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Monday, 10 December 2012
CLOTM: November .(scribbled at 21:09 )
I’m fully aware it’s December, but as I was out in the sticks for a week I completely forgot to blog about a relatively exciting and well-designed chair, so here goes:
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Image copyright:The Observer |
I’m not entirely sure if this falls into the ‘chair’ category, but it would feel somewhat wrong not to write about this on blogger at some point or another. Gitta Gschwendtner ‘s Chair Bench can now be seen in the recently opened Furniture Gallery at the V&A. Amongst numerous other beautifully crafted pieces in this amazing space, this mismatched and intricately carved ash is an item of sheer beauty.
Okay, so I knew I would write about the furniture gallery this month- in the last few years of visiting the V&A and finding out they were planning a gallery totally devoted to furniture, I was a little bit hooked. What’s even more impressive is knowing that literally half the space is devoted to chairs. From Eileen Gray to that guy who designed the inflatable chair and everything in between , it has everything a furniture geek could wish for. There’s even a sneaky little IKEA bookcase tucked away into a corner!
Awash with an endless supply of chairs, it was a little difficult to decide which one is possibly the most covetable. So, rather than having to make a painstaking decision between the Thonet and the Frank Lloyd Wright, it seems that the only option is to go with something that incorporates them both, in a rather contemporary chic way.
Labels: Chair Bench, Chair Lust of the Month, CHAIRS, Furniture Design, Furniture Gallery V and A, Victoria and Albert Museum
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Diary of a lazy blogger. .(scribbled at 04:00 )
Whilst I've been impatiently waiting for my new Moleskine journal
to arrive in the post, I've abandoned my virtual ramblings and through all the
chaos of the past 2 weeks, I've not only forgotten to update you on Germanic
adventures, but also a last minute trip I took to Liverpool for the Biennial
last weekend. I’m meant to still be there right now, but work commitments
prevailed…
Anyway, I will upload
posts for both of these events, but like dOCUMENTA, I spent a fair amount of
the experience through my dusty camera lens. There are a lot of photographs to condense down into one friendly, bite-size
blog post. So again, this is just a way of exclaiming “Wait- don’t abandon
Vermeer’s Victoria Sponge just yet!”… Well, not until you’ve seen my photos of
the prison cell I ended up sleeping in a few weeks ago.
Regarding the last week (Biennial 2012 excluded for now), here’s a little
snippet of what I’ve been up to.
I spent last Thursday night at the opening of the London Art Book
Fair, which was spectacular. Should you ever end up wondering one day how many
art book enthusiasts can fit into a gallery space, then I suggest you head over
to Whitechapel Gallery next year to see for yourself. Although it only runs for
a weekend, the event hosts book stalls from a vast number of publishers, from
Tate and Saatchi Gallery to lesser known independent art book publishing
houses. This year’s opening was even busier than the last, and there is no
better way to get yourself into an autumnal mood- everyone knows that September
is a time for fresh new books and stationery, regardless of whether you’re at
an educational institution.
In other news, I set up office yesterday afternoon at the Royal
Opera House to work on a project with my friend who works there. Rather than
sitting in their offices and overhearing Opera singers rehearsing next door, I
plonked my laptop just outside the enchanting Paul Hamlyn hall instead. It is
absolutely beautiful; I can’t quite put into words how jealous I am of my
friend. We were sitting on the rooftop terrace together a few weeks ago, which
is adjacent to the ballerina’s rehearsing space, and the view you get from
there. Is. Effing. Incredible. With a small exception to the view of Tower
Bridge you get from the Design Museum, the London skyline from the roof of
Covent Garden is just spectacular to say the least. Westminster seems a stone’s
throw away, and you can hear the chimes of Big Ben ring out across the West
End.
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| The Paul Hamlyn Hall, Royal Opera House |
oh, and I was at the V&A earlier on this afternoon, and spotted this little gem as I walked out its main doors:
Until next time!
