The future of a major collection of Polaroid photographs has been secured by Vienna’s WestLicht Museum of Photography. The Museum and its owner – Peter Coeln – have announced the purchase of the International Polaroid Collection, as well as plans to share it with the public in an exhibition running June through August 2011 at the Museum.

The acquisition ensures the continued existence of the collection, which was at risk of being broken up for sale at auction after being placed on the market by liquidators dealing with the Polaroid company. The collection-which, since 1990, had been housed at the Swiss Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne-consists of 4.400 artworks from 800 artists, including the likes of Peter Beard, Robert Mapplethorpe, Minor White, Ansel Adams, Sally Mann, and Andy Warhol. It was compiled by the company between 1970 and 1990.

Physicist and Polaroid founder Edwin Herbert Land invented the instant film process in the late 1940s, and from the beginning invited famous artists to experiment with the material. Prior to its insolvency, the company had two major collections – one based in Europe and the other in the U.S. Rarities from the American collection were sold at auction by Sotheby’s in New York in 2010.

The WestLicht has also joined forces with the Impossible Project, which saved the last existing Polaroid film factory in Enchede, Netherlands, and is developing new film material for traditional Polaroid cameras. In the spirit of Polaroid’s collaborative history, Impossible also invites artists to work with the new film. Some of the resulting works will be included in the June exhibition.

Check out images from the International Polaroid Collection, courtesy of the WestLicht Museum, below. For more information on the collection, visit the WestLicht Museum site.

*above: Mary Ellen Mark 1990, 9,5 x 7,5 cm (3 3/4 x 3 in.) / WestLicht Collection

*above: Robert Mapplethorpe 1979, 11,5 x 9 cm (4 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.) / WestLicht Collection

*above: Yousuf Karsh, Marshall McLuhan, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto 1974, 33 x 25 cm (13 x 10 1/4 in.) / WestLicht Collection

*above: Marina Abramović & Ulay 1990, 72 x 56 cm (28 x 22 in.) / WestLicht Collection

*above: Peter Beard 1987, 70,5 x 55 cm (27 3/4 x 22 in.) / WestLicht Collection

*above: Lucien Clergue, Le Cerf Volant, Bretagne 1984, 42 x 40 cm (16 3/4 x 16 in.) / WestLicht Collection

*above: William Wegman 1987, 76 x 55 cm (30 x 22 in.) / WestLicht Collection

*above: Oliviero Toscani, Andy Warhol 1975, 7,5 x 9,5 cm (3 x 3 3/4 in.) / WestLicht Collection

*above: Sally Mann, Composition II 1985, 64 x 56 cm (25 1/4 x 22 in.) /WestLicht Collection

*above: Ansel Adams, Yosemite Falls & Flowers 1979, 8 x 8 cm (3 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.) / WestLicht Collection

*All images courtesy of the WestLicht Museum.

Now showing: Artist Sandra Eula Lee‘s “Two Waters (Seeds in a Wild Garden)” exhibition at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Inspired by her research on urban plant landscapes, Lee’s new show explores the “defiant gardens” that emerge in rapidly industrializing areas through drawings, photographs, and installation.

Lee finds many of her materials in the neighborhoods she lives in and around. In “MountainMountain,” for example, the rocks are construction rubble that went to sea and washed ashore everyday in Xiamen, China, where she was an Artist-in-Residence for three months. According to Lee, “Chunks of asphalt, concrete and bricks with bits of tile and ceramic were weathered by the ocean and washed ashore as rounded stones. It was a beautiful process I couldn’t ignore.” And “Seeds in a wild garden” was made from rubble Lee collected from a local construction site, including broken rebar, bricks, work gloves, gnarled wire, and bent nails, painted to match the colors of the neighborhood gardens surrounding it.

