ROSE CUMMINGS LIVING ROOM

GRETA GARBO LIVING ROOM

JAMES GALANOS BEDROOM

Jeremiah Goodman's career has spanned decades, beginning in the 1950's at Lord & Taylor, where he created print advertisements, illustrating everything from fashion to furniture. A great bon vivant and charmer, Jeremiah has always had "fashionable" friends, circling the globe, including John Gielgud, Greta Garbo, Billy Baldwin, David Hicks, Mary Martin, and Elsa Peretti..... and early on, he began creating "interior portraits" of their favorite rooms. These intimate illustrations, begun in the 1940's, continue to be drawn today!!!! They have appeared in every major fashion and shelter magazine, and in 2007 Powerhouse  published a significant book of his "rooms," A Romantic Vision. This book is a "must have" in any design library!!!!

London art dealer Dean Rhys Morgan has "borrowed" several of his illustrations and created a collection of prints, making his work accessible to all of us!!! Design guru's John Dransfield and Geoffrey Ross, great friend of Jeremiah's, are the representatives for this fantastic collection. Printed in London, this limited edition evokes all of the same passion, vibrancy, and charm as the original ...... an "accessorator's" dream ...... imagine a library wall covered with these beautiful images......Delightful!!!!!

This past week, at the NY Armory Show, I continued my love affair with the work of African artist, Pascale Marthine Tayou, exhibited by the Galleria Continua, located in San Gimignano, Italy.

Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon in 1967, Tayou began his career in the 90's, when after abandoning his studies in law, he changed his birth name, Jean Apollinaire Tayou, taking a double name in the female form: Pascal(e) Marthin(e) and went abroad to begin his art career. His first exhibition was in 1994 in Cameroon, it was followed quickly by international recognition. Tayou refers to himself as "a lawyer not an artist" saying "I never intended to be an artist, but I'm curious." Currently living with his wife and children in Ghent, with trips to Africa, he says of leaving Africa "I never left my country, I am a traveler now."  The work, like his name, is fluid, easily transitioning between sculpture, drawing, video, and installation ..... purposely mobile .... reflecting his double-life, traversing two diverse worlds. In addition to the theme of movement between cultures, Tayou's work also explores the issues of the "global village."  

I saw Tayou's work for the first two years ago at the Armory and thought it was fantastic. These new pieces are equally stunning and for this "accessorator," his work continues to be among the most innovative and exciting at the show!!!!!!!!!

As a "pillow queen supreme," I change and rearrange my pillows constantly!!! I think that pillows are fabulous accents and changing them reinvigorates a room and me!!!! I love to create a new look and feeling ..... without an extravagant redo!!!!! Lately I have been thinking about black & white accents. I'm not "feeling" geometric patterns right now, and am looking for an alternative, so imagine my delight at finding these spectacular graphic images from Archival Decor!!!! Interior designer Jill McCrae and photographer Michelle Pattee are the creative co-owners of this divine San Francisco based company. The images they have selected, photographed by Michelle, are hand screened with water based sepia ink onto organic hemp. The pillows are backed with cotton velvet, filled with down stuffers and an antiqued bronze zipper seals the deal!!! DIVINE!!!!!!!!!!!

My passion for English ceramics began with artist Barnaby Barford, a 2002 graduate of the Royal Academy. He is an elegant storyteller, creating unique narratives, using mass-market and antique found porcelain figurines to weave his tales. "Cutting up, exchanging elements or adding to them and repainting then, to create sculptures which are often sinister and sardonic but invariably humorous."

His current exhibition at the David Gill Gallery in London reflects his most recent venture .... animated film ....... creating a world for his characters. "I've always seen my pieces as scenes from a film- I want viewers to make up what happened before and what might happen afterwards- so it felt like a natural progression to work on a film," according to Barford. The work at the gallery is inspired (never replicating scenes) by the animation, he sees it as a "final conclusion to the entire project." Each piece stands on it's own, part of a story, but seen as a complete work of art.

Barford's animated film, DAMAGED GOODS, commissioned in London by the Animate Projects and funded by the Arts Council England and Channel 4, tells the tragic love story of two figurines, who's whole world is lived within the shelves of a bric-a-brac shop. It explores the ideas of forbidden love, material wealth, class division .... all within the "society" of the shelves. The top shelves house the objects that are lavish crystal, silver and gold objects, while the floor is covered with the bits and pieces of broken, discarded ceramics. 

 The film is spectacular ..... charming, innovative, touching, divine ... take a look!!!.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Danish brand Stelton, British fashion designer Paul Smith was given the task of reworking danish designer Arne Jacobsen's iconic Cylinda Collection. Smith has selected a range of 12 colors, from bright to pastel, to color the handles of the stainless steel coffee pots. In addition, he has created a collection, called Dot, of stainless steel bowls with 54 different colored inside surfaces and lids.

