A New Video Reveals How a Traditional Japanese Noh Mask Emerges from a Block of Cypress

Jun 8, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

Noh is the earliest theatrical art form in Japan and is still performed today. Developed in the 14th century, it often focuses on tales in which a supernatural being has transformed into a human and is narrated from the hero’s perspective. A core facet of the costumes is highly stylized Noh masks, which represent characters like deities, ghosts, and other figures, subtly emphasizing expression and emotion as their wearers turn in the light. A short documentary by Process X explores how the craft of carving the props by hand is kept alive by artisans like Mitsue Nakamura.

Starting with a block of Japanese cypress, Nakamura chisels the round face, eyes, nose, and teeth. Coated with a lacquer traditionally derived from crushed seashells mixed with glue, the form is then dried before being pierced on each side with a hot awl to tie strings through. The artist mixes pigments by hand to add color to the features, including blackening the teeth in a practice known as ohaguro, a fashion that was popular in Japan during the Heian period.

For some families and institutions, Noh carries a timeless and important legacy, and many historically significant and valuable masks, such as those made by the 15th-century Konparu school, are preserved in collections. “The term ‘face like a Noh mask’ is often used as a metaphor for expressionlessness, but the major characteristic of the world of Noh is that it expresses human feelings and inner thoughts rather than storytelling,” says Nakamura in a statement. “The better the mask is, the more the expression changes with a slight difference in angle.”

Process X frequently goes behind the scenes with makers and artisans, including in this video documenting the making of artistic manhole covers in Japan. (via Kottke)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article A New Video Reveals How a Traditional Japanese Noh Mask Emerges from a Block of Cypress appeared first on Colossal.

Latin American Artists Reinvent Their Histories

Jun 8, 2023 By Admin in Native

Our critic says “Chosen Memories” at MoMA is one of the most stirring recent collection shows. The theme of change and instability is a binding thread.

The land of the brave and home of the free has always been bearish about borders, about who gets in, who stays out. Politically we’re feeling that tension hugely now. And it’s always been evident culturally in, for example, the kind of art our museums have brought through the door.

The Museum of Modern Art’s long but sporadic pattern of collecting 20th century Latin American art offers a constructive gauge. Early in it favored art that it seemed to view as a species of exotica: folkloric, surreal, evidence that south of the border was wild, barely-modern terrain.

After World War II, with cultural exchange increasingly used as a diplomatic tool, MoMA wanted further engagement with new Latin American art, but now art of a kind that looked to be made by “people like us” — that is, work that appeared to carry clear evidence of European DNA, like geometric abstraction.

Then, in the 1970s came the global recession. Art markets went bust. And in the confusion, walls began to come down as the permission-giving shake-up called multiculturalism — pro-diversity, anti-essentialist — arrived.

More and more, as that initiating episode of what is sometimes called postmodernism recedes into history, it looks to be one of 20th century art’s finest, most germinative hours. MoMA has taken a long time — decades — to get on board with this, but is well along to judge by “Chosen Memories: Contemporary Latin American Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift and Beyond,” one the most stirring museum collection shows I’ve seen in New York in a while.

In the 1970s Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, a native of Venezuela and a longtime MoMA trustee, was already interested in Latin American art over a broad spectrum: Indigenous art; 19th-century work made by Europeans traveling there; hybrid colonial artifacts; and modernist painting and sculpture. In 2016, she gave the museum more than 100 modernist works, and there was a show. But already by then she had turned her attention to new art and in 2019 there was an even larger gift, this one of contemporary work, including photography and video.

In the “Catherwood Series,” Leandro Katz photographs himself holding up original images from Frederic Catherwood’s first look at ancient monuments, which established a romanticized vision of the “New World,” in front of the Maya monuments they depict. Leandro Katz

Some three dozen examples, most dating from the past three decades and supplemented by loans, make up the current show. And together they reflect — and critically reflect on — all the categories of Latin American art that interested her from the start.

For example, the complex history of colonialism, largely expunged from modernist abstraction, is brought into play in one of the exhibition’s earliest entries, “The Catherwood Project” by the Argentine artist Leandro Katz.

In the 1840s, the English artist Frederick Catherwood traveled twice to Central America and made drawings of Maya ruins there. Published as prints, his images gave the European public a first look at these ancient monuments and established a romanticized vision of the “New World” that persists into the tour-bus present. In his “Catherwood” series. Katz considers the accuracy of those images through on-the-spot comparisons: He photographs himself holding up the illustrator’s images in front of the Maya monuments they depict. Katz notes Catherwood’s manipulations, but also understands that he is inevitably adding his own distorting 20th-century view to a layered perceptual history.