We had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Lee about her new work and show.

above: “Seeds in a wild garden,” 2010. Materials collected from construction sites in Korea, paint in colors of local gardens

In your own words, what was the inspiration for the show?
Two years ago, I traveled to Korea for a residency at IASK Goyang through the National Museum of Contemporary Art. What began as a search into Korea’s wartime history evolved into a wider interest in the landscape and how it has been reconstructed over time. Driving to see the country’s landscape, the mountains, and surrounding waters outside the cities left a great impression on me, as did the constant sight of construction.

During my time in China I was greatly affected by the gardens in the water towns of Suzhou, and later by the mountains and surrounding waters of Xiamen that related to the landscape I experienced in Korea. Over time I began to consider the garden’s relationship with the landscape~ how the garden is essentially an expression of people’s philosophy or attitude with their surroundings. Both gardens and landscape are constructions, and both are ephemeral, or cyclical, in nature. This thread shaped the travel and work I did this past year in Korea and China, considering a variety of garden structures and altered landscapes.

How did the BBG’s offerings shape the work in the exhibition?
At the BBG I started with Japanese garden traditions, spending time in the Garden and meeting with the curators of the Starr Bonsai Collection and the Japanese Hill and Pond Garden, who kindly offered their time. And with the librarian’s help, I’m mining the archives and reading books that approach the garden as a container for ideas and identity. This is my interest in bringing my artwork to the BBG audience, to highlight alternate forms of garden-making and question some of the cultural assumptions that are attached.

How much of the work was made pre- and post- your residency at BBG?
The BBG continues to shape the work in the exhibition~ by that I mean new works will be added to the show during the course of my residency, which continues until the exhibition closes on June 5.

Some of the works were created during my time in Asia, though they were re-shaped and re-contextualized for the BBG. Other works were made during my residency at BBG, which began over a month ago, and are an extension of my study with access to the resources there. The “Two Waters” project continues to grow and has taken a unique turn at BBG. Come May, I will add a new series of drawings to the exhibition. By keeping the show alive with new works, I think viewers can have greater participation with my process as Artist-in-Residence.

What does the phrase “Two Waters” reference exactly?
I can say there are many references for “Two waters” that fit the work. Because of that I chose the title and enjoyed how it connects thoughts on boundaries, reflection, and spaces of contemplation.

Describe your thoughts on the concept of defiant gardens in the midst of rapidly industrializing societies.
The term comes from a incredible book, “Defiant Gardens” by Kenneth Helphand that I read when I began my residency at BBG. In it, Helphand proposes that the power of a garden can be strongest when it exists in inhospitable conditions. This incongruity highlights the humanity that gardens can represent. Focusing mostly on gardens made during wartime, Helphand’s book really resonated with me and opened my eyes, creating further connections with the work I started with in Korea. Images in the exhibition include documentation of various gardens created amongst the construction sites and historical landscape in Korea and China. And “Seeds in a wild garden” is created from rubble I collected from a local construction site in Goyang, painted in colors of the neighborhood gardens. I think the idea of a defiant garden is something that we can really relate to when living in an urban center.

How do you see man-made gardens and landscapes in the grander scheme of nature?
And spontaneous (non-man-made) gardens/landscapes ?
I see they are a part of each other and exist with each other. Man-made gardens are an expression, ephemeral in nature and need care to survive. Spontaneous gardens on the other hand grow for survival and adapt to natural cycles for survival. I think there’s a lot of grey area in between with constant negotiation of territories.

above: “MountainMountain,” 2010, Glass, sea-weathered construction rubble, acrylic sheets, spray paint

above: “Pursuing the horizon” (series), 2011, Potted street garden, China; Potted plants, street sale, China; Potted roof garden, China; Potted plants and laundry, China. Photographs, wood panel, spray paint

above: “Pursuing the horizon” (series), 2011,Bonsai plant, China; Soswaewon garden pond, Korea; Couple’s garden, China; BBG pond, U.S. Photographs, wood panel, spray paint

above: “Two waters (Seeds in a wild garden), Exhibition view,” Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 2011

*All images copyright and courtesy the artist.

