Looking to spruce up my apartment with some more vintage americana decor, I stumbled upon the Metal Filament Pendant at Restoration Hardware and became inspired to seek out alternative brands that might carry a similar style of light. To my delight I found this series of Industrial Pendant Lights at Rejuvenation that offers multiple colors, sizes and shapes of this classic style suiting any need. Their goal was to create reproductions of vintage reflector pendant lamps, and the results are a very handsome piece of lighting.
Trusted Quality Surplus. That’s the mantra of design collective Neuarmy out of Philadelphia which has done some very nice revisions of vintage designs and goods. I was especially attracted to these great vintage sports posters, which they have touched up with some sharp typeface and solid graphics. Player, Hustler, Baller. Definitely worthy of adorning my wall.
The art of lettering and sign painting is one I have always been enamored with. It has a level nostalgia and character that can get lost in today’s technology driven fast paced world. Dusty’s Signs takes the time and effort to hand paint each of their pieces giving a lot of detail and personality to their craft. Whenever I’m cruising around Los Angeles, I always get excited to see hand painted wall murals, window paintings and signs such as these. [Neusblog]
The world of pop art has seen some great works over the years, pioneered by Andy Warhol in the mid century, but as of late most new “pop artists” have created works that are just thoughtless derivatives of the originals (i.e. Mr Brainwash). In a very enlightening fashion, Chilean illustrator Fab Ciraolo has taken the theory and process of pop art yet executed his works in his own unique style, placing famous figures of the past like Salvador Dali and Frida in a modern day context. The close attention to detail, and his whimsical style of portraying the characters, give their poses, clothing and attitude an abundance of personality not seen in most pop art. Dali sporting a leopard print vest and Frida rocking a Daft Punk shirt is absolutely brilliant. [CoolHunting]
German designers Jirko Bannas and Oliver Seltmann have adapted their proprietary Lightwall technology into a vintage photo format creating the Polaboy, an enlarged representation of a Polaroid photograph. I admire the Polaboy’s uniform LED illumination making for a very authentic presentation of the photos, and it’s multiple functions as art, light source and furniture peice. [SwissMiss]
The Southeast corner of La Brea Ave and 4th St in Miracle Mile Los Angeles has long been the home to a large open concrete building reminiscent of a parking structure. Though in recent years, it has become the Ace Museum, a new annex of the Ace Gallery which has its home right around the corner on Wilshire Blvd. Literally going up over night late on Saturday, a new sculpture was added to the open area right on the corner, finally bringing some attention to this otherwise disregarded building. A work of the Gao Brothers from China, the Lenin Sculpture is another piece in their progression of provocative art like the infamous Headless Mao. The artists have included several elements that show this controversial figure in a new light for the world of art. With a vivid chrome finish, the metal sculpture is constructed from horizontal sections that were purposefully staggered to make up this very thought provoking likeness of ruthless Russian dictator Vladimir Lenin. As such a well know person, the artists’ decision to give his face a chrome finish takes the focus away from Lenin, and to the sculpture’s context by allowing the reflections to highlight the immediate surroundings instead of Lenin in an appropriately demeaning fashion. The staggered sections represent his broken and destructive legacy that brought so much turmoil to Russia. Atop is a very playful inclusion of baby holding a balance stick on top of Lenin’s protruding head, as if walking a tight rope of his disastrous and risky Marxist ideals. Come on down to Miracle Mile and take a look for yourself, in this urban context it is quite a sight to see.
My weekend job as a valet in Malibu affords me the opportunity to drive amazing cars and experience beautiful sunsets every weekend. As of late, the Pacific rain storms have made for some breathtaking views after passing through SoCal. Catching the back end of a massive front of rain clouds contrasted against a vibrant West Coast sunset is a beautiful sight to be seen. Above is a photo I captured this weekend, which came out amazingly considering I took it from my iPhone and then simply processed with an Instagram filter. For more, you can check out my Photo Blog, which is a a direct feed of my Instagram photographs.
The wonderful world of typefaces is something that we encounter everyday whether we realize it or not. Typeverything is a blog developed by a collaboration of designers that posts various composed and real life examples of well crafted type. Browse through and get inspiration for new ideas and designs as I do. [SwissMiss]
Composed of great old style type with a vintage motif, this wall mural in the Highlands neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky adds a lot of local color to an otherwise bare brick wall. Designed by Bryan Patrick Todd and painted by local sign painter Kirby’s Signs, I very much enjoy stumbling upon artists that strive to continue making traditional hand crafted works such as this mural. PublicSchool]
Bill Murray’s status as living legend has been embraced by the design community to the point where his characters and humor have inspired a number of art pieces. Being fans of the venerable actor, Gallery 1988 has compiled many of these works into an exhibit called “Please Post Bills” at their space on Melrose opening tonight. From Ghostbusters to Groundhog Day to Life Aquatic, Bill’s unforgettable roles and unique style are masterfully showcased in the works. Click above for more info on the exhibit, and check out this gallery and this gallery for more images. [LAist]
Here is a collection of very sharp looking illustrations by Robert Samuel Hanson. Even though they are made of simple colors without a lot of intricate detail, these drawings have a lot of character and are very refreshing. I especially liked the one above utilizing the colors and shapes of the American flag, giving a narrative of the paradox of our current economic situation. A downward bull market? How is that possible? Only in America. [TheFoxIsBlack]
Since our country’s inception, the American people have always sought to journey westward into a frontier of unknown territories, people and cultures. Even to this day, people venture to the west to seek a new life or experience a lifestyle different from their own. Here we have an illustration by Jason Wong from Friends of Type emblazoning this movement in bold type with a very frontier-like depiction of the pacific coast.