"I was very flattered when asked to work on this project, but equally nervous as I have such respect for this iconic collection by Arne Jacobsen.  To tell the truth I was unsure whether I should take the task of reworking such a beautiful, timeless set of designs. However, once I realized that I would just give a new lease of life through color, I felt more comfortable." Paul Smith

For me this is a match made in heaven .......I adore Arne Jacobsen's "Danish Modern" style .... I live with "The Egg", a chair to die for!!!  And, Paul Smith is the ultimate "Color King" ...... his iconic stripe pattern is this "accessorstors" dream ....... shopping bag, wallet, briefcase, and especially the trim around the seams of the most fabulous black leather gloves you have ever seen ..... which I own!!!!! So, I think that the only decision I will have to make in April, when this collection arrives in the stores is ....... which color handle do I want, because....... it is way tooooo piggy to get all 12!!!!!

The "Vanity" magazine table is designed by Dutch product designer Roderick Vos for Linteloo.  Each table is based on a system of nine compartments, each holding one magazine, the sizes are based upon the most common magazine dimensions. Included with the table is a wooden panel for one space, that can be used to place a coffee cup, a vase of flowers, or nothing!!! Beneath the table top three boxes are created, each can hold additional volumes of the magazines. Vos created two designs for this sleek table, one square and one rectangular, both having a matte black coated steel frame ...... taking a "problem" and creating a stunning "solution" is his design formula!!!!

Vos's message to his clients is simple ...... "I don't want to be constantly entertained, or entertain others. I want to make you happy with beautiful useful pieces. Objects that exude aesthetic pleasure. Strong shapes that feel beautiful, good and true. Such sensations are nothing to be ashamed of."

The "Vanity" table is perfect for "the accessorator," ....... I am a magazine junkie, who lives in a constant state of magazine mess ...... piles covering every surface, including the floor!!!!

N.Y. Magazine art critic, Jerry Saltz's review of the 2010 Whitney Biennial describes Portland-based artist Jessica Jackson Hutchins' piece "Couch for a Long Time," (top image), as "one of the best pieces here."  The sculpture, a "lumpy" sofa collaged with newspaper clippings about President Obama, cradles a series of "gnarly" ceramic objects. According to Saltz, "All the images together with the cracked pottery evoke intense pressure- the pressure that he, we, art and America are under."  In addition, Hutchins received kudo's from Holland Cotter in Friday's NY Times Whitney review, as well as being included in the Sunday NY Times T- Style section piece about "Whitney women" and ....... the Biennial has only been opened for five days!!!!! 

And if being included in the Biennial wasn't enough for last week .......... Jessica opened two simultaneous solo shows in New York City ...... at the Derek Eller Gallery in Chelsea and at Small A Projects on the Lower East Side!!!!! Her new work is still extremely intimate, very narrative, and a sublime blend of her favored materials ...... glazed ceramics, textiles, papier-måché, collage, and furniture!!!! The pieces are personal, adapting accessible and familiar ideas, sometimes including bits & pieces from her family. Both exhibitions feature a variety of works on paper, as well as a stunning selection sculpture. 

Furniture, either found or from her own home, is a major element in Jessica's work. In a number of pieces the furniture becomes the base for a combination of collaged elements that create "figures" holding ceramic vessels. In several pieces ...... including "Recliner,"  a recliner covered in papier-måché, collaged in color photographs and magazine images or "Leaning Figure," another similar work that has been collaged in a combination of paper, fabric, and paint ...... the furniture becomes an invisible armature. The piece "Kitchen Table Allegory" is the actual dinning room table from Jessica's home. It has been gouged and cut, is covered with colored ink residue, and has been pulled apart, as if waiting for a leaf ...... instead a ceramic vessel sits in it's center. Prior to being a "complete" art work, the table was gouged to create the "plate" for a series of collaged mono-prints that appear in both shows. The piece "Couple," a worn loveseat with two papier-måché, spray painted mounds and a ceramic vessel nestled between them, is another narrative work that intrigues the viewer and allows numerous interpretations. In addition, there are several anthropomorphic ceramic pieces that are monuments to human fragility, "Infinite Break" a reference to Tiger Woods, and "Disgraced Skater," a slumping athlete. 

Monopoly, my favorite board game "accessoration" is having it's 75th birthday!!!! In honor of the occasion Hasbro has created a, soon to be available, birthday edition named Revolution. Forgoing it's traditional square board for a new round one, using credit cards instead of paper money for digital banking, and changing the names of the familiar color coded properties.... according to Hasbro the game is still the same!!!! 

For those of us who grew up in the 60's, the most important "accessoration" on our polo shirt's was the embroidered Lacoste "alligator" ..... it is an iconic logo and the forerunner of penguins, bears, horses, etc, and the giant Ralph Lauren Polo Player!!!!! Lacoste is trying to breath new life into the alligator with the help of world renowned Brazilian designers Fernando & Humberto Campana. The brother's have designed 4 limited-edition shirts that were hand-made at the Coopa-Roca Women's Co-operative in Rochina, Brazil, updating a traditional "accessoration!!!"   

Available at Moss and Moss Online, the 4 shirt styles are ...... women's all-over lace-applique (edition of 12), men's all over lace-applique (edition of 12), men's "alligator pools" (edition of 125), and women's "lianes" or "vines" (edition of 125). The pattern of "alligator pools" on the mens shirts is influenced by the "anavihanas", small fluvial islands in the Amazon; and the women's shirt is influenced by the "vines" that grow in the trees in the tropical rain forests.