Laura Anderson Barbata’s “Autorretrato,” from her series “Intercambios, Amazonas Venezuela (Exchanges, Amazonas Venezuela),” 1996–98, at MoMA. The Mexican-born artist learned from Yanomami people in the Venezuelan Amazon rainforest how they created canoes. In exchange she taught them papermaking. Laura Anderson Barbata

Indigenous culture, crucial to but underacknowledged by European modernism, is referred to repeatedly in the show. In 1996, the Mexican-born artist Laura Anderson Barbata spent time with Yanomami people in the Venezuelan Amazon rainforest learning, hands on, how they created their graceful canoes. In exchange for this instruction, she taught them papermaking. We see the fruits of reciprocity in the show: in a photograph, that Barbata has titled “Self-portrait,” of a hand-carved boat standing upright as if it had a life of its own; and in lissome drawings of Amazonian fauna and flora by the Yanomami artist Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, all done on handmade fiber paper.

Some artists make a deft, playful thing of tradition. The Mexican artist Gabriel Kuri toys with notions of value, labor and consumer culture in his loom-woven image of a supermarket receipt. So does the Puerto Rico collective called “Las Nietas de Nonó,” composed of two sisters (Mulowayi Iyaye Nonó and Mapenzi Chibale Nonó) who, isolated during the pandemic, turned their daily life into a kind of back-to-basics hunter-gather picnic.

Gabriel Kuri’s “Untitled (Superama II),” 2005, a loom-woven image of a supermarket receipt, critiques ideas of labor and value, tradition and consumer culture.Gabriel Kuri

What’s taken seriously is something that most mainstream Western art doesn’t know what to do with anymore, but which multiculturism notably respected: spirituality. In a 2020 painting by the Dominican-born artist Firelei Báez, a powerful Afro-Caribbean female deity dances across and dominates a 16th-century European map of the Atlantic Ocean.

And in pencil drawings, the Colombian-Korean artist Gala Porras-Kim documents hundreds of textile fragment left, centuries ago, as temple offerings to the Mayan rain god and now preserved in an ethnological museum at Harvard University. Included in the show is a letter the artist wrote to the museum’s director asking her to release the offerings from their archival prison and permit them to turn to dust as their givers intended. Their perishability, she argues, is what made them powerful.

The theme of change and instability, here often framed as loss, is one of the show’s binding threads, and a complicated one. Historically, loss can be violent, as suggested in a fierce work by the always astonishing, go-for-broke Guatemalan performance artist Regina José Galindo. For a 2010 work called “Looting,” which addresses the extractive depredations of European colonialism on her mineral-rich homeland, she had a dentist in Guatemala fit eight of her teeth with fillings made of locally mined gold, and then asked a second dentist, in Europe, to remove the fillings, which are displayed as art in a vitrine.

Still from Paulo Nazareth’s video “Antropologia do Negro II (Black Anthropology II),” 2014, in which the artist lies half-buried under the remains of prisoners that he found stored in a police museum.Paulo Nazareth

Several works about loss are, like hers, politically loaded. A short video titled “Black Anthropology II” from 2014 by Paulo Nazareth is one. In it, the artist lies half-buried under piles of human skulls and bones, the remains of Afro-Brazilian prisoners that he found stored in a police museum in Bahia.

In a 1989 photograph titled “The Two Fridas,” the Chilean gay activists Francisco Casas Silva and Pedro Mardones Lemebel (1952-2015), pose, bare-chested and skirted, their bodies connected by IV tubing, in an AIDS-era riff on Kahlo’s famed double self-portrait.

Their picture can be read as a tribute to partnership, artistic, or affectional, or both. So can a jaunty little sculpture assembled from a music stand, a pair of garden shears, and a single rose, dedicated to a friend — a lover? — by the elusive Venezuelan polymath Claudio Perna (1938-1997).

There’s a memorial vibe to this piece, as there is to a 2009 video that was actually conceived as a gesture of mourning-in-advance by the Uruguayan artist Alejandro Cesarco. Titled “Present Memory” (2010) it’s a silent filmed portrait of Cesarco’s father, a doctor, made soon after he’d received a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. We see the older man, with his elegant suit and extravagant mustache, sitting impassively in his office and being viewed repeatedly from various angles, as if to fix his features in our minds. Then the camera travels round the room, now empty. He’s gone.

Regina José Galindo’s “Looting,” 2010, eight gold fillings. The artist had a dentist in Guatemala fit eight of her teeth with fillings made of locally mined gold, and then asked a second dentist, in Europe, to extract the fillings.Regina Jose Galindo

Some fundamental tone of the show — organized by Inés Katzenstein, curator of Latin American Art at MoMA, and director of the Cisneros Research Institute, and Julia Detchon, a curatorial assistant — is distilled here: a kind of uneasy, ironic, reality-check melancholy that feels very different from the utopianism often attributed to Latin American art on the basis of the geometric abstract painting that has, until recently, defined it in many North American museum collections.

