04.28.2019 | Sunday Selects

MCKENZIE DOVE

McKenzie Dove was born in Dallas, TX but now resides in Birmingham, AL with her husband. Her work consists of pure oil paint applied entirely with palette knives. All of her paintings have a thick, layered texture that she developed after studying the Impressionistic and Expressionistic movements.Inspired by elements of interior design and architecture, and the raw beauty of nature, she aims to create pieces that make an individual statement while being versatile enough to compliment any style of design.

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JULIE SNEED

Julie Holthaus Sneed is a contemporary artist working in Tulsa, OK. She was born and raised on a cattle ranch in Kansas. Her work has been featured in Saatchi Art magazine, and was selected by Saatchi Art as “Best of 2017” by Saatchi Art’s chief curator, Rebecca Wilson. She lives in Tulsa with her husband Andrew, a design engineer, and daughter Claire.

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EMILY MORGAN BROWN

Birthed out of a fascination with ancient technique, Emily’s large-scale botanical tapestries are a lesson in history and a record of today.“After I take photos of the flower for the composition, I dry the flower, grind it into pigment, and make it into the egg tempera I will use to paint the linen. The subject lives forever in its painting, using a mostly forgotten process of the Old Masters as well as their technique of painting in grisailles to mimic relief sculpture.The paint is the flower, allowing the flower to live on in its portrait.

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OBJECTS

Exhibit by Aberson has been searching for and acquiring objects from around the world. A fusion of modern design and primitive form, these design objects are hand-selected to add texture and interest to spaces.

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ELEGANT MINIMALISM IN A FASHION DESIGNER’S SYDNEY HOME

As the creative director—and cofounder, with brother Marc Freeman—of Camilla and Marc, Australia’s beloved homegrown women’s-wear label, Camilla Freeman-Topper knows how to build an ensemble. She imagines a collection and brings life to a vision. She knows these things take time—rushing is not the way to stoke the fires of creativity. But she also knows about striking while the iron’s hot—as in, say, snapping up the in-need-of-work house around the corner sitting on the market after stopping by on a whim

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ROASTED VEGETABLE PASTA WITH BASIL AND RICOTTA

This recipe is the ultimate comfort food that won’t make you feel bad about it after. The earthy richness of the roasted vegetables and fresh burst of the cherry tomatoes are perfectly married by the clean, rich taste of the ricotta.

EAT

COCO LIME SLUSHY

This is my take on a pina colada. I made this drink with more lime than pineapple and used unsweetened coconut milk and lime simple syrup so that I can control the sweetness. I also did not use crushed ice I find it waters it down so instead I froze the coconut lime mixture in an ice cube tray. The cubes are solid but easy to break up in the blender. The result is a slushy coconut lime and pineapple drink that is so refreshing. You can add as much rum as you like or make it virgin, it’s equally as delicious. One other cool thing about this drink is that because the drink base is frozen in ice cube trays you can make 1 or more and leave the rest in the freezer for use later on. Remove the cubes place in freezer bag and store in the freezer. 

DRINK

HOW DOES YOUR BRAIN FOLLOW THE MUSIC?
Neurons in the brain fire in sync to music. Musical training may enhance this ability, and perhaps some other skills.

WATCH

MEDITATIONS ON MARK ROTHKO

Whether you think Mark Rothko is the portal to spiritual transcendence or emotional-ambulance-chasing bunk, let’s take the necessary time to explore his work without feeling like our souls are at stake.

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Vol. 04.21.2019 | Sunday Selects

SILVIA POLOTO

Brazilian-born Silvia Poloto is an accomplished artist working in a range of visual disciplines. She is known for her lively abstract canvases and mixed-media sculptures. Recognized for her dynamic compositions and color sensibility, Poloto exploits a vibrant visual vocabulary of boldness and subtlety. Her deftly handled juxtapositions unfold in rich, textured hues and expressive gesture. The result is a body of work characterized by equal amounts of surprise, playfulness and provocation. Her aesthetic choices engage the viewer on a visceral level.

