This year's GRAMMYs marked the first in a long line
of special tributes that will commemorate the 50th anniversary of
The Beatles’ historic appearance on America’s The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The
two surviving members of the iconic rock band, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo
Starr, reunited to perform and accept the Recording Academy Lifetime
Achievement Award in the run up to next month’s TV special, which will be
broadcast on US network CBS on 9th February at 8pm – the exact day, date and
time four men from Liverpool appeared on US television in New York to take both
America and the world by storm.
The Beatles with Ed Sullivan – 9th February 1964
Beatlemania transcends musical tastes and continues
to command lucrative interest as only the greatest band of all time can. After
more than forty years since the band’s break-up, brand-Beatles has worked with
influential designers on a variety of collaborations that have included street
wear label A Bathing Ape to high-end Japanese fashion house COMME des GARÇONS.
In this special year Vans will release a capsule collection of their trademark
canvas sneakers emblazoned with trippy imagery from The Beatles’ 1968 animated
film and album art Yellow Submarine, illustrated by Heinz Edelmann. The Yellow
Submarine collection will include four colourways of distinct psychedelic
graphics on Authentic, Era, Sk8-Hi and Slip-On models.
This highly anticipated collection is a first into
the forays of footwear using Yellow Submarine iconography and follows previous
collaborations between Vans and music heavyweights that include a 2013 release
with heavy metal band Metallica. It may be nearly fifty years old but the
Yellow Submarine collection looks as fresh and contemporary in 2014 as it did
in the Sixties and will no doubt keep new and existing Beatles fans on their toes.
The Beatles X Vans capsule collection will launch on 1st March 2014
and will retail between $65 and $75 - check out full details of the collection
at Vans.com
Visit GRAMMY.com for further
information about The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute to The
Beatles TV special airing next month.
Did Jay-Z break down the walls of years of 'white' cube supremacy in the Western art world in just six hours at Pace Gallery yesterday afternoon?
Jay-Z performing Picasso Baby with Marina Abramovic
After a social media explosion with curious commentators wanting to know who was who (namely performance artist, Marina Abramovic) at the music mogul's live Picasso Baby performance, Jerry Saltz, senior art critic from New York Magazine, writes a moment to moment account from his experience of the afternoon's rap-turous event in New York City that was witnessed by art world heavyweights, gallery directors and even Pablo Picasso's granddaughter. Having performed his latest hit to the gallery's electric audience on repeat for six hours, this was a little bit of history in the making. Time will tell however, amongst the art establishment, whether it was a little bit of history worthy of repeating.
i looked up who the old white woman was in the jayz vine. now i understand that it's art. i love it — Michael Hale (@dogboner) July 10, 2013
Here is a look at the art bombs Jay-Z drops in a lyrical mash-up of global cultural references in new single, Picasso Baby, from his latest album Magna Carta Holy Grail:
'Picasso Baby'
I
just want a Picasso, in my casa No, my castle I'm a hassa, no I'm an asshole I'm never satisfied, can't knock my hustle I wanna Rothko, no I wanna brothel No, I want a wife that fuck me like a prostitute Let's make love on a million, in a dirty hotel With the fan on the ceiling, all for the love of
drug dealing Marble Floors, gold Ceilings Oh what a feeling - fuck it I want a billion Jeff Koons balloons, I just wanna blow up Condos in my condos, I wanna row of Christie's with my missy, live at the MoMA Bacons and turkey bacons, smell the aroma
Oh what a feeling Picasso Baby, Ca Picasso baby Ca ca ca Picasso Baby, Ca ca ca Picasso baby Oh what a feeling
It ain't hard to tell I'm the new Jean Michel Surrounded by Warhols My whole team ball Twin Bugattis outside the Art Basel I just wanna live life colossal Leonardo Da Vinci flows Riccardo Tisci Givenchy clothes See me thrown at the Met Vogue'ing on these niggas Champagne on my breath, Yes House like the Louvre or the Tate Modern Because I be going ape at the auction Oh what a feeling Aw fuck it I want a trillion Sleeping every night next to Mona Lisa The modern day version With better features Yellow Basquiat in my kitchen corner Go ahead lean on that shit Blue You own it
I never stuck my cock in the fox's box but Damned if I didn't open Pandora's box They try to slander your man On CNN and Fox My Miranda don't stand a chance, with cops Even my old fans like old man just stop I could if I would but I can't I'm hot, and you blow I'm still the man to watch, Hublot On my left hand or not Soon I step out the booth The cameras pops niggas is cool with it Till the canons pop Now my hand on the bible On the stand got your man in a jam, again Got my hands in cuffs I'm like god damn enough I put down the cans and they ran amok My hairpin Piece skin rupture spleens Cracks rips go through cribs and other things No sympathy for the king huh Niggas even talk about your baby crazy Eventually the pendulum swings Don't forget America this how you made me Come through with 'Ye mask on Spray everything like SAMO Though I won't scratch the Lambo What's it gonna to take For me to go For y'all to see I'm the modern day Pablo Picasso baby
Oh what a feeling Picasso Baby, Ca Picasso baby Ca ca ca Picasso Baby, Ca ca ca Picasso baby Oh what a feeling
For its latest exhibition the Royal Collection explores
the sumptuous costume of British monarchs and their court during the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace has
previously hosted celebrated exhibits such as Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist and Renaissance
works from Northern Europe – all of which are in no short supply in what is one
of the finest, and oldest, comprehensive art collections in the world.
