3 posts tagged "Vanessa Beecroft"
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” »
Eddie Borgo Sets Off A Fringe Frenzy
Two words: metal fringe. Guests at last night’s private sale of Eddie Borgo baubles were going gaga over the designer’s new group of bracelets and necklaces fringed in metal—a reaction the designer was definitely anticipating. “I’ve been dying to make these pieces,” explained Borgo, showing off a super-sized silver bangle punctuated with some seriously disco fringe. “The thing is, they’re expensive, so I had to wait.” Borgo’s faith in the fringe is reflected in the fact that the silver bangle features in the first of a series of posters he’s created, collaborating with boyfriend Keegan Singh and Julia Restoin-Roitfeld. A copy of the limited-edition print (pictured here), which features Vanessa Traina modeling Borgo’s new bijoux, was hanging in the window of Lauren Santo Domingo’s Gramercy Park abode, where last night’s sale was held, and a few lucky guests got to take home a print as a gift. “It was all Julia’s idea,” he said. “We’re only doing a few at a time. My dad’s a printer, actually, and he ran these 50 for me as a favor. We’ll do another image next season.” By that point, we’re guessing, the private-sale fringe frenzy will be a pretty public phenomenon.
Vanessa And Kanye Get Metaphysical
Instead of hitting up a slew of Armory parties Friday night, I undertook the Odyssean trek (for a Manhattanite, at least) to Deitch Studios’ Long Island City outpost. The occasion was the inaugural New York performance of Vanessa Beecroft’s VB64, for which none other than friend/collaborator Kanye West made an appearance. Beecroft, who’s been using humans in oft-nude, stamina-requiring works for over 15 years, first put on the performance in a Sicilian church in 2008. For
VB64—a video projection of which (produced by the aforementioned rapper) will be screened until mid-April—Beecroft used 20 live female models. The majority of the women, she told Style.com, were intentionally African-American and “not too big and not too small.” Painted from head-to-toe in white body makeup, they assumed a variety of sculptural positions (I spotted the famed “Venus Pudica,” among other sculptural icons) alongside an installation of 19 sculptures based on casts of live women. “The references for the piece belong to my background and culture,” Beecroft explained. “When you are raised in Italy you are permanently surrounded by classic art—Greek, Roman, Renaissance, Baroque painting and sculptures.” The juxtaposition of the live models and the mannequins, which rested on coffinlike bases, hinted at the notion of what’s real and what’s not, and, further to the point, questioned the difference between life and death.