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LISA WEISS

Lisa Weiss’ work is about mark making, patterning, spontaneous movement, momentary awareness and paring down to essentials. She is continually looking for ways to detach from the past and future with a focus on the here and now. Weiss’ paintings are process driven by movement, repetition, materials and place. Her works are for beauty and contemplation.

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This is a photo of nine 15 by 15 inch square, abstract paintings in beige, white, black, tan, neutral colors, arranged together in rows of three

MICHELLE Y WILLIAMS

Imperfections, flaws, rust, asymmetry, texture, peeling paint and the principles of wabi-sabi all enliven and excite Michelle Y Williams. She approaches her blank canvas with just a beginning and no preconceived end result. Williams seeks to find balance within the work; experimenting and exploring ways to refine her craft without self-constraint. “If I am able to engage the observer, make a connection which couldn’t be conveyed verbally and ultimately elicit a visceral reaction - my work is done.”

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MINERALS

Exhibit by Aberson has been searching for and acquiring minerals from around the world. A fusion of  design and primitive form, they  are hand-selected to add texture and interest to spaces.

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A NEW APARTMENT THAT CONJURES THE SPIRIT OF 1960S MILAN

Tasked with remaking a home in the birthplace of midcentury Italian Modernism, the firm Marcante-Testa stayed true to the space’s roots.

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FRESH FRUIT WITH CHEESE AND PEPPERY NUTS

This salad template is all about using whatever’s in season to play three key roles: sweet-juicy fruit, crunchy-salty nuts, and chewy-fatty cheese. We love a mix of clementines, ricotta salata, and pistachios for winter; Bosc or D’Anjou pears, parmesan, and hazelnuts for fall; persimmon, mild blue cheese, and pecans for spring; and figs, honey toasted walnuts, and Manchego for summer.

EAT

BOURBON, ORANGE AND GINGER

I love ginger and when it’s combined with orange and a little booze, it makes for a great cocktail! 

DRINK

MILAN: DESIGN

An inspiring look at the Italian city’s most stunning spaces
In the new-edition Louis Vuitton City Guides and app, independent journalists share their favourite ways to get the most out of the world’s most exciting cities.

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LISTEN TO EPISODE 54 OF CLEVER:  ERIC QUINT OF 3M
In this episode of Clever, Amy and Jaime talk to Eric Quint, Chief Design Officer of 3M. Eric incubated a lifelong habit of design thinking in youth at the family kitchen table. After studying engineering and industrial design he embarked on a distinguished career at Philips where he evolved from designer to design leader. Now, as the first CDO of 3M, he’s a champion of collaborative creativity and spends his energy in the exciting and painful job of pushing the front edge of progress. Oh, and he’s a jazz guy—find out how that influences his leadership style.

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Vol. 04.14.2019 | Sunday Selects

BERND HAUSSMANN

Bernd Haussmann’s artwork explores gesture, color, and texture in paintings on metal, acrylic, glass, wood, canvas and paper, mimicking the effects of time, temperature and the environment on surfaces. Born and educated in Germany, Haussmann has been a long-time resident of the North Shore of Boston and Maine, where he maintains studios. Haussmann’s work has been exhibited worldwide at venues such as Art Hong Kong, San Francisco Art Fair, Art Santa Fe, Miami Project, Toronto International Art, and others.

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ALAN ALLDREDGE

Alan Alldredge investigates processual abstraction with flowing pathways of texture, reflection and illusion. Taking cues from the natural world, he aims to reinforce the belief that beauty is part of the sacred through his work. Alldredge’s “cast monoprints” force him to surrender to the process. Through the work’s meditative visuals and complex origins, he seeks to create a transcendent sacred object for the viewer.

