The past six decades have been among the most dynamic and turbulent in US history, from JFK’s assassination, Apollo 11 and Vietnam to the AIDS crisis, racism and gender politics. Responding to the changing times, American artists have produced prints unprecedented in their scale and ambition. Now showing at the British Museum until 18 June 2017, American Dream traces 60 years of art, design and history in one major exhibition.
I love yellow. It’s my favourite – it’s happy, and it makes me happy. (And I’m blonde. Blondes look good in yellow.) American architect Richard Meier loves white. But in honour of the 100th anniversary of the De Stijl movement, his one and only building in the Netherlands has been painted in the style of Piet Mondrian.
We know the words, the reality has become customary: we live in a media saturated world. It’s a life of constant exposure to new brands, languages, ideals and innovations. We are spoilt with content. Overexposed. But sometimes, amidst the blurry haze of content, there comes a find so jarringly clear, and so unlike anything else, that one simply has to stop. In this case, it’s Isabelle Menin.
Carmen Almon abandons traditional artistic mediums such as paint and canvas for… metal. She uses copper sheeting, brass tubing, steel wire and enamel paint to create botanical art. Her work is magical.
Chandler House is a small design studio and shop located in Cape Town’s Church Street. The brainchild of Michael Chandler, a man I admire so much for whistling his own tune and doing it with ethereal style, Chandler House holds regular exhibitions and a changing selection of some of the most beautiful locally-made homeware, artisanal gifts, antiques, textiles and a wide selection of fine art. The 18th century Cape Georgian building houses the Voorkamer Gallery, where monthly exhibitions take place. This month features one of my most favourite local artists, the cute and quirky Lucie de Moyencourt, highlighting 50 ink drawings of Cape Town’s city bowl.
Original to the core, Porky Hefer, having recently represented South Africa at the inaugural London Design Biennale with Southern Guild, is set to stagger audiences with his first solo exhibition in New York at the design gallery R & Company.
Frederik Vercruysse is a Belgian photographer based in Antwerp. His varied portfolio includes architecture, interiors, still life, landscape and people, a prolific body of work that captures the story and soul of its subject matter.