Henry VIII, c. 1530-35 - Joos van Cleve
With over sixty paintings, drawings, garments, armour, jewellery and accessories on display, In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion documents the evolving avant-garde tastes of both royalty and the elite in England and across the Continent.
Speaking with me at a Bloggers’ Breakfast preview, the exhibition’s curator, Anna Reynolds explained the Royal Collection’s new agenda for The Queen’s Gallery as a cultural destination for all interests – akin to its London counterparts such as the Victoria & Albert Museum and Somerset House. Given the collection’s vastness of in-house content and context, traditional and academic themes have tended to be favoured over more popular avenues such as fashion, which incorrectly assumes superfluous and solely superficial status in comparison. What has been the culmination of three years of research In Fine Style is by no means art-lite. The exhibition is a first for the Royal Collection on several counts: it is the first time it has looked at fashion in portraiture; the first time objects have been loaned to the collection, breaking with longstanding curatorial mandate, and the very first time a playlist has been commissioned to accompany the exhibit. Anna proudly describes the collaborative, and eclectic, direction she has successfully achieved – working with The Blackborne Lace Collection at The Bowes Museum to XFM DJ and musician Eddy Temple-Morris and international fashion designer Gareth Pugh – to create a multi-sensory experience of fashion as spectacle as well as its depiction through art, bridging the historic with the contemporary.
As the first monarch to embrace fashion in court, Henry VIII welcomes visitors into the space by way of his potent portrait by Joos van Cleeve. Power was woven into the construct of fashion and there is no better royal than the second monarch from the Tudor dynasty to set the tone of the exhibition in all its rich, allegorical splendour. The meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I of France in 1520 in Balinghem, near Calais, was a dazzling installation by both royal courts to outshine one another using unimaginable quantities of elaborate gold cloth - woven with silk and gold thread - for costumes and the erection of temporary palaces. The monarchs had enforced so much attention to flamboyancy and presentation that the meeting place took the name,Field of the Cloth of Gold, due to is impressive execution and scale, to which this portrait is suggested to commemorate.
Young Royals power dressing:
Princess Elizabeth I & Prince Edward VI - attributed to William Scrots
This is a fine example of the roles fashion and taste played in communicating wealth and status – important aspects of Tudor life that can be traced down to Princess Elizabeth I and Prince Edward VI, painted by William Scrots, who flank their Father and join members of the Tudor court illustrated by Hans Holbein the Younger. Entry to the royal inner circle, which directly granted political and professional upward mobility, had been largely driven by personal appearance and the cut, cloth, colour and composition of garments and accessories became sartorial symbols of success for both sexes.