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LORI COZEN-GELLAR

During the art process, Cozen-Geller looks to capture the emotions of the heart and mind and places them into visual form within space. “This process is a kinetic one for me. It is a journey that begins with a feeling, evolves into a powerful emotion and is then transformed into art. By freezing emotions and placing them into concrete form, I can then sit back and view the strength and meaning that now lies within the piece that has materialized as art. ”

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JÁNOS HUSZTI

A challenging portraitist and emerging creator with a conceptual thinking. Huszti elaborates his constantly changing topics with momentum and precision. He depicts historical times, special characters and places from the past, using all kinds of materials to express his interpretations.

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INSIDE KARL LAGERFELD’S MANY LUXURIOUS HOMES

Hundreds of Karl Lagerfeld’s designs—for Chanel, Fendi, Chloé, and more—have been published in Vogue; and, in a 34-year span, the magazine published eight features on the designer’s luxurious homes. Four of these were snapped by Lagerfeld, a polymath par excellence who understood that the art of living well was a far-reaching concept that extended beyond spaces and objects to encompass learning, manners, art, and the like. “Dresses are only interesting as part of everything else that’s going on,” he told the magazine in 1989. It’s no wonder then, that Lagerfeld felt most at home in the 18th century. “It was a most polite century,” the designer told Kennedy Fraser. “And so modern. It was perfect. The rooms were so flattering to live in.”

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WHY SALAD FOR BREAKFAST IS SUDDENLY THE BEST PART OF WAKING UP

“It’s more of a mental framework for understanding what breakfast is,” Hymanson says of their open-armed embrace of produce before noon. “I don’t know that having a cucumber salad simply dressed with some yogurt is all that different from having granola with yogurt.”

EAT

ROSE SPIKED LEMONADE

Delicate rose water (a common ingredient in Middle Eastern sweets) and tart lemonade are a refreshing combination in this pretty pink drink. Ice cubes studded with flowers and berries add a stunning finishing touch to this big-batch cocktail fit for any celebration.

DRINK

ANDREA TOGNON HOUSE TOUR

Known for his ability to conceive and swiftly execute boutiques for such brands as Céline, Jil Sander and Max Mara, he eschews gloss and bustle in his private life, preferring to inhabit naturally burnished spaces borne of a Zenlike patience and a sense of restraint. And so, in 2010, he moved some two miles from the conventional apartment he’d been living and working in to Bicocca to create — very, very slowly — a sui generis home and studio in an abandoned industrial office complex.

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THE ART BABES PODCAST: COLOR THEORY PART II

In the second installment of their two-parter on color theory, the Babes discuss the color experiments of Josef Albers, explore the connection between color and emotion, and get weepy about the tragic life of van Gogh.

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Vol.04.09.2019 Marina Dunbar and Foejke Fluer

“My paintings are nature based abstractions driven by an exploration of movement, color, harmony and balance. Watercolor lends itself to the build up of layers, capturing traces of time and transformation. I am inspired by the aesthetics of floral x-ray photography, developed by a radiologist in the 1930’s, this documentation of plant forms resulted in a poetic merge of art and science. The minimal and reductive photographs conveyed an intrinsic beauty. Taking from their simplicity, I approach my paintings with a sense of restraint; laying down transparent shapes of color and letting the interaction of hues establish a feeling of depth and dynamic motion within each piece. 

Watch Marina Dunbar in her studio creating new work 

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Vol. 04.07.2019 | Sunday Selects

CATY SMITH

Inspired by people and places, Caty Smith travels to gather experiences and create conversations. She seeks to learn something on every journey. Her work attempts to visually portray this original perspective and new, insightful observations to the viewer.

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MORGAN ROBINSON

I attempt to stay clear of the mundane by taking a closer look at the things that can do nothing else but encompass my sight. Unable to ignore organic language, I follow the indigenous bends in pieces of nature. There is no part of my environment too obscure to inspire. Refracted light and shadows overlapping as well as elements that can be held in your hand or seen with a magnifying glass – they all hold purpose and contain beauty.

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JIM POLAN
Jim Polan loves stories. He tells them, he paints them. Sometimes the title precedes the paint, but sometimes it’s the other way around. In most works, the title is intended to be a compositional element. The works, more or less, are edited action paintings with narratives. Despite his three degrees, Polan still claims that whatever he learned of art, he learned in his father’s studio.