“Two Waters” runs through June 5th at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden:
1000 Washington Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11225
(718) 623-7200

Brooklyn-based designer Orlando Dominguez mixes color and function for playful yet purposeful home decor pieces. Some of our favorites include his revamped traditional chairs, sporting bold paint and fabric combinations. Dominguez is the creative director and CEO of GIN Art & Design.

This month, Design Within Reach hosts “Brooklyn on the Verge of Spring,” a solo exhibition of the designer’s vibrantly colored, urban-inspired pieces at its Brooklyn Heights studio location. The exhibit runs through March 17th, so there are just a few more days to check it out!

To learn more, visit ginartdesign.com or dwr.com.

Design Within Reach:
76 Montague Street
Brooklyn, NY

*above: yellow front chair

*above: blue front chair

*above: Pink Chic chair

*above: Om Tea Table

*above: Buddha Tea Table

*above: one of Dominguez’s metal yoga sculptures

*above: one of Dominguez’s metal yoga sculptures

*Images courtesy of White Noise Showroom.

Now showing: Rodarte: States of Matter at MOCA LA.

Celebrating the art of fashion, MOCA’s newest exhibition presents recent fashion and costume design pieces by Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the sister-dream-team behind the house of Rodarte. Portraying Rodarte’s experimental, daring, and often conceptual garments as charged, sculptural objects, States of Matter features creations from Rodarte’s Spring 2010, Fall 2010, and Fall 2008 runway collections, as well as original ballet costumes designed by the Mulleavy sisters for the recent hit, Black Swan.

This is the Mulleavy’s first solo exhibition on the west coast, and follows last year’s hit installation at New York’s Cooper-Hewitt: Quicktake: Rodarte. The MOCA show was curated by MOCA Associate Curator Rebecca Morse and designed by Alexandre de Betak, and is presented by Swarovski.

Kate and Laura Mulleavy received their bachelor’s degrees in liberal arts from UC Berkeley in 2001. Following their graduations, they returned to their home in Pasadena and launched Rodarte – without any formal fashion training – in 2005. Since then, they’ve launched a dozen instinctively designed, eclectically inspired collections (motivated by everything from Japanese horror films to California Condors) and won multiple awards, including the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2009.

Rodarte: States of Matter runs through June 5, 2011 at MOCA, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

*images by Autumn de Wilde, courtesy of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Now showing at New York’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery: Walls, Diaries, and Paintings, a solo exhibition of Brooklyn-based artist José Parlá‘s latest work. Featuring fifteen new paintings (see below!), the show traces Parlá‘s ongoing exploration and documentation of the world’s cities and cultures – mirroring the colors and textures of alleyways and neighborhoods from Istanbul to Tokyo, from Havana to New York.

Parlá’s paintings – with their vibrant strokes, crumbling signs, and fragmented words – are revelations, proof of the history of these neighborhoods, multi-layered markers of the passage of time and the evolution of a place’s identity.

Born and raised in Miami, Mr. Parlá’s practice began in the graffiti culture of the 1980s, and has since grown to reflect his identification with the work of artists such as Jackson Pollock and Cy Twombly. He attended Savannah College of Art and Design, and now lives and works in Brooklyn.

In coordination with the exhibition, Hatje Cantz is publishing a new monograph – also called Walls, Diaries, and Paintings – which is available for pre-order now at Amazon.

Walls, Diaries, and Paintings runs through April 16th at:
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery
505 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011
www.brycewolkowitz.com

*above: Your History

*above: The Struggle Continues

*above: If I was Water

*above: Order, Pattern, Organization, Form and Relationship

*above: Victory

*above: the artist, José Parlá

*Images courtesy of Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery

New York’s Bruce Silverstein Gallery presents Shinichi Maruyama: Gardens. For his latest project, Maruyama has created a conceptual series of twelve images inspired by the mental and physical endurance necessary to create a Japanese Zen garden. Drawing a line between himself and the monks who maintain Zen gardens in Japan, Maruyama has created surreal compositions by repeatedly throwing tempera paint into the air and then photographing and combining the frozen moments for beautifully balanced, otherworldly and physically powerful images (see below).

