Lifestyle

Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld Does Dallas Art Fair

By Maxine Trowbridge in Lifestyle No Comments Tags: ,

When my fellow Brit and artistically acquainted friend James Cope told me, he was visiting the Dallas Art Fair, and why, I had to seize the moment and catch some inside scoop from the most stylish art curator on the New York art scene—Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld.  Life is full of odd coincidences; I just featured his mother Carine Restoin Roitfeld this week. It’s raining Roitfelds!

 

Nicolas Pol, Self-Invited Venredies, 2012.

James is a good bloke, and solid contemporary art connoisseur, he left Dallas last year to take a cultured bite out of the big apple, and, needless to say, his artful circles connected him with Mr. Roitfeld—so I asked for a short Q&A about his impending appearance in Dallas for the Dallas Art Fair.

To get better acquainted with Mr. Roitfeld, let’s think, Fashion Week, Armory Arts Week, Dallas Art Fair, just a few locations that Roitfeld has shown at this year and Frieze Art Fair this coming May.  Then add the stylish friends that he hangs with such as, Derek Blasberg, Inez Van Lamsweerde, Margherita Missoni, and Stavros Niarchos, to mention only a few.  Über cool, fashionably connected, but most importantly he is one astute and talented curator.

Quattara Watts, Vertigo #9 2012.

MT: What made you decide to participate in the Dallas Art fair? VRR: I have never participated in an art fair before. The Dallas art fair is young and exciting and seems like a good fit for me, and for the artists that I am bringing.  I have heard a lot of good things about the city and the art community here and I am very pleased and honored to be part of it.

MT: What brought you to work with James Cope? VRR: I was introduced to James about 3 months ago, and I must say that it all started as a pure coincidence, as I had already planned on participating in the fair. I met James and discussed and learnt that he had spent some years in Dallas curating the Goss-Michael Foundation. James has a lot of experience here, and it was a great opportunity for me to collaborate with him.

MT: What artists will you be presenting at the Dallas Art Fair? VRR: Yi Chen (China), Richard Dupont (USA), Nicolas Pol (France), and Ouattara Watts (Africa).

MT: What’s next for you? VRR: I am organizing a show in Istanbul, which opens on April 26th, in collaboration with Istanbul 74. More art fairs and a special project I am working on at the moment for next fall….and, soon becoming an Uncle!!

Visit Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld at the Dallas Art Fair this weekend!

 

 

Pop Goes The Panda

By Maxine Trowbridge in Lifestyle 2 Comments Tags: , , ,

This past chilly Saturday evening in Dallas, if you were not staring at glitter panda paintings, then you missed the opening celebration at the Dallas Contemporary featuring New York artist Rob Pruitt.

Rob Pruitt Exhibition at Dallas Contemporary

Executive Director Peter Dorenshenko brings forth yet another amazing artful feat—made specifically for the Dallas Contemporary, this is Pruitt’s first major institutional exhibition in the United States, and his largest.  With so many pandas under one roof I wanted to eat bamboo!

 

I posed quite happily with one Panda, a handsome bear and perfectly poised. As the camera clicked, I sensed someone behind me, I turned around with glee to find Rob Pruitt standing next to me—this was truly a panda perfect moment with Pruitt, so I snapped another.

Me with Rob Pruitt (not a terribly great shot, but my fave).

It’s a question of what kind of panda do you relate to, a panda on the loo, a panda with a pink Mohican, a panda eating bamboo, WWF WTF panda’s? This menagerie of panda pop culture all monochromatic and glittery never gets old—the playful nature of pandas and Pruitt are simply precious.

 

In addition to Rob Pruitt, visit the exhibitions by David Jablonowski, and Austin-based artist Failure—the trilogy is triumphant and a contemporary treat.  All exhibitions are showing now through March 18th. Visit Dallas Contemporary for more details.

Dallas Contemporary is Nuts About Jennifer Rubell

By Maxine Trowbridge in Lifestyle 1 Comment Tags: , ,

Blonde, brunette, red head – take your pick! The Dallas Contemporary is not ‘Bananas’ its absolutely nuts about the latest exhibition Nutcrackers by artist Jennifer Rubell. I met the artist this past Saturday at a brunch hosted by the Dallas Contemporary – naturally I arrived fashionably late, in fact one hour late (so much for thinking this was buffet style – a breeze in, breeze out, kind-of luncheon), only to be seated next to Jennifer at a wonderful seated lunch – how embarrassing!

 

 

So the kinds of nutcrackers that you’ll find at the Dallas Contemporary are the superwoman kind, quite literally. Eighteen life-size mannequins preferably described as sculptures showcase the dichotomy of highly-sexualized nudes versus strong, powerful nut-busting females.

 

 

Take your turn squeezing the inner thigh of a tall blonde and crushing some nuts – oddly liberating. The exhibition also includes a giant pedestal holding a ton of pecans – and to be precise I mean exactly one ton of Texas pecans. I wonder how long it will take to crush all those nuts?

 

 

Exhibition is open now till December 4th – visit current exhibit for more details.