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HAYLEY NICHOLS

Hayley Nichols draws spiritual wisdom from the routines of daily life most of us move through without a thought. By calling attention to the nuance of these secular rituals, common objects become a space to honor moments of human connection, playfulness, and loss. Nichols reveals both the sensory delight and inevitable melancholy in trying to stay present.

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Cottage Hill at Home with Commercial Architect Kate Wallace

I love working on old buildings because they have a personality of their own, it’s usually just about stripping the existing space down to its bones and noticing what shines through. Then you can see what needs to be added to make the space functional for it’s new use.

READ

VEGETARIAN TACO SALAD

This Vegetarian Taco Salad Rules Our Summer
The only thing that’s missing is the fried tortilla bowl.

EAT

5 Cachaça Cocktails and What to Pair Them With

Cachaça (“ka-sha-sa”), the national spirit of Brazil, resembles rum but is made from the first pressing of fresh sugarcane juice instead of molasses. When it comes to cachaça cocktails, the caipirinha is the most famous, but it’s only one of several delicious drinks you can make with the liquor. Here, discover five cachaça cocktails (including the caipirinha) and what to pair them with.

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TRAILER | AT ETERNITY’S GATE DIRECTED BY JULIAN SCHNABEL

Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate is a journey inside the world and mind of a person who, despite skepticism, ridicule and illness, created some of the world’s most beloved and stunning works of art. This is not a forensic biography, but rather scenes based on Vincent van Gogh’s (Academy Award® Nominee Willem Dafoe) letters, common agreement about events in his life that present as facts, hearsay, and moments that are just plain invented.

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THE LONELY PALETTE: EP. 16: VINCENT VAN GOGH’S POSTMAN

You’ve just had a manic break, cut off a piece of your ear, and gifted it to a prostitute. Who ya gonna call? Your get-a-grip postman friend, of course! 

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Vol. 5.28.2019 | Artist Spotlight: Bill Claps + Objects

BILL CLAPS

Visual artist and writer Bill Claps meditates every morning. “I find that the most important thing to me is to listen and be open to what the world presents to me. It’s amazing what happens to me when my mind is clear,” says Claps. He explains that he doesn’t seek inspiration, but rather finds that the ideas seem to present themselves and if he is open he can “grab onto them quickly before they go away.”

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Vol. 04.02.2019 János Huszti

JÁNOS HUSZTI

Janos Huszti is an emerging painter based in Budapest, Hungary. Evocative of analog photography, his practice of oil on canvas blends figure study and portraiture with a distinctive cinematic gaze. Huszti’s inventive techniques of blurring wet paint across the canvas, and omission of key elements of the body inserts a mystifying distance between the subject and the viewer, abstracting in enigmatic fashion subtle narratives within the work. He is also interested in contemporary street art, so his images feel current with origins rooted in the past.  Huszti received his diploma in painting from the University of Pécs in Hungary.  He also studied conceptual art for one term at the University of Herfordshire, Hatfield, England.  He has been working in a professional studio at PP Center in Budapast for more than four years.

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Vol. 3.31.2019 | Sunday Selects

FABIO MODICA

Fabio Modica was born in Catania in 1978. Being an apprentice to the well-known Italian painters Alberto Abbate and Antonio Sciacca, he was soon inspired by the classical Renaissance, occasionally drawing on the Greek and Latin mythology. In his early years as a painter, human figures wrapped up in a Caravaggesque light were his major subject matter and oil paint his favourite medium. His versatile spirit led him to incorporate many different styles and mediums within his later works, including watercolours, acrylics and chalks.

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JERI LEDBETTER

Jeri Ledbetter is inspired and compelled both by nature’s oddities and man-made structures. She is enthralled with the contrast of, and interplay between, industry and nature.

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JULIE SNEED

Julie Sneed is a contemporary artist. She was born and raised on a cattle ranch in Kansas. Her artwork reflects a minimal and organic response to natural surroundings. She paints animals and abstract artworks.

