…for commitment-phobes!

a new wall covering system by dutch company, ixxi, has me swooning over the possibilities of changing up my environment!  whether you’re a hands on creative or just in love with your instagram collection, you’ll find yourself moving into the realm of designer with this simple system.  tapping into your creativity, you can submit your own collection of images for a custom set or you can choose from their image bank to create enlargements, pixelated art or collages.

they will help you through the process of resolution, uploading the artwork and placing your order.  what you get is a collection of 20 x 20 cm cards printed with your selected work, ready to be connected using their included x’s and l’s.  that’s it.  without lifting a paint brush, you can perk up the boring wall of your rental residence or hang them as a lightweight room divider!

ixxi cards are synthetic matte paper which is waterproof, tear proof and uv resistant ensuring that your masterpiece has longevity and can be taken down and re-hung on whim.

pricing is reasonable and depends on the size and number of cards needed.  for instance, a collection of 50 cards at 20 x 20 cm (roughly 8 x 8 in.)  is €78,75 or $103.  photo documenting a wedding, birthday or other fun event and gifting these to a friend, loved one, etc. is such a unique and special way to commemorate time spent together!

check out ixxi at www.ixxi.nu.

images courtesy of ixxi.

underscoring my recent post on the strong influences of new african fashion,  are the latest offerings from the undisputed queen of the kaftan, camilla franks!  blazing with color in billowing cuts and layers, camilla tips her hat to the african continent embracing the tasseled touches of morocco and the jeweled tones of ghana.  the looks are flamboyant and sexy as they electrified the runway furthering the exploration of graphic textiles in fashion.

it’s like an apocalyptic rave and i’m loving the unconventional acidic combination of colors. the only question now, is how to get my hands on one!

all images are courtesy of mbfwa

while at lacma for the surrealist exhibit, i browsed through their bookstore for inspiration and came across this recently published resource, new african fashion by helen jennings. a fantastic find, it showcases the work of established and up and coming young designers of africa.  the introduction by artist iké udé provides a brief history of indigenous fashion and fabric art highlighting local heritage, tribal styles and adaptation of embroideries and techniques.

udé illuminates the influences of africa and their effect upon fashion in the western world beginning with internationally acclaimed designer, yves saint laurent, himself of african descent.  from there it permeates into the ateliers of christian dior, azzeline alaÏa, guy laroche, thierry mugler, max azria, dries van noten and diane von furstenberg to name but a few.  what’s great about the book is that it shows that the reins of african fashion are no longer left in the hands of the western world to be interpreted, sanitized and stripped of it’s context.

the amazing duro olowu who’s work can be found on net-a-porter!

it focuses on the rising players in africa who are bringing jobs to the continent through fabric design and manufacturing, garment construction, retail promotion, etc.  because the infrastructure is practically nonexistent, the creation of such beautiful collections are driven by pure passion and are a testament to the tenacity of their creators.

nigerian born ajayi’s lagos based label.

nigerian buki akib and her fela menswear collection.

the gothic tailoring of anisa mpungwe.

deola sagoe came from the business world with no formal training in fashion.

fashion, alas, would be nothing without those who walk down the runways or appear on the glossy pages and there is a section dedicated to those faces of african fashion.  most westerners are already familiar with alek wek but how many know about georgie baddiel or flaviana matata?

candice swanepoel

jaw dropping statement necklace by anita quansah!

please click on the links to see more of the designer’s works! if you fancy yourself in the know and you’d like a window into another world of fashion, i would highly recommend this book!

not even two months ago, i lost my wonderful grandmother, the last grandparent i had.  my gran had a huge impact on my life to say the least and her loss has left an enormous void that’s been difficult for me to wrap my head around.  this past weekend, i went up to her home to pick up items that had significance to me in my memories of time spent with her and my grandfather.

the above chair used to sit by the fireplace of their little bungalow completely encased in upholstery weight plastic slipcovers.  before you judge, remember, my gran was almost 93 years old and a product of her time!  because of her foresight, my grandfather’s chair came to me in pristine condition and i was proud to be the first to sit upon the tight looped woolen fabric.  i like to think he would approve of the addition of one of my pillows!

my gran’s chair didn’t fair as well (no plastic!) and will require a deep clean if not a reupholstery job to bring it into it’s glory.  she took a lot of pride in her home as the wife of a preacher and first lady of the church my grandfather was head of.  their home was an extension of their church open to those in need of comfort and counsel and upon her passing, letters came from far and wide attesting to that fact.

a working mock up…

i’m hoping that by using my fabrics, i can add to that memory so that their great-grandchildren, who were fortunate enough to know my grandparents well into adulthood, have yet more memories when i pass these items on to them.