According to the artist: “It is said that a Zen garden represents in a three dimensional space the spirits of high priests who have achieved enlightenment. The Zen garden is the expression of boundless cosmic beauty in a physical environment, created through intense human concentration, labor and repeated action.”

Maruyama was born in Nagano Japan, and has lived and worked in New York since 2003.

Gardens runs through April 2 at Bruce Silverstein Gallery:
535 W. 24th Street
New York, NY 10011

above: Garden #3

above: Garden #8

above: Garden #12

above: Garden #1

above: Garden #6

*images courtesy of Bruce Silverstein Gallery

-Review by Matt Mulholland

Thanks to his unmistakable, comic-book-style dot paintings, Roy Lichtenstein has long been revered as a cornerstone of Pop Art. While his signature, brightly colored works might be his most celebrated, The Morgan Library has traced the roots of the icon’s Ben-day dot style back to his black-and-white drawings in an outstanding new exhibition titled Roy Lichtenstein: The Black-and-White Drawings, 1961-1968. Assembling over fifty drawings, shown together for the very first time, The Morgan explores the artists’ lesser known, yet historic works.

By 1960 Lichtenstein was a mid-career artist already showing his Cubist and Abstract-Expressionist works in New York galleries. Inspired by contemporaries including Claes Oldenburg and George Segal, Lichtenstein abandoned his former precepts and radically shifted his focus to imagery from popular culture and techniques that mirrored those used in commercial graphics. The drawings on display at The Morgan are the first instances where Lichtenstein appropriated images of pop culture such as his now famous comic book strip excerpts, instruction manuals, and singular everyday objects such as a cup of coffee or a couch.

In addition to the drawings, The Morgan Library also built a separate room to house a very special work created by Lichtenstein– a full-sized three-dimensional door, a representation of one of his own black-and-white drawings. The piece is the only surviving element from an obscure exhibition in 1967, where Lichtenstein used black tape on white walls to create a life-like extension of his work. Unpublished photographs of the whole Lichtenstein room adorn the Morgan’s tailored display.

One particular highlight of the Morgan’s show is its examination of Lichtenstein’s drawing processes. Because Lichtenstein’s execution is as interesting as the finished products themselves, the artist proves to be the perfect subject for such a study. The Morgan devotes plenty of space for visitors to learn about Lichtenstein’s tricks of the trade: There is giant display showing the many objects the artist utilized to produce his drawings– compasses, enormous window screenings varying in size and shape, mail-order catalogs, as well as comic strips depicting war and romance. In examining his transformation into a lion of the Pop Art movement, the viewer also explores his journey through different tools, techniques and subjects.

Visitors also have an opportunity to examine Lichtenstein’s masterful, precise imitations of commercial prints. His earliest drawings are profoundly simple; they depict a typical solitary object against a stark black background. As Lichtenstein refined his approach to mimic the products of mechanical Ben-day dot printing, his subjects grew more and more complex. Later examples include a pilot and an airplane’s cockpit, the geometric sole of a pair of Keds, and a pensive woman staring out her window.

Lichtenstein’s progression from experimentation to eventual perfection is undeniable. Essentially he succeeded in creating an original piece of art that masqueraded as a copy. Paradoxically, by imitating mechanical printing processes, Lichtenstein formed his own signature style, producing his greatest contributions to the medium of drawing and the Pop Art movement.

