Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Well, just take a look at these little beauties ... Marc would be very pleased. Thank you Topshop for providing such divine imitations of what houses such as Vuitton, Balenciaga and Givenchy conjure up. With the dollar conversion, some of these come in at around AUD$250. Yum.

6 Degrees of Bjork

It is Halloween after all so I thought it timely to show the work of Gabriela Fridriksdottir (Reykjavik). I met her when she showed as part of the Auckland Triennal and she was very "rock star" in her bespoke sunglasses (given to the artist by her cousin Bjork), tattoos and piercings. All the Bjork associations aside, her work is a unique blend of horror and folklore, but then haven't folk tales always been a little horrific anyway (think Little Red Riding Hood)? According to her gallery i8's website, "She seeks answers in what happens in between waking and sleeping, the objective and subjective, or in the tension between the mind and the material world". Dark dreams indeed.

Gareth Pugh and Epstein lovers?

Imagine the love child? Although, considering Matthew Collings' recent article "The Shape of Things" (Wallpaper*, September, page 95), maybe this would be a slightly incestuous union.

It's a delicious article and he conjures up comparisons between Dior and Kapoor, Sander and Serra, Hepworth and Chanel and Margiela and Picasso. This is a taster:

"Gareth Pugh's new collection, for instance, goes in for the un-normal. Think of artifice based on nature, of leaf forms, body armour, segmentation, breastplates - a carapace for the body - or a creature emerging from a chrysalis.

What is it that Boccioni does with his sculpture in London's Tate Modern, "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space", or Jacob Epstein does with "Rock Drill", at New York's MOMA (both made in 1913)? Man as machine, man moving through space - as if when an artist conceptualises human movement, he comes up with a form that looks a bit machine-like.

The pleasure of Gareth Pugh's outfits is different in that he's ironic where modernists in the 20th century were sincere; they were influenced by the threat to nature of new industrial forms, but Pugh seems more influenced by the movies, by the sub or superhumans in "Edward Scissorhands" or "Alien". Those films draw attention to the body's dynamism and power in a twisted way, and so does he, but in a more exquisite, crafted way".

It's a must read.

(Pictured: Jacob Epstein "Rock Drill" 1913 and Gareth Pugh - Autumn/Winter 2008)

Cramped

No, actually, it was Space Furniture for an intimate soiree on Monday night with the sometime designers for Edra, the Campana Brothers, who, rock star like, are on tour in Australia to showcase new and iconic pieces.

These pieces are often dismissed as purely ornamental or "furniture on acid", but once seated, your mind is altered. Edra ingeniously fuse form and function, which is obviously what places them at the top of the design game.

Furniture lovers spotted were: Frances E Parker, Julie Ewington, Robert Leonard, Amelia Gundelach, Brian Steendyk, Ingrid Richards and Tim Hill.

There was something highly addictive about lolling about on the black velveteen "Boa" lounge (pictured) drinking G&T's on a Monday evening.

The Unknown Patterns of Existence

An empty space is the silence that exists between 2 points somewhere in the cosmos. Has your subconscious emerged yet? If not, you obviously don't get the work of Eugene Carchesio on now at Qld Art Gallery: "Someone's Universe: the art of Eugene Carchesio".

The opening night event was held Saturday and it was an interesting mix of art + fashion world types and the noticeable inclusion of Eugene's close knit posse of musicians, artists and writers. Apparently the scene-shy artist stood by a blank wall to escape the masses, but ended up being feted like a pope by his adoring fans. Was there actual kneeling?

The "Party Like it's 1999" QAG gang (Angela Goddard, Tony Albert, Amelia Gundelach et al) hit the night spots (The Joynt, Lychee) post opening into the wee hours of Sunday morning in an effort to dismantle the patterns of their universes.

See this exquisite show until 1 February 2009.

Ultra Art

"Random Access Memory" by Rebecca Ross. There are some forward thinking fashionistas in Brisbane after all! Ultra Suite have been at the forefront of the art meets fashion concept for quite some time. They take it seriously - even Scott Redford featured at one stage.

New Work by Cindy Sherman

"Herself"