in memory of my beautiful grandmother, photo circa 2010

]]> http://hairpik.com/2012/04/17/family-bloodlines/feed/ 3 hairpik69 GrandDadChair GramsChair2 GramsChair3 Untitled-3 http://hairpik.com/2012/04/14/american-idiot/ http://hairpik.com/2012/04/14/american-idiot/#comments Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:00:48 +0000 hairpik69 http://hairpik.com/?p=3575 ]]> …is you and me.

based on the grammy award winning green day album of the same name, i have to confess that i knew little of this rock opera until i received a phone call from the ahmanson theatre in an attempt to sell me on a theatre three pack.  i like to support my local cultural venues and the price was right so my partner and i were off to see the show last night.

tunny, johnny and will.

i was stunned by how absolutely touching this musical was and how unexpectedly close it hit home.  i realized that this was not only a reflection upon a generation, but it was my generation and told the stories of myself and so many other people i knew.  it’s a coming of age tale of three generation x slackers who decide to leave home and blaze their own trails.  will never even makes it out of town since his girl ends up knocked up early on so it’s up to johnny and tunny to hit the road without him.  the way is paved of course, with music, drugs, girls, war and self imposed poverty.

whatsername (gabrielle mcclinton) and female ensemble.

i was literally in flash back mode the entire time having been transported back to my formative 20s spent in long beach, ca.  my then boyfriend, roger, had just left the military along with his best friends, johnny lee and brandon.  it was a whirlwind of cheap apartments, cheap beer, candy flipping and home grown pot.  time not spent hanging out at each others homes or local bars, was dedicated to seeing live bands and attending pre-festival era a gathering of the tribes or lollapalooza shows.  the big difference that separated roger and i from the rest of the pack was that i had already finished college, roger was working on his degree as a filmmaker and together we were incredibly political.

i remember the burning volkswagen bug in the middle of the street that marked our first date.  hard to forget were the beginnings of the gulf war and our fear that roger would be called back since he was on active reserve.  walking up the stairs to johnny lee’s place, you could smell the crystal meth being cooked up in the apartment below and yes, i also remember the bust and johnny’s not being able to go home until the cops cleared out.  i worked with an arts collective throwing costume themed warehouse parties with an exhaustive line up of local bands and i remember watching fights break out at the sublime house fueled by testosterone, drugs and alcohol.

whatsername and johnny.

this rock opera had all of that and more with a cast that was unbelievably talented and very young.  the songs and choreography blazed with the energy of a disaffected youth with a “fuck you” attitude and perfectly exemplifies the hopelessness felt by a generation who were very much in touch with reality.  there are moments tempered with deep felt tenderness as these characters struggle to find their place in a world not of their making.

this show is only on for one more week at the ahmanson before it moves on to arizona and other west coast venues finally ending in san francisco’s orpheum theatre. check out the link for more information: www.americanidiotthemusical.com

jen, glitter scott, matty, me and roger, the vegas on venus party ca. 97

frankly, i was surprised to see this especially since missoni is such an established house with a very distinctive take on prints.

well, as we all know, there is nothing new under the sun and we do look to the past and each other for inspiration.  i was just surprised to see it taken this literally…

living in los angeles, i would be hard pressed to miss the banners advertising this exhibit especially since they are constantly waving outside my door. unsurprisingly, the los angeles county museum of art capitalizes on the fame of frida kahlo who is the most easily recognizable of female surrealists and although that fame is well deserved, she is but one of many women who in my view, dominated the surrealist movement from 1931 to 1968.

the above work of art was created by remedios varo, one of my all time favorite artists of the movement. “celestial pabulum” is one of her featured works in the exhibit and the detail in this like much of her work is exquisite. also featured is the art of dorothea tanning, sylvia fein, kay sage and leonora carrington. aside from kahlo, most of my interaction with these works has been via dim photographs in art books or lo res images on the internet. nothing takes the place of seeing them in the size and perspective they were meant to be seen.

“2 fridas,” frida kahlo

what strikes me as having appreciated surrealism for years, is the way the women seem to express themselves within movement. artists like man ray, jean cocteau, max ernst, magritte and salvador dali may have been the media darlings in a male dominated world, but the women seemed to manage surrealism with a finesse of communication that seems to be lacking in the aforementioned. the men seem to project whereas the women tend to make surrealism more personal and intimate.

looking at a kay sage piece, the stark isolation and loneliness are palpable in her work and draws me in in a way that say a dali piece doesn’t. with dali, i am a viewer but with sage, it’s participatory and those feelings permeate with a heaviness and sadness:

“i have no shadow,” kay sage

the women were not without a sense of humor as shown by dorothea tanning, wife of max ernst, in her ode to chess:

“endgame,” dorothea tanning

and the equally cheeky, “rêve”:

i love the 1940′s graphic styling of san francisco native dorr bothwell’s, “ideograph”:

“green tea,” leonora carrington

then there were artist whom i knew nothing about like sylvia fein whose work is so vibrant and mystical in it’s subject matter and symbolism.

