Punk by agnès b., not Vivienne Westwood

Always a nice surprise to see exhibitions by fashion labels. The last one I visited was Chanel’s The Little Black Jacket and that was more than a year ago!

One would immediately associated punk with Vivienne Westwood and perhaps be pleasantly surprised by this agnès b. exhibition. In reality, agnès b. has been collaborating with various art mediums including photography for decades. I’ve always been fascinated by the agnès b. CINEMA in Hong Kong and I applaud their support for the arts community.

Agnès worked closely with photographer Sheila Rock to launch this travelling exhibition, which began in London and Paris in 2013 and is making its rounds across Asia this year. With a last name like Rock, it’s no wonder she is able to capture the unpretentious, raw and creative energy of the punk movement in her photographs.

Of course, there is a pop-up store and you may find me hanging out (permanently) there! Punk+: A Photo Exhibition by Sheila Rock is presented by agnès b and opens today at the Substation Gallery at 45 Armenian Street, Singapore 179936. The exhibition runs through 26 October and is open daily from 12 noon to 9 pm. Admission is free.

x Sybil

(Image from sagg)

THE LITTLE BLACK JACKET by Karl Lagerfeld

Yes! I had the good fortune of timing my vacation last December to Chanel’s The Little Black Jacket exhibition in Berlin and I was so excited! It was an inspiring visit, needless to say.  It’s fascinating to see some many variations of one little black jacket and how it can work for everyone; male, female, androgynous.

The exhibition venue was right next to the subway station with security staff who looked like they are models dressed in Chanel.  There were also staff giving out free exhibition posters. How cool is that!  The space was quite dark but I managed to take a few exhibition shots.  Over 100 photographic prints were on display with the little black jacket modelled by a range of friends of the Chanel House, from actors, musicians, designers, models, writers to directors.  They include Sarah Jessica Parker, Kanye West, Anna Wintour, Kirsten Dunst, Uma Thurman, Tilda Swinton, Baptiste Giabiconi, Yoko Ono and many more.

The entire exhibition is really well documented on its webite with great “Making of” behind the scenes photos such as the one of Daphne Guinness and Ken Hirai below.

The exhibition is still touring.  You never know, it might travel to your city next week!

x Sybil

(Images by Sybil and from The Little Black Jacket)

Visionary Photographer: Madame Peripetie

Sometimes I stumble onto something I like and it’s so beautiful I want to share it with the world.

Definitely the case when I came across Madame Peripetie‘s works. Based in London, she is inspired by Robert Wilson, Sci-Fi and character design in her photography works.

Dream Sequence 1- 2012

Dream Sequence 1- 2012

Metamorphosis (Daisy Feng)

Tristan and Isolde- Opera Magazine

Il Salone -Moga e Mago

White shoot for Central Saint Martins

Dream Sequence – 2010

Her photography seems to be stories told in a surrealistic way; static and frozen yet totally poetic.

See more of her images here.

 

X Alex

(Images from Madame Peripetie)

Fashion Photographer: Annie Leibovitz

Since we are on the topic of fashion photographers, I just want to share one of my favourite – Annie Leibovitz. If you love fairy tales, Brothers Grimm, Disney, fantasy and such, you will probably love her works as much as I do. Recreating these beautiful stories with fashion, her works bring you to another world, much like a theatre, with a plot full of mystery and a tinge of darkness.

Here are some of my favorite works of hers.

The Alice in Wonderland spread in US Vogue Dec 2003 Issue, depicting designers as characters from Alice in Wonderland.

Christian Lacroix

John Galliano

Karl Lagerfeld

Jean Paul Gaultier

Donatella Versace

Victor and Rolf

She also did a collaboration with Disney that captured celebrities as Disney characters last year:

Jeff Bridges and Penelope Cruz as Beauty and the Beast

Queen Latifah as Ursula from Little Mermaid

Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gisele Bundchen, and Tina Fey as Peter Pan, Wendy, and Tinker Bell

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens from Sleeping Beauty

Julienne Moore and Michael Phelps as Ariel and a mermaid from The Little Mermaid

The images are extremely beautiful and poetic, yet dark and witty at the same time.

Such is the charm of Annie Leibovitz’s works. Pure magic.

 

X Alex

(Images from trend land and insidethemagic)

Tim Walker: Story Teller

I love photography as a form of visuals arts and even more so, fashion photography because it is almost always about storytelling and the current exhibition at Somerset House in London shows us just how photographer Tim Walker does it.

Walker is a renowned name; his works are featured in Vogue, Vanity, W, The New Yorker, etc etc.  His world seems very Alice in Wonderland; his creative use of props, his elaborate choice of settings and that unusual sense of humour makes his photographs fairytale-like.  Just looking at them inspires me.  I want to see these stories of wild imagination, this mythical yet enchanting world that Walker has created.

The exhibition features a series of films specially curated by Tim Walker.  These are films that have inspired him and they include movies such as La Belle at la Bete (Beauty and the Beast), The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death and Walker’s own first feature The Lost Explorer.

A series of events will be held in conjunction with the exhibition.  They include workshops with some of the set designers and prop builders who have worked with Tim Walker and talks such as Tim Walker in Conversation with Penny Martin.

On show from now till 27 January 2013, catch Tim Walker: Story Teller at Somerset House, East Wing Galleries.  The exhibition is supported by Mulberry (whose campaigns Walker has shot for the past four seasons) and admission is free.

x Sybil

(Images from NOWNESS)

Crossover exhibition: Cross Process

I often stress the importance of the crossover of different artistic disciplines in my course of work and this is one good example.

W magazine teamed up with Sonos’ Los Angeles for an exhibition which combines W-curated photographers with musical tracks.  Titled Cross Process, the exhibition sheds light on the intersection of music and photography.  The result is an immersive and streaming playlist with stunning visual effects.

Photo by Jacob Sutton.

Music Expression: Resonance
Track: Codex, Radiohead

Photo by Marton Perlaki.

Music Expression: Atonal Harmony
Track: The Difference Engine Movement IV Late Night the Astronomer, Graham Reynolds

Photo by Reuben Cox.

Music Expression: Plangent
Track: Redondo Beach, Patti Smith

Photo by Sarah Soquel Morhaim.

Music Expression: Slow
Track: Green Arrow, Yo La Tengo

Cross Process runs through 21 October 2o12 at Sonos Studio which is located at 145 N. La Brea Ave, Los Angeles.

 

X Sybil

(Images from W magazine)

André Kertész: Distortion of Form

I am currently working on my next collection and part of the collection is inspired by the photography of André Kertész, in particular his Distortion series.  The series includes about 200 photographs of Najinskaya Verackhatz and Nadia Kasine; two models who posed nude with their reflections caught in a combination of distortion mirrors.

Born Kertész Andor (2 July 1894 – 28 September 1985), the Hungarian-born photographer, dubbed as the father of photojournalism, is known for his then-unorthodox camera angles and style.

Here are some of the works I absolutely love:

I love the distortion of form, the strange yet beautiful images created through enlarged limps and lumps of flesh created by the mirrors normally found in carnivals. The thought that everything looks different from different angles, and how we always seem to be distorting the way we see things.

Whatever it is, the images are simply thought provoking.

 

X Alex

(All images from bulgergallery)