Actually, geometric abstraction has a presence, though an ambiguous one, in “Chosen Memories,” in the form of a site-specific mural painting by the Brazilian artist Iran do Espírito Santo. Composed entirely of vertical lines in subtly varying shades of gray, the painting is hard to see it first, like a passing shadow, or a dark smudge. It seems both to soil the white gallery wall and to dissolve it, to be either a meditational aid or a mistake. Titled “En Passant” and commissioned for the occasion, it will physically disappear when the show is done, but stay vivid as an idea, like much of the rest of what’s here.

Chosen Memories: Contemporary Latin American Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift and Beyond

Through Sept. 9, Museum of Modern Art, 11 East 53rd Street, (212) 708-9400; moma.org.

‘A very kind man with a big heart’: Community remembers University photographer Dan Sears

Jun 8, 2023 By Admin in Photography

The walls of Karen Moon’s home are covered in photographs gifted to her by Dan Sears, a UNC alumnus, North Carolina native, former University photographer and photojournalist.

Sears and Moon worked together at the University, but, beyond UNC, Sears was her friend.

One of his photographs, depicting fireworks glowing behind the Bell Tower, hangs above a bed in her spare room. She said that Sears gave it to her directly from the walls of his office.

Photo courtesy of Dan Sears/UNC-Chapel Hill. Fireworks explode behind the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower on July 4, 1993.

Along her stairwell are photos he took on the backroads of North Carolina, distributed to friends to be used as postcards and, instead, carefully framed and hung above Moon’s banister.

Sears died on May 25, but his memory is preserved by the pictures he took and the close community he formed.

“Dan never met a stranger,” Jamie Moncrief, a close friend of Sears, said.

When he first met Sears, Moncrief was a student photographer at John T. Hoggard High School on the sidelines of basketball games. Together, they captured shots of a young Michael Jordan as he played for Emsley A. Laney High School.

Sears captured the most iconic photos of Jordan’s high school basketball career, Moncrief said.

Sears was a photographer for the Wilmington StarNews at the time, though his career took him from The News Reporter in Whiteville, N.C., to the Associated Press, United Press International and UNC.

Sears gave Moncrief his first job after college as a photographer at the Wilmington StarsNews, where Sears was the photo editor.

“The biggest things he taught me as a photographer is be a person first and a photographer second,” Moncrief said. “And be genuinely interested in people and get to know them before you whip out your camera and try to capture their essence.”

Justin Smith is the publisher and editor of The News Reporter in Whiteville, a hometown he shares with Sears.

The two met in 2003, when Smith was Sears’ student assistant for his four years as a UNC student. Smith said that, along with his photography mentorship, Sears helped him feel more comfortable on such a large campus.

Sears engendered respect from those around him, according to Smith.

“You paid attention when Dan started talking,” Jon Gardiner, the current University photographer, said.

Sears had a way of making the subjects of his pictures comfortable, according to Patty Courtright, one of his friends and colleagues at the University Gazette, now called The Well.

He had a unique sense of how to portray people in a way that told their story and showed the best of who they were and what they did, she said.

“He just had such an ability to put people at ease, sometimes it was through humor or sometimes just through conversation,” she said.

One of the first characteristics peers used to describe Sears was his humor.

He was “bigger than life,” with a booming voice and laugh, and was the “king of the one-liners,” according to Moncrief. Still, he noted that Sear’s heart was as big as his personality and stature.

Sears was a volunteer and lifelong ham radio operator, according to Moncrief.

Mike McFarland, one of Sears’ supervisors at UNC and friend, recalled how Sears and his wife would invite his daughters to come to his house in their Halloween costumes and how his wife made a cross stitch for one of their daughters when she was a baby.

McFarland said that he was “salt of the earth” and a very kind man with a big heart.

“Seeing what everybody else has been saying has made accepting this a little bit easier and joyous to read that so many people have been trying to pay tribute to Dan’s legacy, not just to Carolina, but just as a great human being,” he said.

Editor’s Note: Jon Gardiner, Justin Smith, Jamie Moncrief and Mike McFarland are former staffers of The Daily Tar Heel.

@eliza_benbow | @dailytarheel

university@dailytarheel.com

To get the day’s news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

CTHC launches Free Family Art days

Jun 8, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

Summer art programs bring kids and families together across the county for creative engagement and this month, the Heritage Center will host its free art days every Monday.

The Chisholm Trail Heritage Center staff and volunteers will continue to engage with families each week to provide their annual Free Family Art Monday (FFAM) program to the community.

The FFAM program, which launched on June 5, is a free come and go event each Monday in June at the Heritage Center and is open to everyone.

The next FFAM will take place on June 12.

Each week of the program, all supplies are provided and families can complete a variety of art projects along with brief instructions.

Event and Marketing Coordinator Bailey Teakell said the theme for FFAM will focus on their “Diversity on the Trail” theme.

Teakell said their first FFAM went really well with 109 people participating in the event.

During the first art day, families created Native American projects to go along with the “Diversity on the Trail” theme.

“Participants made Native American headdresses and necklaces, as well as a bison head project,” she said. “All the participants seemed so excited to be here and making art.”