William Parr, c.1538-42 - Hans Holbein the Younger
Majestic monochrome: Henry Stewart & Charles Stewart, 1563 - Hans Esworth
In the knowledge that the exhibition has fashion in its title, it certainly triggers one’s attention to the cuffs, ruffs, pattern, pleating, jewels, hats and hairstyles that command equal weight with the historical significance of the canvas within this specific context like never before. In Fine Style questions the extent of the artists’ execution of representing fashion as the genuine article or an interpretation for canvas as not to detract from the subject. This idea of painting as a reliable source is raised in works by Sir Peter Lely who controlled his aesthetic by adapting the sitters’ attire. One of the exhibition’s highlights is a lace cloak band, or collar, reputed to have belonged to Charles I on loan from The Blackborne Lace Collection. The finely embroidered needle lace of linen thread is an exquisite example of technique as well as preservation of its rarity. Its allure is greatly magnified as it stands aside Sir Anthony van Dyck’s enduring triple portrait of the monarch, with only the glass display case separating its contents from canvas with an almost identical representation in form and design of the cloak band, depicted to be worn by the monarch in his profile to the right.
Charles I, before June 1636 - Sir Anthony van Dyck
A pair of late-seventeenth century embroidered velvet mules are looked on by their owner Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, in a nearby painting also by van Dyck. The dainty heeled shoes that were invented in France to project one’s social standing find themselves in an installation of extremes between the feminine and androgynous as can be seen in the portraits of cover girl for the exhibition, Frances Stuart, in dress and soldier costume – painted by Lely and Jacob Huysmans respectively. Simon Verelst’s portrait of Mary of Modena in a masculine-inspired riding habit also plays with notions of androgyny, the practicality of feminine attire and in this instance, a symbol of her marriage to the Duke of York who wore a similar coat design at their wedding in 1673.
Mary of Modena, c1675 - Simon Verelst
The low hanging installation of paintings is a triumph of intimacy between viewer and canvas. Fashion enthusiasts will no doubt be in their element when confronted with the intricate patterns of stitching or formation of pearls in oil paint and the minute brush strokes that form the illusion of crisp white ruffs that alone would have cost the equivalent of between £10,000 and £20,000 in today’s money.
The detail however can admittedly be overwhelming – even after five centuries, this is a testament to precisely what the royal court intended to achieve in its day. In addition to a video interview (above) with fashion designer Gareth Pugh who points to Elizabeth I as inspiration for many of his collections in his East London studio, the free multimedia guide also provides an excellent escape from up-close examination with a twelve-track playlist curated by XFM DJ Eddie Temple-Morris.
In response to a selection of paintings that are featured in the exhibition, music by contemporary artists have been chosen to complement the works of art and introduce a unique visitor experience walking within the gilded setting that is The Queen’s Gallery.
Charles II, 1644 - William Dobson
Some song titles easily link track to image – William Dobson’s painting of Charles II in armour is paired with Reso’s War Machine and van Dyck’s triple portrait of Charles I with Angles by dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip. More abstract selections come in the form of Lana del Ray’s Blue Jeans hit remixed by Maribou State that reflects the ethereal score with the ethereal beauty of Frances Stuart.
Frances Stuart, before 1662 - Sir Peter Lely
I particularly enjoyed Temple-Morris's choice of Dubstep in Nero's Innocence selected for the magnificent portrait of Charles I’s three eldest children by van Dyck. In 1635 the young Prince Charles had come of age and therefore wears a golden doublet and breeches to display his loss of innocence, in contrast to the tradition of young boys, as depicted by his younger brother (centre) who wears a skirt. The 2010 release crescendos to a sense of foreboding that not only echoes the young Prince’s imminent future as King, but the state of the country during the English Civil War and subsequent execution of these children’s Father in 1649.
The Three Eldest children of Charles I, 1635-36 - Sir Anthony van Dyck
Armour’s design and styling on the battlefield directly copied fashionable tastes of the time, often with detail found on expensive fabric being replicated in metal through engraving and with additions to produce a highly decorative surface in silver and gilt. An extraordinary display links a miniature of Henry, Prince of Wales by Nicholas Hilliard at the age of thirteen wearing a suit of armour dating from early-seventeenth century France.
Henry Prince of Wales, 1607 - Nicholas Hilliard
The same armour, or Cuirassier, that Hilliard illustrates can be found adjacent in all its intricate beauty and attention to detail that strikes an image of pure physical strength of the young prince.
