Architect, educator and philosopher Louis Isadore Kahn is one of the most important twentieth-century architects. He was born in Saarama, Estonia in 1901 and grew up in the U.S. His architecture is notable for its simple, platonic forms and composition. Through the use of brick and poured-in place concrete masonry, he developed a contemporary and monumental architecture that maintained a sympathy for the site. Louis I. Kahn evolved an original theoretical and formal language that revitalized modern architecture. His best known works, located in the United States, India, and Bangladesh, were produced in the last two decades of his life. They reveal an integration of structure, a reverence for materials and light, a devotion to archetypal geometry, and a profound concern for humanistic values.
Kahn was a divine form of complexity. From that of his genius design to his illusive lifestyle. In 1974, Kahn died of a heart attack in a men’s restroom in Penn Station in NYC. He went unidentified for three days because he had crossed out the home address on his passport. Kahn had 3 wives and 2 children… and a collection of inspiration.
Herb Ritts was one of the most iconic photographers of the 1990s. Utilizing clean lines and strong forms, his black and white photos (often reminiscent of Grecian gods) are sensual and passionate. Ritts also strived to redefine race and gender roles in his gallery work. Shooting everyone from Madonna to Johnny Depp to His Holiness the Dali Lama. Ritts was often seen on the pages of Vogue, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and shooting ad campaigns for Chanel, Valentino, Versace among others. Sadly, the world lost a true talent when Mr. Ritts passed away on December 26th, 2002. His legacy lives on with his work as well as his influential work with numerous HIV/AIDS charities.
Fascinated with an actionism of artistic coinage with which he breaks open existing border in the work of fashion, treating male and female nature as equal in his designs, he directs the attention to an apparently sexless person making his collections unisex.
These sculptures remind me of the female furniture at the Korova Milkbar scene in Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange. They have been inspired by the work of British artist Allen Jones.
Three summers ago when I went on holiday to the seashores of France, my primary soundtrack was Lizzy Mercier Descloux’s “Press Color” LP. I don’t remember exactly how I first heard about Lizzy, but I downloaded her album and her adorable Frenglish mumbling, cooing, and wailing won me over instantaneously. She was officially my guardian angel (think Elvis to Christian Slater in True Romance) as I trolled the Riviera for cute boys. “Press Color” is a deliciously messy hodgepodge – it runs the gamut from atonal (think early Sonic Youth) to chic minimal to French discotheque-worthy. Lo and behold, Lizzy Mercier Descloux also had incredible style. Much like her close friend Patti Smith, Lizzy was the visual embodiment of what occurs when there’s a conflux of varying creative wavelengths within a body. The results are explosive and wild.