Teakell said they loved to see all of the creative moments with the families.

“A few participants even rushed up to us after finishing their projects to show us what they made,” she said.

During the event, CTHC hosted a photo opportunity where those attending were able to take pictures and pretend they were in a canoe.

Teakell said the upcoming projects are inspired by the life on the Chisholm Trail.

FFAM is located outside at the Heritage Center. In case of weather, CTHC may move festivities inside.

The Free Family Art Monday program is sponsored by Edward Jones Investments.

For more information about FFAM, call 580-252-6692 or email bailey@onthechisholmtrail.com.

James H. Brutger

Jun 8, 2023 By Admin in Printmaking

Jim Brutger, 90, of Duluth died peacefully on May 30th, 2023. He was born Oct. 10th, 1932, in Minneapolis to Madeline Berg and Philip Brutger. Jim grew up in Waite Park and graduated in 1950. He went on to graduate with a BS in Art Education from St. John’s in 1954, then earn his master’s degree at U of MN and a certificate at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, China. Jim was married to his HS sweetheart, Marjorie Theisen, for 69 years. He joined the US Army 1954-1956. He taught art education for 45 years and was head of UMD’s Art Dept 1974-1984. He also led multiple art groups in China and England. Jim has received many awards for his art and leadership, and has served on many boards. Jim enjoyed photography, painting, printmaking, woodworking, and spending time with family at his cabin.

Ara Oshagan Photography and Installation Exhibit at Armenian Museum of America Explores Issues of Dislocation and Cultural Identity – The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

Jun 8, 2023 By Admin in Photography

WATERTOWN — The Armenian Museum of America (AMofA) recently announced the opening of its next contemporary art exhibition, “Ara Oshagan: Disrupted, Borders.” The show follows the AMofA’s blockbuster exhibit, “On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s-1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection,” which received rave reviews and was viewed by thousands of visitors.

“Disrupted, Borders” at AMofA is an expanded version of what was previously exhibited at Stockton University Art Gallery in New Jersey, and the show is being curated by Ryann Casey. “This exhibition connects many of the diasporic and homeland entanglements that have occupied me over the past decade or more, from Los Angeles to Beirut to Artsakh,” stated Oshagan. “The works articulate a certain ‘diasporic liberation,’ as so well stated by Hyperallergic editor Hrag Vartanian in his introductory essay about the exhibit.”

The exhibition combines photography, collage, installation, and film, the last of which runs in the AMofA’s Rose and Gregory A. Kolligian Media Room. “The installation at Stockton was quite impressive in person and we knew this was something we wanted to bring to our Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries,” said Executive Director Jason Sohigian. “Ara’s photography is from the diaspora in Los Angeles and Beirut, as well as Armenia and Artsakh so it connects many historical elements with contemporary issues facing Armenians today.”

More than 55 works are on display including a massive mural from Oshagan’s “Beirut Memory Project,” as well as six large medieval manuscripts printed on fabric and overlain with photographs of people from Shushi, Artsakh. Eighteen Armenian Hmayil prayer scrolls are also reproduced for an installation in the middle of the gallery space. The scrolls are created from the digitized collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, and they are modified with “interventions” from Oshagan that reflect on travel, family, culture, and politics.

“Visitors will notice that some of the gallery walls are painted red. This color choice was intentional, and it is actually the color of the dye made by the Cochineal insect that is indigenous to the Ararat plain and Arax River Valley,” explained Sohigian. “Vordan Karmir is a familiar color in Armenian rugs, and Oshagan selected it with the curator to accent the exhibit. It adds another layer of meaning to the issues that Ara brings to this show around Armenian identity and culture.”

The mural and manuscript portraits on fabric, which are part of Oshagan’s Shushi series, are some of the largest works that have ever been exhibited in the AMofA galleries. “Ara’s innovative style allowed us to bring these larger-than-life images into the space so this installation offers many surprises from color to scale to medium, and a mix of time and place that will resonate with visitors,” added Sohigian.

2023 Mexico Design Fair’s Intimacy Belies Its Creative Reach

Jun 8, 2023 By Admin in Design

It’s been a short while since I’ve returned from the sultry Oaxacan coastline of Puerto Escondido, Mexico, after attending the third annual Mexico Design Fair. Unexpected plumes of volcanic ash blanketing Mexico City delayed arrivals and departures, foiling plans professional and personal alike. In hindsight, the pause offered a opportune moment to reflect upon both the parts and the sum of an event devised to spotlight the best of contemporary Mexican design, one as warmly memorable as the Pacific sunset that played backdrop for the entirety of our stay.

Situated on a 20,000-square-foot stretch of private Oaxacan beach, Casa Naila presents the central exhibition stage for a design fair unlike any other, inviting guests to meander at a thoughtful pace from one “room” to another. Photo: Gregory Han

One of four main exhibition displays within Casa Naila curated by Carlos Torre Hütt photographed from above showing checkered round table, woven armchair and woven room divider.

