Pockets and Paintings #65

I have been styling up a storm lately, and now it’s time to retreat to art.  I have two prints in the New Prints Summer show at IPCNY, which opens June 9th, and today I am going to the Gagosian Gallery to view the Picasso paintings of his much younger lover, Marie-Therese.  (Their odd relationship is fodder for a whole other blog post, let me tell you.)  For now, let me inspire you with another Pockets and Paintings post, this time about the very talented and heady painter, Mark Tansey.

Mark Tansey is a post modern painter born in California in 1949.  His large scale paintings are monochromatic and are rich with conflicting and contradictory images, symbols, visual puns, and hidden imagery.  He employs lots of art history in his work, and in fact in one painting you see the figures of Picasso, Pollack and Duchamp and other art luminaries all standing together in a sort of post-apocyliptic landscape.

His use of art history is also interesting since his father edited several versions of Gardner’s “Art Through the Ages”, which every art history student lugged around, including me.

Tansey has a very interesting system for coming up with ideas and subject matter.  He has created what he calls “color wheels” filled with phrases, nouns, and objects and spins the dial so-to-speak, to come up with ideas for his next painting.  Possible generated phrases may be: “Borgesian cartographers redeploying jouissance” or “stock characters suspending disbelief in unshakable foundations”.  Wild eh?

Here he is with the table version, where he can generate 5 million different phrases.

I am trying to figure out what the phrase might have been for this painting below.  Any thoughts?  I love his use of blue.  It looks like Delft pottery or like a blueprint.

Here is my outfit inspired by his painting above titled: “EC 101″.

Blazers by Elizabeth and James
Boots by Ralph Lauren

Dress: Splendid, necklace: Eddie Borgo, sunglasses: Barton Perreira, boots: Ralph Lauren

Bag: Meredith Wendell, cuffs: Dannijo, jacket: Elizabeth and James

Tansey just had a show at the Gagosian Gallery.  The installation video really shows you his work in detail, so check it out.

Happy Summer everyone!

What I Want Right Now.

I’ve been spending lots of time in the stores lately and I like what I see!  Here are a few of my favorite items available right now.  Click on photos for shopping info:

Rag & Bone zig zag sweater.  This is a summer sweater, made out of cotton ribbon.  It’s perfect for those chilly early mornings and evenings when you need an extra layer.  It feels amazing and I adore it.

And this Marc by Marc Jacobs bag looks a bit like a Celine bag, but is way less expensive:

These Rag & Bone cut-out brogues make the perfect “borrowed from the boys” statement:

Do you need red pants? If they are Isabel Marant you do! I would wear these with flats or sneakers for day, and heels and a cami at night. Super versatile, and the color makes them special:

And lastly, a gorgeous link with pave bracelet from the very talented Eddie Borgo. I bet the next move for him is teaming up with a fine jewelry brand to create luxury, tough pieces that we can all drool over…