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KIM FONDER

Kim ‘s paintings and furniture reflect her infatuation with texture and touch. From the materials Fonder selects, to the way she crafts each piece; these two attributes remain her focus. She seeks to honor Leonardo Da Vinci’s words, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

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INSIDE A CURATOR“S ART FILLED APARTMENT
Caroline Corbetta has created a gallery of her own with works by the newer Italian artists she’s spent her career encouraging.

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CHICKEN MILANESE WITH SAGE AND LEMON BUTTER SAUCE

These pounded, breaded and fried chicken cutlets, with their crisp golden crust, were Linda Meyers’s childhood favorite. “If guests were coming over, my mom would add a butter sauce,” she says. Here, she creates her own butter sauce, made with fresh sage and lemon, and serves the dish alongside a simple salad with Italian vinaigrette.

EAT

MILANESE GIN AND TONIC

A traditional Gin and Tonic with a splash of Campari.

DRINK

LEONARDO IN MILAN

On this episode of The Sofa King Podcast, we delve into the life of the genius, artist, scientist, anatomist, engineer, and the original futurist—Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci was born in 1452 and is considered one of (or the?) most important artists in all of human history. He was the ultimate renaissance man. The techniques of chiaroscuro and sfumato are attributed to him, and some versions of history claim that when he was learning how to paint, his master was so humbled by da Vinci’s abilities that he never took up a brush again.

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IN RESIDENCE: VINCENZO DE COTIIS
Inside the interior architect’s eighteenth-century Milan townhouse
Italian designer Vincenzo De Cotiis is much sought-after for his unique approach to design. Balancing a raw authenticity with a minimal approach through the reappropriation of salvaged materials, his Milan-based agency is responsible for placing luxury stories including Antonia and Excelsior Milano in unlikely spots—the latter a converted cinema near the Duomo.

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Vol. 03.24.2019 | Sunday Selects

HOLLY ADDI

Holly Addi creates with daily, recognizable elements, an unprecedented situation in which the viewer is confronted with the conditioning of his own perception and has to reconsider his biased position. Her paintings are often about contact with architecture and basic living elements. Energy (heat, light, water), space and landscape are examined in less obvious ways 

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MARINA DUNBAR

“My paintings are nature based abstractions driven by an exploration of movement, color, harmony and balance. Watercolor lends itself to the build up of layers, capturing traces of time and transformation. I am inspired by the aesthetics of floral x-ray photography, developed by a radiologist in the 1930’s, this documentation of plant forms resulted in a poetic merge of art and science.

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LEROY PROJECTS

The goal of Leroy Projects is to examine and explore modern and contemporary artistic issues and the multitude of processes that accompany them. Working in cohesion with one another, Leroy Projects allows the negation of identity and in turn develops a constantly evolving body of work in a variety of styles.

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OBJECTS

Exhibit by Aberson has been searching for and acquiring objects from around the world. A fusion of modern design and primitive form, these design objects are hand-selected to add texture and interest to spaces.

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SLASHING HIS WAY TO THE SUBLIME
Lucio Fontana made abstraction dangerous by breaking through the surface of a painting. His innovations astound at New York museums.

READ

WATERCRESS SALAD WITH STRAWBERRIES AND FETA

Watercress Salad with Strawberries and Feta. Such a great way to enjoy fresh spring fruits and vegetables. Toss with a simple champagne vinaigrette.

EAT

MEZCAL SOUR

This tangy-sweet cocktail gets its lofty, fluffy froth from egg whites and a two-step mixing technique. The first shake, without ice, helps create the foam. After adding ice, the second shake chills the drink and further aerates the whites. This recipe is from Honey’s in NYC.

DRINK

INSIDE JULIENNE MOORE’S TOWNHOUSE
The actress brings new life to her beloved family home

WATCH

IN OTHER WORDS
Everything you ever wanted to know about the art market but didn’t know who to ask
Jerry Comes Alive!

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