One of four main exhibition displays within Casa Naila curated by Carlos Torre Hütt emphasizing the region’s use of woven traditions reinterpreted into contemporary forms, including Hütt’s own Biombo Z wicker screen in yellow, Zebra table by Pedro Friedberg, and Porset lounge chair by Clara Porset. Photo: Gregory Han

Overhead view of Casa Naila in Puerto Escondido, Mexico.

Casa Naila’s four volume residence designed by BAA’Q Architects offered a gallery-like setting for attendees to experience the designs in changing light throughout the day. Photo: Jaime Navarro

Staged across various venues of architectural pedigree – Casa Naila, a beachside residence designed by BAAQ’s Alfonso Quiñones, Casa Malandra designed by Alberto Calleja, the newly revealed Meridiano gallery by architect Tatsuro Miki and Axel Vervoordt, not to mention a slew of destinations orbiting the fair such as Tadao Ando designed Casa Wabi, many deserving of an architectural pilgrimage themselves – MDF vacillates between the intimate and social, quiet and celebratory, obvious and revelatory against a dramatic coastal backdrop.

Side view of Mexico Design Fair press preview day installation with Casa Naila, Puerto Escondido.

Mexico Design Fair’s press preview offered media intimate access to the numerous installations staged within Casa Naila dramatically staged along Puerto Escondido’s coastline. From left to right: Wavy Bench, Bloom side table, and Ghost stool by Lyzbeth Lara and Prem Lorenzen, Kind Void Gray ceramic teapot collection by Lucila Rodarte, and Ajolote chair by Daniel Romero Valencia. Photo: Gregory Han

MDF is staged as a testament to the numerous talents of contemporary design working across Mexico City and beyond, a creative scene that isn’t always given its proper dues north of its borders. The event is in some sense curated to illuminate and inform all attendees across its three days of tours, talks, and festivities, but also celebrate knowingly of their own growing importance – a manifestation of IFYKYK.

First and foremost is the incomparable daydream residence of Casa Naila, a four structure home opened to the elements and guests during Mexico Design Fair. Orchestrated by MDF founder and chief curator Carlos Torre Hütt, the beachside escape was made into a loosely woven narrative of rooms showcasing traditions of materiality unique to Mexico. A few favorites below:

Photo by Gerardo Maldonado

All metal table console table with mirror-like polished top set on top of hundreds of thin metal legs.

The flawlessly polished metal surface of the Rainfall console by Lyzbeth Lara and Prem Lorenzen/STUDIO LINE BETWEEN dazzled with its evolving presence reflecting color, light, and its surroundings, day thru night. Photos: Gregory Han

The arching handles impart the “Kind Void Gray” ceramic teapot collection by Lucila Rodarte a delicate sculptural elegance of a swan neck. Photo: Gregory Han

Multicolor chromatic geometric design wool rug with a pair of wood chairs set across it.

The mesmerizing chromatic geometry of “Portal in Wool” rugs by Venezuelan artist Johanna Boccardo for ODABASHIAN set along a pair of wood chairs – “Ajolote II” and “Ajolote III” – by Daniel Romero Valencia, the recipient of the 2023 MDF Designer of the Year award. Photo: Gregory Han

Display of design objects including woven fans, terrazzo ceramics, and candle holders.

Casa Naila’s kitchen was converted into a showroom/gift shop for Guadalajara-based Albergue Transitorio,
displaying a range of design objects, crafts, accessories, and jewelry. Photo: Gregory Han

Set along to complement the main exhibition within Casa Naila, Fernanda Antillón and Mariano Rodea of the Leon based firm Casa Blanca Oficina worked with Javier Marín Foundation’s Fábrica de San Pedro in Uruapan, Michoacan to erect a shade structure that operated both as totem and refuge from the elements – soft architecture designed for temporary inhabitance, respectful of its imprint upon the site.

Striped pink and blue temporary shade structure installed on the beach at Casa Naila.

Activated by the gentlest presence of an ocean breeze, Casa Blanca Oficina’s fabric paneled wood framed shade structure flaps open, welcoming attendees into an intimate face-to-face seating interior. Photo: Gregory Han

Interior upward view within the striped pink and blue temporary shade structure installed on the beach at Casa Naila.

A glance upward revealing the structural framework of Casa Blanca Oficina’s thoughtfully constructed shade structure, engineered to withstand the ocean breeze. Photo: Gerardo Maldonado

Photo: Jaime Navarro

Mexico City–based designer Daniel Romero Valencia was awarded Designer of the Year framed within the Escher-esque brutalist confines of architect Alberto Calleja’s Casa Malandra. Photo: Gregory Han

The 2023 Mexico Design Fair concluded with a literal bang, dazzling beachside guests and locals with a pyrotechnic show choreographed by Canadian artist Brendan Fernandes incorporating traditional Mexican handcrafted “castillos” (castles) and “toritos” (little bulls) set ablaze to music.

