20120420
SPARKLING SHOES DIY/ WALK AMONG THE STARS
I don't think I'll ever be able to tell my love for glitters and shoes (and glittered shoes)
Inspiration
EXHIBITION REVIEW/ BERENICE ABBOTT: PHOTOGRAPHIES - SALLE DU JEU DE PAUME, PARIS
Berenice Abbott is a name I had never heard about before this exhibition. Yet, she spent a lot of time with the French surrealist avant-garde in the 1920s, and was the assistant of one of my favourite artist, Man Ray.
| Abbott by Man Ray |
At his sides, she experimented surrealistic portraits with distortions or blur and made her portraits radiating with life.
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| Jean Cocteau, 1926 |
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| Self-portrait, 1945 |
Catching New York Lights
In the 30s, Abbott got involved in a project on New York architecture and she hence started to catch urban life with her camera. A quote is written on one of the museum's walls to remind us that no print is a piece of luck, the position of the camera has always required a thinking process. It's true that Abbott played with the composition of the picture: feeling the immensity of a sky-scraper with a low-angle shot or playing with contrast and light to burn thousand candles in New York night.
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| Changing New York , 1935-1938 |
From New York to the country. By 1935, Abbott undertook to depict life in America. With a documentary style, she alternated scenes at the fun fair, old wooden house façades and countrymen portraits to report hard life conditions in rural areas which undergo the economic crisis.
Far from the well-thought-out compositions of the city, Abbott took photographs to the rhythm of her road trip, blowing spontaneity and fresh simplicity on her piece.
My favourite part of the exhibition. From the 1940s, Abbott got interested in representing scientific phenomena through photography: study of movements, wave propagation, light rays,... She worked at M.I.T. to take part to the vulgarization of science and published her photographs in school books.
Then during space conquest, in the early 60s, an exhibition "Image of physics" is dedicated to her work, in Washington.
She endeavoured to turn the invisible into visible and hence produced abstract and vibrating black and white pictures. She sort of stuck magic tricks on glazed paper.
For me who is not really interested in photography, this exhibition just blew my mind.
EXHIBITION TO BE SEEN.
20120403
20120402
EXHIBITION REVIEW/ LOUIS VUITTON-MARC JACOBS - MUSEE DES ARTS DECORATIFS, PARIS
Up to September 16th, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs devotes an exhibition to the brand Louis Vuitton, more precisely to his founder and his current artistic director Marc Jacobs. As it is divided between two floors, by walking up the stairs you go from the mid-19th century to our 21st century, and yes, the transition is kind of brutal, from half-light to bright pop colours... Nonetheless, the momentary blindness is worth the visual slap.
Back to the Napoleonian Empire under dim lights and cold retro atmosphere. It took me forever to leave the doll and its trousseau, how happy would have I been to play with it as a child ! The clothes seem to be exact reproduction of real dresses and the care of the details and of the material choice is just stunning.
In an other room, full-length wonderful dresses, just have a peek:
One should not forget that Louis Vuitton is above all THE brand of luggage. Here the invention of the bed-box (brilliant, even if the thickness of the mattress was not really a promise for a good night). In two words: CLOTH BOXES EVERYWHERE. Amazing boxes. Huge boxes. And how I regret my sad and ugly weekend suitcase after that...
Bright colours, spots, music. And to the sound of Marc Jacobs' voice, one can wander alongside an entire wall of L.V. handbags, the more daily proof of Louis Vuitton's heritage (well "daily"... it depends on whose daily life, ok...).
If the exposed outfits could talk, they surely would have been grateful for the glass between their precious materials and the visitors' dribble. Actually I probably was one of the open-mouthed people in front of them: creative staging, recent collections, fairy tales dress, a panther in its cage... Just perfect.
Impressions
Before the exhibition, as I only saw the title of it, I expected the subject to be treated chronologically so I was a bit disappointed at first. But here the aim is to oppose two eras, two men, but to keep in mind that it's still the same brand. Moreover, I've found the visit really short, whereas there was much to be seen. By the way, the abundance of objects and clothes, and the radically different atmospheres between the rooms assure a perfect immersion in both era.
That is actually the reason why this exhibition is so interesting. One usually says that fashion is an eternal back to the past, but with this kind of approach of a brand, we can observe that a brand lives and evolves to the rythm of its directors. From Louis Vuitton to Marc Jacobs, the tempo has clearly raced. The importance of luggage and handbags remains, but the conception of clothes are totally different. Of course that is a matter of time. But the personality of the artistic director weighs a lot too.
Even if I think it's a bit delicate to evaluate the impact of a director on a brand whereas his/her career is not over, this exhibition is a great occasion to admire the work of Louis Vuitton who built solid foundations for its renowned brand and the wonderful creativity Marc Jacobs shows to keep the brightness of the name that dazzling.
20120328
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