Illustration by Mats Gustafson

MARILYN MANSON

(Top to bottom): Inner-Self Portrait, I, Perou

Didn't know Manson is also a painter? The above watercolors are just a few of a collection of portraits that can be viewed on his site (Turn up your sound. Brace yourself.)

I discovered his paintings a few years ago, and haven't been able to forget the saturated colors, exaggerated features...

Spooky and twisted. But of course.

STEPHEN WILTSHIRE / 

A BEAUTIFUL MEMORY @ PRATT

Unfortunately, when I tried to check out the show yesterday at Pratt, they had already closed down for the day. I saw a piece on the Early Show about Stephen, and I HAD TO MEET HIM.

Born in the UK, Stephen was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3, and was mute as a child. At the age of 9, he spoke his first word – paper – when teachers encouraged him to talk by taking away his art materials. Very early on, he showed a talent for drawing (cityscapes in particular). It soon was discovered that he had a photographic memory, for he could draw an entire city just after viewing it briefly. Every building and its relation to the surrounding ones, the number of windows in each building, architectural flourishes, plazas, streets, trees...e-v-e-r-y detail.

INCREDIBLE....

Now, at the age of 35, Stephen has traveled the world performing the feat of recording these panoramas: Tokyo, Rome, Hong Kong, London, Jerusalem, Dubai, Madrid, Frankfurt and now his last, New York. With pen and ink, he's drawing on an 18-foot-long surface, and can be viewed while he works until Friday, 10–5. 

By the way...the research he did to complete this task? A 45-minute helicopter ride over the city. 

I'm heading back there either tomorrow or Friday...this is NOT to be missed.

Check out more of his work here.

If you can't make it to the show, there's live streaming on CBS's site.

Lastly, view an interesting piece on him here.

GUTS, we miss you...

Grace Jones' album packaging (various)

Frankly, her music scares the bejeezus out of me, but LOOK AT HER IMAGING. Raw. Uncut. Uncensored.

My faves are: 

My Jamaican Guy (center column, bottom row) and

Living My Life (top, center)

Nope! Doesn't get better!

Take a look at her 2008 video, Corporate Cannibal:

DEREK LERNER

Grid, 2000

I love those rough scratches in the background, and how it relates to the forceful red cross. It seems they need each other. 

And that red is incredibly enticing.

See more of the New-York-based artist's work here.

SIDEWALK FINDINGS: 

GOWANUS EDITION

So, the sun decided to show itself today, and I was SO grateful. I celebrated by starting off with a "nature-walk" through Prospect Park, and ended up walking through Gowanus towards Carroll Gardens, after grabbing a FANTASTIC lunch at my favorite restaurant, Al Di La.

In an attempt to walk off the sauteed mushrooms and polenta, I strolled along Smith, and discovered a tiny store named Mongo. In the window were these SWEET little salt and pepper shakers that I immediately fell in love with. All shades of pastel blue and green, possibly 50s era and made of bakelite or glass...my favorites were the ones with tiny fish designs.

If I'm still day-dreaming about these beauties tomorrow, I'm heading back for a pair!

NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHER'S STAINED GLASS

Lava Flow (top) and Space Walk Mobile (bottom) by Gary Ruvo.

Check out these beautiful stained glass mobiles! Cool and modern...a bit Alexander Calder-esque, no?

I love the simplicity, the shapes, the translucent nature of them. Imagine the shadows they would cast if placed near a sunny window? Love them!

Check out more of his work here.

GIRLY GIRL

Photo by THE Ellen von Unwerth

THE MATCHBOX PROJECT

Born in 2007 in Australia, The Matchbook Project has taken flight over the past couple of years, gaining momentum and buzz along the way. 

Its initiator is a 24-year-old part-time journalist. Her mother collected matchboxes from her travels for 40 years. Seeing the collection inspired her to begin this project. She began decorating matchboxes and inserted unexpected miniature surprises. She anonymously sent them to 20 friends, and then decided to keep the project going my leaving them in public places for other people to discover. 

Since then, her matchboxes have popped up everywhere from Melbourne to Dubai to Los Angeles. You can track the matchbox findings here.

I LOVE THIS IDEA. What an interesting and playful way to tap into a stranger's sense of curiosity...

Here are some of my favorites:

1 Metallic stars

2 Fake mustache

3 Bowling pins

4 Messages in a bottle

Check out more on her blog.

SUGAR, SPICE AND 

EVERYTHING NICE

How do you make the world's cutest doll even cuter? Put a Band-aid on its heart.

Dr. Romanelli teamed up with Sanrio to produce a line of Hello Kitties dubbed Anatomy.

Yes, those twisty cream-colored things are intestines.

I was sure there'd be rainbow-sprinkle-topped cupcakes in there too! And what's that brown thing? A whole potato???

I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU...

I came across this image today while researching ancient Etruscan art for a project I'm working on.

Drooling, aren't you?

It's a gold fibula that dates all the way back to the 7th century BC. Five lions, their style inspired by the Orient, adorn the center of it. They're framed by two bands of interlocking patterns.