Pyramid shaped Mexican portablepyrotechnic frame structure with coastal sunset in the background and seabird silhouette flying in the foreground.

The pyramid frame centerpiece, a Mexican portable pyrotechnic structure that would later be set ablaze into an explosive conclusion complemented by a dance program choreographed by Canadian artist Brendan Fernandes. Photo: Gregory Han

Pyramid shaped Mexican portable pyrotechnic frame structure set ablaze at night for firework show at Mexico Design Fair.

Fernandes’ sculptural pyrotechnic installation “The Light Will Call” represents a collaboration with the Martínez family from Salamanca, Guanajuato, a team with generational experience handling fireworks so intimately. The pyramid was inverted at the start of the program, becoming a symbol of newness and a sign for Queer space and otherness, then dissolving into a slowly burning sphere, “representative of a new day and the beginning of a new tomorrow.” Photo: Jaime Navarro

Noting the growth of Mexico’s contemporary design scene, Mexico Design Fair’s imprint will continue to deepen globally. Yet in attendance the event’s organizers reveal a welcome appreciation in nurturing an intimate and natural ambiance where designers and collectors alike are allowed to organically develop an understanding of the who, how, where, and why behind each design – an opportunity often absent during larger and crowded traditional trade shows. Here along the Oaxacan coastline, each object’s material and form are given a valuable context tied to landscape, the craft/artisan culture, and history of Mexico itself, washing upon the mind in rhythm with the ever-present crashing of the waves.

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

How To Become A Successful Photographer? Top Tips And Tricks

Jun 8, 2023 By Admin in Photography

By HWM Partners

Photography can be a very rewarding and creative profession, providing you with an outlet to express yourself and the opportunity to make money from your art.

If you’re passionate about taking pictures and are considering starting a career as a photographer, you’ve come to the right place! In this blog post, we’ll share our expert tips on how to become successful in the photography field no matter what level of experience or equipment you have.

Understand the basics of photography and practice regularly

Photography can seem intimidating to those who haven’t tried it before, but the truth is that it’s an incredibly rewarding hobby to pursue. With some basic knowledge of camera settings, lighting, and composition, anyone can take stunning photographs. But like any skill, it requires practice to get the hang of it. The more often you take photos, the more comfortable you’ll become with your camera and the more you’ll learn about what works best for you. By experimenting with different angles, settings, and subjects, you’ll start to develop your own unique style and vision.

Invest in quality equipment and learn how to use it properly

The world of photography can be a fascinating journey for those interested in capturing life moments through a lens. However, to produce high-quality images, it is crucial to invest in quality equipment and learn how to use it effectively. As a photographer, your camera is your tool, and it is what separates you from other hobbyists.

So, taking the time to research and purchase equipment that will elevate your skills is essential. If you’re looking to invest in quality equipment for your photography business, you can consider the best lenses for Nikon to capture a wide range of subjects with stunning clarity and detail. But don’t stop there! It’s also important to learn how to use your equipment correctly to get the most out of it. With practice and patience, you can master the techniques needed to create stunning images that will be appreciated and admired for years to come.

Develop a unique style that sets you apart from other photographers

Your style should be something that sets you apart and makes your work instantly recognizable. This doesn’t mean you have to completely reinvent the wheel – sometimes the smallest details can make a huge difference. Maybe it’s the way you use light or the way you frame a subject. Maybe you have a unique editing process that gives your photos a distinctive look. Whatever it is, take the time to experiment and find your own style. Not only will it make your work stand out, but it will also help you build a loyal following of clients who appreciate your unique vision.

Focus on learning the fundamentals of lighting, composition, and posing

Photography is an art form that requires a lot of technical skill and creative vision. To truly master it, one must focus on learning the fundamentals of lighting, composition, and posing. Lighting can make or break a photo, and understanding how it works and how to manipulate it can greatly enhance the final image. Composition is also crucial, as it involves the arrangement of subjects within the frame, choosing the right angles and perspectives, and knowing when to follow the rule of thirds.

Finally, posing plays a vital role in creating a sense of mood, story, and personality within a photograph. It requires both direction and collaboration between the subjects and the photographer, and it can make a huge difference in the overall quality of the final product. By mastering these foundational elements, photographers can take their work to the next level and create truly stunning images.

Take advantage of online platforms

As a photographer, you’re always looking for new ways to showcase your work and reach new clients. Online platforms are the perfect solution. From social media networks like Instagram and Facebook to professional sites like Behance and 500px, there’s no shortage of places to share your work. These platforms offer an incredible opportunity to connect with potential clients who may not have discovered you otherwise. By sharing your best shots, interacting with your audience, and leveraging features like hashtags and search engine optimization, you can take your photography career to the next level.

