All posts filed under: Art

Willy Vanderperre_London

Published by Kate Stockman

The moment I first heard about the exhibition Willy Vanderperre ‘prints, film, posters and more‘ was holding in London, I knew I had to go and see it. I know Vanderperre’s work since I started my study photography years ago and I always love the way he looked at images, especially when he started working with stylist Olivier Rizzo. Two Belgian fashion pro’s who, years later, made it to the absolute top, without losing their naturel and edge. Willy is a longtime collaborator and friend of Raf Simons, shot everyone from A$AP Rocky and Millie Bobby Brown, to Harry Styles and the Kardashian-Jenners, and made campaigns for brands like Calvin Klein, Prada and Jil Sander. The exhibit took place at Store X, in the basement of Brutalist landmark 180 The Strand.  Not easy to find as nothing but a black plastic cache indicated the entrance of the show. The friendly doorman wanted a picture with me and I could enter the venue reception. A simple table with the (few) leftovers of all the merchandising (which I bought straight away), a …

Milan Design Week 2017_Nonostante Marras pop up restaurant

Published by Kate Stockman

Besides the fact that Antonio Marras has a superb poetic fashion store in Brera, his Nonostante Marras space is also consecrated as a venue for multidisciplinary experiments: gallery, atelier, library, garden, shop, showroom, restaurant. A place designed by Marras to his own measure, Marras significantly identifies the places he belongs to, Alghero and Sardinia, with the essence of an aesthetic made up of light, wind, clouds and sunbeams shimmering on the sea. The breathtaking, magical pop-up restaurant at Nonostante Marras was setup specially for Milan Design Week 2017. We just walked in before it was open, so we could stroll around and enjoy the delicate flower, glass and candle decorations. What I loved about it, is the fact that it was not announced as ‘pop up restaurant’ or even worse ‘a concept restaurant’. No, Marras just opens a beautiful styled and decorated restaurant, a place to enjoy the food in a fairytale like setting. Simple and honest. Like you walked in a glass house of an old ant, who prepares a lunch for her friends. …

Saving Banksy

Published by Kate Stockman

I can be short about this one: the Banksy exhibition ‘The Art of Banksy’ (last week still in Amsterdam, now in Antwerp) is a tourist trap. If you are really into Banksy, there are other options. Do not believe the hype that it’s a must-go exhibition, whatever the media or the so called experts try to make you believe. The entire setting is wrong. Brick or ‘arty-farty’ wallpaper to present ‘street-art-for-galleries’, cardboard & fake stencils plus to indispensable spray cans to ‘show’ how Banksy works, hardly any original street work and above all, a ‘street-art-for-the-masses vibe. We visited the expo (helàs!) in Amsterdam and could not get out fast enough. Compare it with eating a cheap pizza in a bad Italian restaurant and thinking that you visited Rome. Got the picture? Don’t get me wrong. I love Banksy and his work. We visited Dismaland (twice), Bristol, Calais & London, to see his work. Because let’s face it, the best place to see a Banksy is still in the street, were it belongs. It’s not easy to find some originals, …