Pretty ostentatious. And pretty fabulous.

This particular one is housed in the Vatican Museums in Rome, but the next time you're at the MET, check out their collection of ancient metalwork and jewelry. It's super-extensive...and SO inspiring.

HEFFER PITCHER

By Chia'sso

Yes, that's its real name.

This makes me want to go vegan. Or have a cookie. 

You can buy one here (if you're so inclined).

NANCY HARRIS ROUEMY / NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE

So, the revitalization of "Project-Reorganize-My-Apartment/Office/Entertainment Space/Youth Hostel-So-I-Can-Regain-Control-Of-My-Sanity" officially took flight tonight, with the installation of Ikea shelves.

Currently, I'm hiding out in the bedroom, trying to shield myself from the tornado that has become my living room. I have a pretty large collection of art books and magazines that I can never seem to trim down, and they're all strewn about my apartment at the moment, as I decide what goes where. I always feel like I want to hold on to these reference pieces for future inspiration. Tonight, I unearthed an old issue of the NY Times Magazine, from December 2008. 

This luscious cover design was illustrated by Nancy Harris Rouemy, and the actual typeface design was created by Patrick Griffin/Canada Type. Once I pulled it from the pile, I was reminded why I decided to hold on to it in the first place. 

The colors...the letterforms...it's whimsical, yet very sensual. I mean, take a look at "Heston" in the middle of the page. WOW-ee! And don't even get me started on the "A" in "Agee". If I could cat-call, I would! 

(CLICK HERE to watch the video on YouTube.

Do it! You won't be disappointed!)

DAVID ELLIS / MOTION PAINTING

This is a MUST-SEE. (I know, I know, I always say that. But this time, it really is!!)

Love, love, love:

Drippy orange paint (0:27)

Peacock (0:35)

Black cloudy mass (1:00) (Oooooohhh. Love.)

OKEYs (1:40)

Squishy sound effects (throughout)

It's crazy how through stop-animation you can actually see how paint transforms as it dries.

Check out more of his work here.

ROLLING STONE / VOL. 224

Typography by Elizabeth Paul

October 21, 1976

Ooooo, yummy yummy type. Why can't more modern-day magazines/newspapers come up with memorable and striking cover designs, such as this one?

But then again, if what you're selling is a collection of Avedon photos, bells and whistles kind of ruin the party.

By the way, I'm aware that this is the 2nd time I've posted about Avedon. Trust me, it won't be the last.

CREATE, CREATE, CREATE

Illustration by British agency, Crush. 

I worked with Crush last year...they illustrated a compilation cd for Epic Records that I art directed. See the cover here.

LIESBET BUSSCHE / URBAN JEWELRY

Meet Claes Oldenburg, 2.0.

Belgian artist, Liesbet Bussche creates oversized jewelry and incorporates them into city-scapes and street fixtures.

Post earrings made of concrete boulders, necklace clasps made of sand....what other-worldly giant Barbies could have left them here??

Her playful sculptures can be seen on the streets of Amsterdam. If you happen to be traveling there, her work will be on display as part of the What's New exhibit at Galerie Sofie Lachaert until November 8, 2009.

Here's another favorite:

(detail)

Check out more here.

By Wendy Acostas

Paris, France

Appears in Visionaire's Issue #41, World. Check more out here.

I lust for Visionaire. Of course, I'll have to dedicate a separate entry to it sometime.

BOMBER GIRL

By Antony Micallef

"The trouble with pop imagery is that it doesn’t really go deeper than the surface, you have to drag it down and challenge it to make it interesting. When you put two contrasting images together it causes friction and that is the bit I’m interested in."

Here's a detail of Bomber Girl:

I'M IN LOVE WITH PETER BEARD.

Fun fact: During his career, Beard has been painted on by Salvador Dalí and has journaled with Andy Warhol.

Today, while strolling downtown on Lafayette, I came across a tiny photography bookstore called Clic. Inside, I found a Taschen Peter Beard book that literally left me breathless.

S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G.

Born in 1938, Beard began creating collaged art journals/diaries at the age of 11. He layered hand-drawn elements, photography, type....basically any and everything. He traveled to Africa in 1955, inspired by reading Out of Africa, by Karen Blixen. There, he continued the creation of his journals by incorporating his own photography and layering it with animal blood.

The Taschen book is a documentation of Beard's life in Africa. The collages are SO incredibly detailed–layer upon layer upon layer upon layer of heart wrenchingly beautiful imagery.

I'm buying it (psst...on Amazon, it's almost half off!).

FUNKTIONIDE / STEFAN ULRICH

Using artificial muscle technology, German designer Stefan Ulrich created the Funktionide. The device is an amorphic object that's designed to relieve a sense of loneliness.

Ulrich believes that in the future, humans will turn to robots to satisfy their emotional needs. The shape-changing object simulates breathing, reacts to human touch, and imitates human/animal movements. 

You MUST view the above video. How strange!

"It's the end of the world, as we know it..."

Read more here.