Kim Rugg

Very cool.



Video by Cool Hunting.

Art History Thursday - Pop Art & Assemblage

Today we furthered our study of Modernism in America with a few great artists of the 1950's and 60's who continued to take modern art in new directions. Once again, I'm amazed at the inventiveness of these artists; not just in their method and composition, but also in the meaning behind their works.

First up: Robert Rauschenberg. Rauschenberg was influenced heavily by Marcel Duchamp (The Fountain)and his ideas of appropriation; using found or ready-made objects and putting them in a different context. Rauschenberg didn't focus on the new marks he could make, but instead wanted to use marks already in existence.

One of the most interesting examples of this ideology was his Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953 (below), in which he literally took a drawing of de Kooning's and erased it, creating a whole new work of art through using marks already in existence and altering them, and in this case, erasing them completely, resulting in a really beautiful piece of art.


Rauschenberg is also known for portraying this same idea through Assemblage. Assemblage is a three-dimensional artistic composition made by putting together found objects. Rauschenberg seemed to gravitate toward Assemblage because of its ability to convey multiple subjects, moods, or meanings in one single piece of art. His works were meant to be looked at as small fragments from different moments in time. Below is Rauschenberg's Monogram, 1959.


Next up: Andy Warhol. Because he is so well-known, I contemplated selecting a different Pop artist to highlight, but after I studied him a little bit more today, I feel like there is a lot more meaning to his art than I, and possibly you, originally thought.

Warhol responded to the emergence of movies, television, and media and its strong presence in society and it's affect on the culture around him. White Burning Car III (below) is a darker subject matter and the image repeats itself over and over again, similar to how a viewer can see the same tragic event over and over on television or in a movie.

"It's the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it." -Andy Warhol


Warhol gravitated toward people as his subjects when they became tragic figures, such as his Marilyn series, 1962(below). Warhol and others of his time captured the thought that depictions of famous people or things is really just a depiction of the unknown millions who recognize it. Michael Warner said, "The mass subject cannot have a body, except the body it witnesses." I'll be honest, I've never thought about it quite like that before, but it's completely true.


"What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca-Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca-Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca-Cola, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking." -Andy Warhol


This may sum up Andy Warhol and his works better than anything else, "If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, there I am. There's nothing behind it." -Andy Warhol

Art History Thursday - The Avant-Garde

Matisse, The Woman with the Hat, 1905

One of the reasons I signed up to become a docent at the Orange County Museum of Art was because the training sounded so interested. It's 6 months of half art appreciation/teaching and half art history. So far it's been amazing and I'm really excited about it. What is it about being a mere 6 years older and not having any tests or homework to worry about that makes this art history class soooo much more interesting than all of the art history classes I took in college?

So now I am officially naming Thursday's "Art History Thursday" on my blog for the duration of the class, where I will share a little bit of what I learned, or relearned, with you.

During today's lecture, here are some of the points I found most interesting:

1. Duchamp. I was familiar with him calling found objects "art" (i.e. the urinal) and the uproar it caused in the art world, but today I learned more of the reasons behind why he did this. In the early 20th century, being avant-garde meant to reinvent and push forward and Duchamp wanted to be a part of this movement as it pertained to art, but felt after Cubism with masters like Picasso and Braque, there wasn't much further he could push paint and a canvas. So he took found or readymade objects and recontextualized them and forced everyone to ask the question, "what is art?".

Duchamp, Fountain, 1917

2. Arp. Also pushing art forward and rejecting traditional art as much as possible, Arp created a series of works called "Collage arranged according to the laws of chance". He created these pieces by tearing paper into pieces, dropping them onto a larger sheet of paper, and pasting each scrap wherever it fell. This was Arp's way of not only forcing viewers at the time to look at art in a new way, but to also force himself out of any habits, traditions, or repetitions that he may have formed in his own work. It forced him to step outside of his own box even further.

Arp, Collage arranged according to the laws of chance, 1916-17

Even though I shouldn't be, I'm a little surprised by how much this art history class has inspired my design process; not only by the works themselves, but also the feeling and intention behind each piece. I'm loving every minute of it!

Master Bath Remodel

Just wrapping up a master bathroom in Irvine. I worked with some pretty sophisticated clients with excellent taste! They had a clear vision of what they wanted from the beginning and had a heavy hand in the design process. We made a great team and I think the (almost finished) master bath looks amazing! Here are some photos that my client just emailed showing the remodel process...




View the same clients' living room and kitchen remodel here.

www.BrittanyStiles.com

Lawson-Fenning

On a normal day, my clients rely on me and my professional experience to recommend really good and unique home furnishing vendors that fit their style and design aesthetic. But I will admit that sometimes the reverse happens and my clients introduce me to cool new resources that I've never before heard of. Although I feel in some ways that they're sort of doing my job for me (which is not really a good thing...), I still love it when it when they bring new resources to my attention.

Someone very wise once said, "A designer is only as good as their resources" (Nathan was that you?), and it's so true! So a big thanks goes out to Dan and Cynthia for introducing me to Los Angeles based furniture company Lawson-Fenning. It's modern furniture, but each piece has it's own unique characteristics. It's not the same old modern we've seen before. It's a little bit mid century, a little bit danish, with a contemporary twist. My client purchased the Dillon chair (shown above), and here are a few other cool pieces from their collection. Lawson-Fenning also sells vintage pieces in their showroom, also featured on 1st Dibs, here.

Blissful Furnishings

Bliss Home & Design, formerly Bliss Linens, in Corona del Mar has just launched it's own line of home furnishings and accessories. I really like Bliss' modern-antique style, so it's exciting that their head of design, Ohara Davies-Gaetano, has developed a unique line for Bliss that encompasses their beautiful aesthetic. Here is a sampling of some of their new pieces that I received in an email, I anticipate that the entire line will be available to view online shortly, here.

Modern Rugs by Laura Kirar

Laura Kirar has a hip line of hand made modern rugs at Tufenkian. All 9 rugs in the collection are pretty stellar, here are a few of my favorites... they have a little bit of an 80's vibe, which I really kind of love right now.

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10% off Quadrille

For the month of February Quadrille's LA showroom is offering 10% off of fabrics and wallcoverings. You need to order through a designer, just mention the promotion and you'll receive 10% off your order. Pretty sweet deal. I love Quadrille's different collections. It's the perfect mix of funky sophistication. Here's a sampling of Quadrille's popular fabrics...

{I should add this image to my Pink & Blue post}

Farmer's Daughter & Tart

I had such a fun weekend. My really good friend Bethany is getting married next Saturday (yay!) so this weekend all of her really good girlfriends celebrated her last days of single-dom LA style. Bethany's friend Kelly planned quite the weekend for us; complete with good food, dancing, D list celebrities, and boutique hotel accommodations. My trips to LA usually consist of home furnishings stores, thrift shops, the Staples Center, and FIDM back in the day, so I always love it when I get a chance to see new sides of the city. The style and interior of every place we went had it's own vibe and personality, so I wanted to highlight the various stops of our weekend-o-fun. But as I started gathering photos, I realized I had way too much info for one post, so I'm going to make a couple of different bachelorette party installments.

The first is the Farmer's Daughter Hotel and the attached Tart restaurant. Located right by the Farmer's Market, this boutique hotel had a really fun and unique style. It's modern chic meets The Little Red Hen. Take a look...


For brunch Saturday morning we ate at Tart. Such good food (I got the veggie hash and pancakes), and an equally good design aesthetic.