V x
Labels: ART DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE, Best views of London, Covent Garden, Royal Opera House, The London Art Book Fair, The Paul Hamlyn Hall, Victoria and Albert Museum, Whitechapel Gallery
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Särˈtôrēəl elegance in South Kensington .(scribbled at 21:37 )
Has anyone seen Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 at the V&A yet? C'est RAVISSANT!
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| © V&A Images |
Other than getting a wee bit miffed off due to one of their gallery assistants telling me off, I had a great afternoon there a few weeks back. No- I wasn't doing anything even remotely dodgy. I was halfway through doing a quick sketch of the Erdem dress above when I got interrupted by the invigilator who told me in quite an authoritarian tone that 'sketching isn't allowed in the museum'.
WRONG. So wrong. As a repeat visitor to the V&A and its website, I know that they clearly state that sketching is allowed throughout the galleries. I should have asserted myself with this, but at the time I couldn't be bothered to react. What's more, she was completely oblivious to everyone instagramming the exhibition to death with their iPhones. Hmm...
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Chanel Suit; part of the V&A's permanent collection.
Everyone loves a sequinned blazer, right? |
Anyway- hate to digress away from the galleries but a trip to the V&A shop is always inevitable; they have the most amazing trinkets and gifts there. I've started to skip the Italian Renaissance sculpture gallery in recent months just because it sits adjacent to the gift shop. In light of the Ball gown exhibition, I've noticed they've started selling a few more fashion- related items in there. I am totally feeling the collars, these are both so chic, and at £20 a pop you can't really go wrong with such a versatile accessory. I bought a similar one from Zara about 5 months ago, and that was around the same price...
Other than blowing my income in the V&A shop, I'm also rather big on their architecture galleries, which are collaborated with RIBA. They've got scale models to suit every taste- from the Mies fans out there to those who simply cannot get enough of Doric columns (guilty of both tbh.)
aaaand, I can never resist their collection of glass. How this room is never choc-a-bloc with tourists astounds me- it's such a beautifully designed room and they've got some great iconic pieces in there too, my personal favourites being the Réné Lalique items.
Also, my landlady lent me her copy of Grayson Perry, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl a couple of days ago. I'm just about to reach the penultimate chapter now, and I must say it's one of the best books I've been reading in the last year of so. Definitely worth buying if you're interested in ceramics, contemporary art or transvestism for that matter.
Labels: Architectural Models, Art Deco Glass, ART DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE, Ballgowns British Glamour Since 1950, Chanel, Glass Room V and A, Grayson Perry, Sartorial, South Kensington, Victoria and Albert Museum
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Sunny Monday at the V&A .(scribbled at 02:00 )
I don't think there's anything I like more than wandering aimlessly around
the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.
I was lucky enough to be at a meeting there on Monday, so I spent a good part
of the afternoon taking in parts of their collection that I don't normally
pause to look at (like most people I know, I only tend to visit their temporary
exhibitions). After their phenomenal Postmodernist exhibition last winter which
I fell in love with, I am enormously hyped up for their design based one which
opens at the end of March; showcasing masterpieces of British Design from 1948
to the present day. I actually can’t express how thrilled I will be when this
show finally opens.
It was a glorious afternoon there, I revisited their Raphael room for this
first time in ages, and find that it still astounds me even after all this
time. It’s such an epic feeling, standing underneath all these magnificent
pieces from many centuries ago. Ahhh, bliss.
I also checked out Cecil Beaton’s photographs of the queen (I think that
exhibition runs until the end of April?) which is definitely worth looking
round if you’re a royalist ;)
…by the way, a mere 5 days later I was back at the V&A,
again. I could be a little hooked, no?
Reason for going that time: Golden Spider Silk Cape. ESSENTIAL viewing if you’re
in London.
Labels: Art Blo, ART DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE, British Design, Cecil Beaton, Museums, Queen Elizabeth II, Raphael, South Kensington, Victoria and Albert Museum