“the lady magician,” sylvia fein

there are so many more images from the exhibit that i can’t post them all but i will end with several more from the incomparable remedios varo complete with close ups of some of the amazing details in her work. those details are like visual breadcrumbs that I’m compelled to follow appreciating the fact that some of the canvases aren’t very big but the amount of information packed in is so well painted and other worldly.

“armonia,” 1956

“the creation of the birds,” 1958

“woman leaving the psychoanalyst,” 1960

lacma’s “in wonderland” runs through may 6. www.lacma.org

all photos ©janene dunbar

i have just been turned on by the most amazing textile design house ever! vlisco hollandais is a dutch wax print company that has been around since 1846 and is inarguably the best west african print product available for well to do african consumers. their handling of color is unmistakably bold, sophisticated, and most definitely outside of the box yet they are careful to tie back to west africa’s traditional heritage in textiles.

they do four collections a year with february of 2012 being their latest release entitled “silent empire”:

these fabrics in the new and archived collections leave me at a complete loss for words to describe the visual impact and energy they exude. i love the styling with references to eastern influences which tie in amazingly well with the strong flow of the patterns. these prints express so much strength and glamor that any woman could easily command all eyes when entering a room.

the sewn pieces themselves are sick to say the least but alas, vlisco only sells yardage not garments and collaborate with designers to create for their collections. while there aren’t many stockists carrying african designers in the u.s., you can still shop on-line boutiques like my asho who carry jewel by lisa, heritage 1960 who carried j label the diffusion line by lisa folawiyo and agnes & lola.

this color palette makes me sick it’s so gorgeous!

the only question is, how many effie’s are we going to see come halloween?

no kidding.  this is normally the last film i would weigh in on considering all of the hype around it.  i saw john carter thanks to a free screening by the visual effects society and although it was rockin’ good fun, i was utterly confused and completely detached from every character.  that was equally hyped and figuring there must be something more, i rushed right home and burned through edgar rice burrough’s “a princess of mars” on which the film was based.  aha, once again a screenplay has failed to capture the essence of an otherwise, perfectly well rounded serial novella.  the fact that it was originally published as a serial should be an indication of it’s suitability for the big screen…

“the hunger games” is yet another book adaptation which i had the pleasure of viewing, again, thanks to the vfx society.  (without whom, i’d never bother to see anything until it comes to cable.)  visually mediocre and passably acted, it fit right into the mold of made for tween media that sells so well.  relatable female lead, accessibly attractive males, futuristic society with minimal parental control all of which could have been shot for fx as a made for telly series.  but it wasn’t and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is justification for a big screen release.

my point here isn’t to actually review the film but to rebut the load of hypocritical trash i’ve been hearing from critics and parents my own age who are jumping into their bully pulpits and carrying on with regards to the “shocking spectacle” of kids killing kids.  i have to ask “have we all lost our collective minds?!”  where was all of this moralizing when we were kids and queuing up to see “the lost boys?”  remember them? good looking, young vampires leaving a trail of blood all over santa cruz? or greedily reading “lord of the flies” and comparing it to our own school pecking order? “the outsiders?” “carrie?” i know, i know, some of these had “R” ratings but my question is, how many of you had a parent with you when you saw them?

i did hear one critic jump up and say that he could have understood the violence if there was some kind of philosophical creed behind it but finding none, it wasn’t going to pass muster for his kids.  one suggestion, read the book.  i found more back story within the first two chapters of the book than in the film which explains the deep seated feelings of the oppressed and underlines the rebellion that is fomenting within the 12 districts in the face of “the games”.  the comments of the critic leads me to believe that he hadn’t read the books.  but guess what?  millions of tweens did and based on some of their commentary, available all over the web, a lot of them focused in on the humanity of the heroine’s unwillingness to kill and her handling of the deaths of her fellow participants.

the whole series is an ode to standing up for the rights of the weak, of rebelling against tyranny, of thinking for oneself, of sacrifice for others and retaining your humanity in the grimmest of circumstances.  aren’t those lessons worthy of the big screen and our kids especially when we are part of the discussion?