Roy Lichtenstein: The Black-and-White Drawings, 1961-1968
Through 1/2/2011
The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street
New York, NY 100016
www.themorgan.org
Roy Lichtenstein: The Black-and-White Drawings, 1961–1968 is underwritten by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

*above:Roy Lichtenstein. I Know How You Must Feel, Brad!. 1963. Graphite pencil, pochoir and lithographic rubbing crayon. 30 x 22 ¼ in. (76.2 x 56.5 cm). Private Collection. © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Photography: Schecter Lee, 2009.

above: Roy Lichtenstein, Knock Knock, 1961. Brush, pen and india ink. 22 ½ x 20 in. (57.2 x 50.8 cm). The Sonnabend Collection. © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

*above: Roy Lichtenstein. Him, 1964. Graphite pencil, pochoir and lithographic rubbing crayon. 21 5/8 x 17 in. (54.9 x 43 cm). Saint Louis Art Museum, Eliza. McMillan Trust and Friends Fund 138:1972. © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

*above: Roy Lichtenstein. Baked Potato, 1962. Brush and india ink and synthetic polymer paint. 22 3/8 x 30 1/8 in. (56.8 x 76.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
(by exchange). 385.1984. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art
Resource, NY / The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA. © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

*All images courtesy of The Morgan Library and Museum. All images © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

As part of its centennial celebration, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden has invited environmental artist Patrick Dougherty to erect a monumental branchwork sculpture on its grounds this summer. Natural History, as its called, was finished earlier this week, and took Dougherty and a team of volunteers three weeks total to construct. Together, they wove tree saplings and branches into Dougherty’s first New York commissioned sculpture, a playful, nest-like shape that calls to mind childhood, fairytale lands. The site-specific piece will stand for four seasons in the Plant Family Collection area of the Garden, through July 2011. Images below!

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900 Washington Avenue / Eastern Parkway
(adjacent to Brooklyn Museum)
For more information, visit www.bbg.org

*above: Natural History

*above: Natural History in progress

*above: Natural History in progress

And here are samples of some of Patrick Dougherty’s earlier works…

above: Lookout Tree, 2008, Turtle Bay Arboretum, Redding, CA. Photo Credit: Tom Vlanos

*above: Trail Heads, 2005, Maple and sweet gum saplings, 30’ high. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of the North Carolina Museum of Art

*above: Sortie De Cave (Free at Last), 2008, Jardin des Arts, Chateaubourg, France. Photo Credit: Charles Crie

This year, Dom Pérignon pays tribute to Andy Warhol with a collection of three beautiful bottles. Inspired by Warhol’s legendary iconic representations and his playful use of codes and color, Dom Pérignon commissioned the Design Laboratory at Central Saint Martin’s School of Art & Design to reinterpret its timeless bottle. The resulting set, each with a distinct label in red, blue or yellow, pays homage to Warhol’s iconic color games.

Interestingly, Andy Warhol’s relationship with Dom Pérignon goes back some time, as evidenced by this entry from his diary on March 8th, 1981, after returning to New York from a show in Munich:

“Went to the gallery where they were having a little exhibition of the glittery Shoes, and had to do interviews and pics for the German newspaper and then we had to go back to the hotel and be picked up by the “2,000” people – it’s a club of twenty guys who got together and they’re going to buy 2,000 bottles of Dom Pérignon which they will put in a sealed room until the year 2,000 and then open it up and drink it and so the running joke is who will be around and who won’t…”

Images below…

*above: Dom Pérignon’s Warhol-inspired tribute collection.

*above: portrait of Andy Warhol.

*All images courtesy of and © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

On a recent visit to the San Francisco area, a friend introduced me to the playful world of “Yarn Bombing.” Also known as “graffiti knitting” and “yarn storming,” this public knit-art trend is popping up all over Berkeley. Working under the dark of night, the city’s knit bombers’ campaign creates unexpected yarn sleeves for public works of art, traffic signs and more, to many Berkeley citizens’ glee.

The stormers themselves remain anonymous, though one pair going by the name StreetColor has been labeling its installations, and has even started its own blog to document work. Another, the international organization called KnittaPlease, may be serving as inspiration for some of the work as well.

Take a look at a handful of yarn bombs below. They’re excellent reminders that the world is full of beautiful surprises; you just have to keep your eyes open and pay attention.

*Image by StreetColor’s “Russian”

*Bottom photograph from StreetColor. All other photos by Anna Carnick.