I think this "accessoration" project is extremely innovative and it also serves an important purpose ...... it engages the women of the co-op in a project that enables them to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of their families, and it continues the development of the traditional Brazilian hand-craft techniques. Giving back is the most important "accessoration" of all!!!!!

This work is deigned by innovative San Francisco industrial designers, Mike & Maaike. The reclaimed, hardwood shelf is combined with books selected by curator Athmeya Jayaram.  Titled Juxtaposed: Power, the shelf has slots specifically cut to house seven seminal books about power and society. The "sculpture" includes 2,451 pages, 2390 years, 2251 wars, 432 revolutions, 90 empires, 7 books, 1 shelf. The piece is offered in a limited edition of 50 and is the second in a series of curated bookshelves, the first work was a collection about religion. Both "shelves" were produced by design company Blankblank.

My favorite "accessorations" are books and art, and this is a spectacular design that incorporates both, as well as the idea of perfect minimalism (not something I am very familiar with!!) You have the perfect tomes on the perfect shelf, and are never overbooked, as I am!!!!!! Tables, chairs, the floor and sometimes even my bed are covered......no place to eat, sit, stand, or sleep!!!!!

Milanese artist and illustrator Piero Fornasetti was the creator of over 11,000 witty and imaginative patterned decorative objects. He died in 1988 and his son Barnaba, "is perpetuating the workshop tradition, continuing the production and reviving the most popular pieces, creating new ones," keeping his Father's whimsical, humorous, and elegant designs alive. Recently, in the basement, he found a plastic form of a vase that had never been produced and he used it as the jumping off point for this imaginative and off-beat collection of objects; vases, teapots, a tale, etc.. According to the Fornasetti company, these stunning pieces, produced by licensee Bitossi Ceramiche, will "travel" from display at the Spazio Fornasetti to be shown at Barneys New York in mid-May.

Alexandra Penney is one of the most interesting, talented, tasty & chic women I know. She is supremely smart, an artist with a unique voice, able to juggle a million things in the air.... writer, photographer, and an "accessorator" supreme!!! She just came off a lousy year, an implosion supreme, something unimaginable and guess what ..... she once again turned really crappy lemons into really yummy lemonade!!!! 

Last week her book, The Bag Lady Papers, was published by Hyperion Books. The book, in true AP fashion, is a witty, charming, humorous and moving take on how she handled having her "greatest fear" become a reality. An enormously successful woman; editor-in-chief of Self magazine, best selling author, and dedicated artist ....... "she always harbored a secret fear that she would become a bag lady if she ever lost her life's savings." Her worst nightmare became a reality last December when she found out that "everything" had vanished overnight in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. This book is her story of renewal and reinvention ...... discovering what is meaningful and what is really unimportant ....something we should really all be thinking about!!!!

Alexandra is a powerful example for all us girls...... showing strength, courage, passion, and guts ........ she put herself out for the world to see and anyone who takes a shot at her or the book should be "bitch slapped"....... she works hard, with great passion and drive, she can laugh at herself, and let herself cry too ......... but the most important thing is that she picked herself up, dusted herself off and started over again!!!!!!!!! 

These over-the-top, "fastastical creatures" .......... designed by Marcel Wanders for Bisazza (see blog 2/12/09), are a limited edition collection of tables or pouf-tavolino (ottoman). I dream about living in an all white linen beach house, "accessorated" with one of these stunning glass mosaic objects ...... a wonderful collection of books ....... and fabulous contemporary art!!!!!!!!!   That's my idea of heaven!!!!!

Catalonian Marti Guixé, living between Barcelona and Berlin, calls himself an "ex-designer." He is extremely outspoken in his "disregard" of design and works hard at pushing boundaries between design, art, and performance. Firmly ensconced in the contemporary movement, often using cheap or disposable materials, looking forward rather than backward, and forfeiting traditionalism ...... results in his more playful, less commercial, approach to design. An important example of his work is this installation, "Respect Cheap Furniture,"  an edition of 50 hand painted plastic Monoblock chair that are painted with the name of the edition. This well-known, inexpensive chair, universally accepted for it's good design, is an important addition to his series "stop discrimination of cheap furniture" begun in 2004.

I think that these chairs, part of an exhibition last fall in Berlin, are a wonderful reference to my view of our current design climate ..... nothing has value and everything is valuable!!!! Seems like an "accessorator's" dream ...... or is it a nightmare???????

One of the most extraordinary, interesting, and memorable "accessorations" I have seen lately is CASTAWAYS, a collection of kits designed to help kids create art. Each kit is a collection of various recycled cardboard pieces, taken from safe and clean manufacturing castoffs, packaged together for children to create individual "artworks" and to learn about ecology!!!!

"Trash for Teaching is a not-for-profit dedicated to environmental awareness and education through creative reuse. By making materials readily available to schools and teachers, we bridge the gap between the excess of waste created in manufacturing processes and the lack of materials in public education. Use of our materials also encourages critical thinking and stimulates the imagination by challenging children and teachers to find creative applications for non-traditional objects."