Build relationships with other professionals in the industry

To be successful in any industry, it is important for professionals to establish relationships with their peers. This is particularly vital for photographers, as collaboration and recommendations play a significant role in expanding their business. By connecting with other photographers, you can benefit from a community of support, learn new skills and techniques, and even gain access to new clients. Relationships with other photographers can also lead to exciting projects and opportunities that you may not have otherwise encountered. Whether you attend networking events, join online groups, or simply reach out to individuals whose work you admire, investing time in building relationships with other photographers can be incredibly beneficial in both your personal and professional life.

Photography is an art form that requires a blend of technical skill and creative expression. With dedication and practice, there’s no limit to where your passions can take you. So don’t be afraid to dive deep into the world of photography – let your creativity be unleashed!

This content is part of the HWM Partnership.

A Key Biscayne Condo Building With a Lobby That Evokes Tranquility

Jun 8, 2023 By Admin in Design

Grand Bay Residences is a minimal residential building located in Key Biscayne, Florida, with a lobby designed by Hino Studio, with spaces that utilize natural tones and earthy hues to evoke a sense of tranquility and calmness throughout. Neutral patterns were threaded throughout the home to establish a seamless visual continuity. Materials such as linen and jute were used to create an organic touch that enhance the inherent warmth of the space.

A series of meticulously-crafted custom built-ins are featured within the residence. Detailed cabinetry and thoughtfully designed shelves are expressed through understated trim work and expert craftsmanship. Apart from aesthetic statements, these elements provide practical storage solutions as well.

Interspersed strategically, blackened steel details create bold counterpoints to the soft, muted tones surrounding them. This juxtaposition of industrial strength against delicate fabric establishes a compelling balance between the robust and the soft, introducing elements of contrast within the interior landscape.

Photography by Kris Tamburello.

Leo Lei translates his passion for minimalism into his daily-updated blog Leibal. In addition, you can find uniquely designed minimalist objects and furniture at the Leibal Store.

The best photography gifts for dads

Jun 8, 2023 By Admin in Photography

Dads love cameras, both as a way to capture special moments and just as fun gadgets. If your father wants to go beyond their smartphone, a new camera would certainly be a welcomed gift. The question is, what type does he need and how much should you spend? We found some of the best models with the latest tech, like fast shooting speeds, sharp video and incredible autofocus. Better still, they cover a wide range of prices, and we’ve also recommended some accessories to complement the gear your dear father already owns.

GoPro Hero 11 Black

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

GoPro Hero 11 Black

GoPro didn’t change the design on its latest model, but it has a larger sensor that enables a couple of cool features – Horizon Lock stabilization and Full Frame mode that makes it easier to shoot for, say, TikTok and YouTube at the same time. Otherwise, the Hero 11 Black offers better video quality than ever (up to 5.3K 60p), Hypersmooth stabilization that’s still the best in the business (by far), battery life that’s improved by 40 percent over the last model, and more. The best action product on the market is not the cheapest – but if your dad is serious about filming his exploits, it’s well worth it.

Canon EOS M50 II and EOS R100

Canon

Canon EOS M50 Mark II

Canon’s EOS M50 II is three years old, but with current deals, it’s the best value camera you can give your dad right now.

Canon’s EOS M50 II is three years old, but with current deals, it’s the best value camera you can give your dad right now. It offers features like a 24.2-megapixel sensor, flip-out screen, tap-to-record and focus, plus 4K video with a 1.5x crop. Its light weight makes it a great travel camera, with the flip-out display allowing your father to shoot selfies or do some vlogging. If you want to pay less and your dad can wait an extra month, though, Canon just released the 24.2-megapixel R100. It has most of the features of the M50 II, but lacks a flip-out display. It’s priced at just $480 for the body only, or $600 with a 16-50mm lens, which makes it the cheapest mirrorless camera on the market. You can pre-order it now, but shipping is set for July.

Canon EOS R50

Canon

Canon EOS R50

Still in the budget category but stepping up a notch is Canon’s 24-megapixel APS-C R50, which will suit your dad whether he does photography or video.

Still in the budget category but stepping up a notch is Canon’s 24-megapixel APS-C R50, which will suit your dad whether he does photography or video. It can shoot bursts at up to 15 fps in electronic shutter mode, and offers 4K 10-bit video at up to 30p with supersampling and no crop. It has a fully articulating display, and unlike other cameras in this price range, an electronic viewfinder. It uses Canon’s Dual Pixel AF with subject recognition mode, and even has a popup flash. The only drawback is the lack of in-body stabilization, but the electronic stabilization is very effective with the price of a slight crop.

Sony Alpha ZV-E10

Sony

Sony Alpha ZV-E10

If your father is a content creator, Sony’s 24.2-megapixel ZV-E10 APS-C camera is a strong budget option.

If your father is a content creator, Sony’s 24.2-megapixel ZV-E10 APS-C camera is a strong budget option. It can shoot sharp, downsampled 4K video at up to 30 fps with a 1.23x crop (or 1080p at 120 fps) and uses Sony’s fantastic AI-powered autofocus system with face and eye detection. It also has a few creator-specific features like Product Showcase and a bokeh switch that makes the background as blurry as possible so your subject stands out. Another nice feature is the high-quality microphone that lets you vlog without the need to buy an external mic. The main drawbacks are the lack of an EVF and rolling shutter.

