7 posts tagged "Shepard Fairey"
Fendi On Wheels
The 17th annual ArtWalk benefit hits New York tonight, with co-chairs Alec Baldwin, Carey Lowell, Richard Gere, and Coco Rocha hosting one of the social calendar’s most prominent benefit art auctions, with proceeds going to New York City’s Coalition for the Homeless. Shepard Fairey, Jenny Holzer, Ed Ruscha, and Richard Phillips are among the artists who have donated their work to the silent and live auctions, but it’s a piece from evening sponsor Fendi that may have the evening’s fashion-world attendees buzzing. The label’s Selleria bike has Roman leather seats, wheel and handle covers, pump, basket, and vanity case—and, for the easily misdirected, a leather-covered GPS. ArtWalk? ArtRide!
John Varvatos Rocks Melrose
Awards season may be over, but the spring charity circuit is in full swing. John Varvatos went big this year with his eighth annual Stuart House benefit, which serves the special needs of child victims of sexual abuse and their families. “With each year we’ve been doing this, we’ve managed to make it bigger and better. It used to be this small thing with up-and-coming artists, and now we’ve got so many people who are here to help and perform that we’ve managed to shut down Melrose,” Varvatos said on Sunday, motioning to the cordoned-off L.A. street that served as the afternoon’s backdrop. Along with co-hosts Patrick Dempsey and his wife, Avon’s Jillian Dempsey (not to mention a handful of Patrick’s Grey’s Anatomy cast mates), Mick Rock manned the portrait booth, K.D. Lang performed an outdoor concert for the crowd, and Shepard Fairey took to the DJ booth for an impromptu afternoon set.
At her inaugural event for the cause—what she called her “first date” with Varvatos—Zoe Saldana (left, with the designer) was eager to show support. “It’s so important to lend your voice and participate in any cause that aids children who are victims,” she said. But it was also an afternoon off for the star, who has been enjoying a bit of downtime since her jam-packed 2010. “I’m just happy to be relaxing. Last year was such a beautiful and rich year, but I’m still recovering.” And taking the year off meant she got to forgo the red carpet and engage as spectator instead. “I was happy to see my stylist Petra Flannery, who was styling all these amazing girls for the red carpet, and they were stunning. As a girl, that just made me so happy.”
Who, What, Where, And When At Art Basel
We’re at that time of year when the party winds blow south—to Art Basel Miami Beach. Two of the week’s busiest spots are starting things off tonight: At The Webster, the Brazilian footwear company Melissa is throwing a dinner in honor of Italian designer and architect Gaetano Pesce; meanwhile, at brand-spanking-new Soho Beach House, Jay Jopling’s big-time gallery, White Cube, will be tippling until 3 a.m.
This time around, erstwhile gallerist Jeffrey Deitch will be at Miami Basel as director of L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art. As usual, though, he’s hosting a big backyard party at the Raleigh (whose famous pool is pictured, above) on Wednesday, and this year he’s booked LCD Soundsystem. Other Wednesday night options include cocktails with The Last Magazine at The Webster and a party in a car park designed by Herzog & de Meuron—home of the new boutique The Alchemist, which has partnered with the art-world Web site Art Ruby for its inaugural Basel party.
But the real circus night is shaping up to be Thursday. Naturally, both Schnabel men are involved. Papa is doing a star-studded screening of his latest film, Mistral, in collaboration with Maybach and J/P HRO, Sean Penn’s Haiti charity; son Vito, meanwhile, is hosting a late-night bash at Wall with pals Stavros Niarchos and Alex Dellal. In between, there are fashion-heavy dinners for W and Interview magazines (at Cecconi’s and the Delano’s Solarium, respectively), not to mention one at The Webster hosted by La Mer. Across the bay, Bally is celebrating its pop-up shop and collaboration with Swiss artist Philippe Decrauzat. (While we’re on the subject, two other pop-ups to keep an eye on are the eyewear brand Illesteva’s, at Soho Beach House, and the OHWOW shop at the Standard Spa.) Continue Reading “Who, What, Where, And When At Art Basel” »
Art School Is In Session
From teacher’s pet to art-world enfant terrible? “I was a good student,” Terence Koh (left) insisted at Friday night’s Re:Form School kickoff. Playing host for the Bing- and Shepard Fairey-led pop-up art exhibition and education awareness initiative, Koh even decided to dress the part—well, at least within his usual aesthetic. He wore his trademark all-white getup, this time with an exaggeratedly oversize collegiate blazer. “See, I’m sort of dressed for school, aren’t I?” he said. “It’s nice to be back in school.”
That sentiment was felt quite literally. The exhibit was held at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral School in Nolita (recently shuttered for financial reasons), and it drew a crowd of those you’d imagine as the cool kids in school: Cynthia Rowley, Chiara Clemente, and Tatiana von Furstenberg among them. Not everyone was as “good” as Koh—”Oh, I was quite naughty,” Lady Alice St. Clair-Erskine mused, while checking out the artwork—but they were all there for a good cause. The exhibition raises awareness about the need for public education reform, and artists like Fairey, Swoon, Chris Johanson, and Faile all contributed to the show. Rosie Perez, a native New Yorker, felt the whole experience quite personally. “I was one of those kids, one those kids who went to school with hunger pains. I was one of those kids that was ignored,” the actress told the audience. “No one noticed that I was extremely intelligent—don’t mind my accent. The only thing that separates a privileged child and underprivileged child is opportunity.”
Blasblog: Shepard Fairey Opens At The ICA
Shepard Fairey is an artist of efficiency. Most of his works, from the Andre the Giant stickers of last decade to the Obama Hope poster, are created in about 24 houses. Take that Obama poster. “Did it one night,” says Fairey. “I looked through some references on the Internet, found some that conveyed leadership and patriotism—and hope, obviously—and then converged blue and red in the middle, as a unification of the blue and red in America.” That was one year ago last month, and we all bore witness to the speed at which the image permeated to become the visual iconography of the entire campaign. (He did wait until he had the official OK from the then candidate’s camp. “I’ve been arrested a bunch of times for street art,” he explains. “I wouldn’t want to hurt the campaign.”) Continue Reading “Blasblog: Shepard Fairey Opens At The ICA” »