig costume (seven feet high) from Armitage’s 1989 collaboration with Jeff Koons. “Jeff has an astonishing ability to hit the nail on the head by pointing out things that seem obvious, but which no one else can express,” she says of the costume. The money raised from the auction will allow Armitage to create a new ballet.
In the meantime, Armitage is hard at work on several wide-ranging side projects, including a new tent show for Cirque du Soleil; a ballet focused on the art of Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock; and a “catwalk homage to the icons of style, from models to Indian chiefs to rock and movie stars” called Rave, complete with costumes by Donna Karan.
A Walk To Remember
Arguably, the opportunity to be in a room with Alec Baldwin is, in this day and age, enough to coax anyone out on a rainy night. Now add to that a good cause (New York’s Coalition for the Homeless) and an auction that includes works by Francesco Clemente, Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, James Rosenquist, and Silvia Venturini Fendi. Yes, you read that last one correctly. Artwalk 2010—hosted by Baldwin, Richard Gere, and Carey Lowell, and honoring Rosenquist—does primarily draw from visual artists for its annual for-charity auction, but since Fendi has signed on as this year’s sponsor, the house matriarch (and accessories designer) has ponied up, too. Hitting the block will be a made-to-order Selleria Peekaboo bag (pictured), customizable from the leather or skin down to the stitching and lining, in 37 color variations. No wonder Isabella Rossellini, Selita Ebanks, Heather Marks, and Olympia Scarry are all expected at tonight’s event. Want to join them? Tickets are still available at www.artwalkny.org, where you can also bid on auction items.
Vena Cava For Less, Fashion Ballers On Basketballers, And More…
Who doesn’t have a lower-priced, secondary collection of T-shirts at this point? It turns out Vena Cava (pictured) didn’t, and now they do: Viva Vena, a line of organic cotton and jersey tees and tanks produced in L.A. All will retail under $200. The wheel remains unreinvented, but we ain’t complaining. [WWD]
Speaking of wheels un-reinvented, Hedi Slimane shot a moody portfolio of dark-eyed Euro youths for the upcoming issue of VMan. This time: Danes. VMan.com presents a little preview, and again, no complaints. [VMan]
OK, this one is reinvented: Jeff Koons is the latest artist to take on the BMW Art Car challenge, designing his own muscle car, and judging from his psychedelic initial sketches, it should be one to see. [ArtInfo.com]
Jean Paul Gaultier is set to be honored at the 11th annual French Film Festival in Athens next, where he’ll screen some of his favorite flicks. Those include Jacques Becker’s Falbalas, Franco Zeffirelli’s Callas Forever, and an episode of Loïc Prigent’s The Day Before fashion documentary, starring, of all people, Jean Paul Gaultier. [WWD]
And fashion big shots like Love‘s Katie Grand and Ford Models’ Paul Rowland say they’d love to cast androgynous Baylor University basketball player Brittney Griner. And, yes, this may be the first time we’ve ever seen “Love‘s Katie Grand” and “Baylor University basketball player” in the same sentence. [NYMag]