Nikon Z5

Nikon

Nikon Z 5

Nothing will enhance your father’s photos like the sweet bokeh of a full-frame camera, and the 24-megapixel Nikon Z5 is a stellar option.

Nothing will enhance your father’s photos like the sweet bokeh of a full-frame camera, and the 24-megapixel Nikon Z5 is a stellar deal right now. It’s mostly aimed at photographers, with features like hybrid phase-detect autofocus and Nikon’s excellent color science. And for such a budget option, it has desirable features like five-axis in-body stabilization, dual fast UHS-II card slots, a 3.69 million dot OLED electronic viewfinder and a tilting touch display. Video isn’t a strong point, but it can handle 4K 30p with a crop and 1080p at 60fps.

Canon EOS R8

Canon

Canon EOS R8

Moving up in price, Canon’s EOS R8 is a better-rounded option if your dad likes shooting video as much as taking photos.

Moving up in price, Canon’s EOS R8 is a better-rounded option if your dad likes shooting video as much as taking photos. It has the company’s excellent Dual Pixel AF with subject recognition AI, and can shoot bursts at up to 40 fps. It’s equally strong with video, supporting oversampled 10-bit 4K at up to 60 fps. The R8 also offers a flip-out display, making it great for vloggers. The main drawback is a lack of in-body stabilization.

Panasonic Lumix S5 II and S5 IIX

Panasonic

Panasonic LUMIX S5II

For dads who take their content creation very seriously, check out Panasonic’s full-frame S5 II. It’s the company’s first camera with hybrid phase-detect AF designed to make focus “wobble” and other issues a thing of the past. He can shoot sharp 4K 30p video downsampled from the full sensor width, or 4K 60p from an APS-C cropped size, all in 10-bit color. It even offers 5.9K 30p capture, along with RAW 5.9K external output to an Atomos recorder. It also has a flip-out screen for vlogging and updated five-axis in-body stabilization that’s the best in the industry. The main drawback is the slowish burst speeds, but it’s made for video more than photography. If you don’t mind spending an extra $200, the S5 IIX lets you record in the Apple ProRes format directly to an SSD, or in RAW modes (Apple or Blackmagic) via the external HDMI port.

Peak Design Everyday Messenger

Peak Design

Peak Design Everyday Messenger

With its rugged, practical design, Peak Design’s Everyday Messenger Bag is an ideal gift for adventurous or photo-shooting dads.

With its rugged, practical design, Peak Design’s Everyday Messenger Bag is an ideal gift for adventurous or photo-shooting dads. It’s built with a lightweight yet durable 100-percent waterproof recycled 400D shell with the ingenious Flexfold dividers in the main storage area. It also offers a pair of zipped pockets, two elastic side pockets and a compartment big enough for a 13- to 15-inch laptop. I own one myself and find it practical both for work and daily activities, letting me fit a camera, lens and laptop along with my wallet and keys. At $230, it’s not the cheapest bag out there, but your dad won’t have to buy another for a good while.

Magnus VT-4000 tripod

magnus

For dads serious about video, the Magnus VT 4000 is the best budget tripod option. It’s stout enough to handle a mirrorless camera and accessories weighing up to 8.8 pounds, more than the eight-pound weight of the tripod itself. That lack of heft makes it practical for travel, while the fluid head helps you tilt and pan smoothly. Other features include a middle spreader to keep things steady and legs that extend up to 64 inches so you can match the eyeline of your subjects. All of these features come for $199, a relative steal considering the quality.

Joby GorillaPod 3K mini tripod

Joby

Joby JB01507 GorillaPod 3K Kit

The most useful accessories out there for vlogging dads are Joby’s famous mini-tripods, and the best one for the money is the GorillaPod 3K.

The most useful accessories out there for vlogging dads are Joby’s famous mini-tripods, and the best one for the money is the GorillaPod 3K. Attaching your camera couldn’t be easier thanks to the secure clip-in mounting plate with a built-in level. The flexibility also lets you set your camera anywhere to shoot, or even wrap it around a tree or other object. And, of course, you can bend them out for the ideal vlogging angle and steady out your shooting, to boot.

Lexar V60/V90 UHS-II SD cards

Lexar

Camera-loving dads can never get enough memory cards, but they can be a pretty pricey gift. One of the best budget options is Lexar’s V60 UHS-II SD cards, which offer a good balance between speed and value. The 120MB/s write speeds are enough for most H.264/H.265 4K video modes, and you can then transfer files to your computer at up to 250MB/s. If that’s not fast enough, Lexar’s new 1800X V60 II cards offer 270/170MB/s read/write speeds at good prices, and for the best performance, check out their V90 UHS-II cards, which deliver read/write speeds of 300/260MB/s.