Cuirassier armour, c. 1607 - French
In the final room of the exhibition, Continental tastes are explored as closer relationships are formed between the European courts. On the Continent, fashionable styles were closely linked to political power – Spain’s strong influence coincided with its political dominance across much of Europe in the sixteenth century that was later to be succeeded by France’s supremacy in both politics and fashion under the rule of Louis XIV from the court of Versailles. The English were viewed as chameleons, adopting different elements of costume from Europe as a result of greater circulation of prints and portraiture. It was not until Charles II's reign that a notion of Englishness, portrayed directly through fashion, developed in the eyes of Europe: introducing the precursor of the men’s three-piece suit and abandoning a short doublet and cloak for a long vest and coat – a trend the diarist Samuel Pepys could not resist to replicate. On display are portraits that demonstrate the links and distinctions across Europe that include mirror images of Prince Rudolf and his brother, Archduke Ernest of Austria wearing replica fashions painted by Spanish court artist, Alonso Sánchez Coello and the subtly divine costume of Agatha Bas by Rembrandt van Rijn.
Rudolf II, Emperor of Austria, 1567 - Alonso Sánchez Coello
Agatha Bas, 1641 - Rembrandt van Rijn
Fashion is one of very few facets in history that is
able to communicate without words by means of a visual and tactile language. When
discussing royal fashion, it is impossible not to mention the phenomena of
style that has accumulated throughout the centuries to the present House of
Windsor who receive fanatical dissection from head to toe. While technology may
have opened up the once-exclusive royal wardrobe of material and styles, personal
expression through fashion is just as powerful today as it was in Tudor England.
From Victorian romanticism to a dapper Duke of Windsor; a colour-conscious
Queen Elizabeth II followed by a furlong of hats and fascinators in her reign,
to the most recent obsession with the fashionably accessible Duchess of
Cambridge. In Fine Style presents an impressive formula for future curation: in an age when modern monarchy is seen and not heard, it will be
their costumes that historians will look to for invaluable messages of
evolving identity to expose the social and cultural influences of epochs past,
present and future.
In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion is on exhibit at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace until 6th October 2013. For further details about events, educational programmes and ticket information visit the Royal Collection's official website.
In conjunction with the exhibition, an interactive
app has been inspired by a curious portrait miniature of Henrietta Maria that
includes hand-painted overlays where she may be dressed in a variety of male
and female costume. The free app allows enthusiasts to dress the rich and the
powerful from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as well as take
self-photos and transform into fashionable royalty of the day - available to
download from iTunes.
2013 is set to be yet another year of British accolade. Drum roll please, or should that be synthesizer, for breaking news about a certain Mr David Robert Jones - or David Bowie for non-Ziggy-super fans - who has released a new single today, on his sixty-sixth birthday. Where We Are Now? is the first track ahead of a brand new album, The Next Day, scheduled for release in March. It has been ten long years since the Starman's last album and his reclusive nature, away from both public glare and stage, only fuels the anticipation and suspense of a pending new body of work and hopeful tour dates. Having turned down an invitation to perform in person at the London 2012 Olympic ceremonies, with only a few audio tracks to be contented with amidst the best of British fanfare (The Finish Line, 2012), glam-rockers can look forward to a celebration of the iconic artist's contribution to art, fashion, film and music at the exhibition, David Bowie is at The Victoria and Albert Museum which will open in March and coincide with the album launch. The first international retrospective of its kind with unprecedented access to the David Bowie Archive will incorporate over three-hundred objects - from handwritten lyrics to original costumes and set designs to his very own instruments - charting Bowie's sustained reinvention across five decades. Collaboration will be one of the themes explored in the exhibition and if today's music video is anything to go by, we can expect Bowie will be back with a bang and on the money with continued interest in contemporary art association and the prospect of a digital renaissance across social media for twenty-first century digital addicts. The Where We Are Now? music video is directed by international multimedia artist,Tony Oursler and features his trademark animated projections onto handmade sculptural figures.
The artist's official website davidbowie.com has been relaunched with new content as well as the official twitter page.
So here's to a new year and the return of the original new.
Happy Birthday Mr Bowie!
Find out more about the forthcoming exhibition David Bowie is 23rd March - 28th July at The Victoria and Albert Museum, London here. Image courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
It smelt like teen spirit yesterday night at the 2012 BRIT Awards in London. Pop art legend Sir Peter Blake worked his unique formula of music-inspired-art with his trademark Sixties aesthetic that is now synonymous with the zenith of British music of the era - he redesigned this year's award statue with a splash of Britannic red, white and blue as well as granting the set designers use of his signature icons of hearts, targets, stars and rainbows. Adding to this nostalgia was most notably the comeback ofOutstanding Contribution to Music winners Blur who rocked out to a decidedly #highlife set.
All the Girls & Boys wishing it was the Nineties all over again...
Sweet roses, summer rain and purple shades of evening were lost in translation somewhere down the line in the commercial-overload that is now Valentine's Day, but rest assured this is a zero-percent-cocoa-content-and-flammable-animal-toy free zone. For the lovers and haters of 14th February I give you the gift of song - here's British Pop Band Unit 4 + 2's 1965 hit Concrete and Clay to get you tapping and swinging to the beat. Heartbeats optional. XOXO
It has been a while since my last post and with the weight of guilt growing with every letter typed for my other projects I'm currently working on, I decided: it's Friday, the weekend is nearly here and I need distraction. So since there's nothing better than music and visuals to forget about work and the winter freeze that is engulfing the UK right now, I thought I'd share M.I.A.'s new music video that has been released today. Bad Girls, a track first featured on her 2010 Vicki Leekx mixtape, has all the M.I.A. trademarks, only this time around the scene is hot Middle East swagger with a booty of Nineties' references, all given the midas touch. Directed by Romain Gavras, desert grit-meets-bling along the oil pipeline that acts as bleachers onto the spectacle of old school BMW E36s and Alfa 156-boy racers, only it's not boys behind the wheel, but burqa-clad women. The opposite sex has played no small role in the Arab Spring across the Arab states - mounting pressures on Saudi Arabia, so far saved from uprising through internal repression, unfortunately have done little to overturn the driving ban for women and whether this a politically-charged message, "Live fast, die young / Bad girls do it well" or satirical stereotype in song, "My chain hits my chest / When I'm banging on the dashboard", M.I.A. is on the money turning the cars, chicks and guns formula upside down. I'll leave you to make up your mind about the burqa back up dancers...
How far would you go for LOVE? Since 2008 Cartier have been asking this very question and have been inviting artists such as Lou Reed, Phoenix, Olivier Dahan and Camille Henrot to interpret an answer for the renowned French jeweller. This year Cartier invites electronic music duo AIR to be inspired by the luxury brand's popular LOVE collection, producing an original soundtrack and music video that depicts a young artist in New York in search of his muse, aptly titled Painted Love...
Continuing his recent penchant for the Californian lifestyle of sun, style and skate with the rerelease of customised designs for Supreme skateboards (Summer Supreme, June 2011) Damien Hirst has also designed the artwork for this year's much anticipated album, I’m With You, from Los Angeles rock legends Red Hot Chili Peppers due for release on 30th August.
The artist’s signature pharmaceutical aesthetic of a fly atop a pill joins the innovative, provocative and controversial imagery of the music industry’s collaborative history with global artists from Andy Warhol to Takashi Murakami, to create iconic album art that attributes to popular culture as well as the origins of aspirational lifestyle on an international scale. In the age of the download there is no doubt Hirst’s involvement with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers will reignite the physicality between music and consumer, as well the air-guitar-playing art collector. Here’s a look at the powerful collaborations between music and art from the charts past and present…
Andy Warhol - The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Underground
Andy Warhol - Emotions in Motions, Billy Squier
Andy Warhol - Love You Love, The Rolling Stones
Andy Warhol - Aretha, Aretha Franklin
Robert Rauschenberg - Speaking in Tongues, Talking Heads
Hiroshi Sugimoto - No Line On The Horizon, U2
Peter Blake - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
Jenny Saville - The Holy Bible, Manic Street Preachers
Richard Prince - Sonic Nurse, Sonic Youth
Julian Opie - Blur: The Best Of, Blur
Banksy - Think Tank, Blur
Takashi Murakami - Graduation, Kanye West
KAWS - 808s & Heartbreak, Kanye West
George Condo - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West
Writer and contemporary visual artist working between Los Angeles and London.
Available for articles and reviews on contemporary art, design, fashion, lifestyle, travel, profile and events – no subject is out of bounds and challenging briefs are very welcome - view a selection of my published work at jonathanvelardi.com
jonathanvelardi.blogspot will report on art, culture and lifestyle from the #highlife to the #lowlife across the www and beyond...
