“Directed by Wes Anderson” … translation … a true work of art that will, in fact, make me insanely jealous and should be framed… if it weren’t a movie. Sigh. I love Wes Anderson films. Each one is an amazing story filled with hilariously strange characters, but for me, it’s the artistic attention to detail that pushes me over the edge! I love that every single one of his movies has a very specific color palette, and a perfectly chosen typeface that is present throughout the film. Don’t even get me started on The Royal Tenenbaums {I loved it so much I dressed as Margot Tenenbaum for Hallowe’en in 2002. True story.} Anderson’s latest project, titled Moonrise Kingdom, is going to be in a theatre near you this spring. Here, in an IMDb nutshell, is what it’s about:

“Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, as a young boy and girl fall in love they are moved to run away together. Various factions of the town mobilize to search for them and the town is turned upside down — which might not be such a bad thing.”

I would happily put any of these stills in fancy frames and hang them on my wall. Each one of them truly is a piece of art:

I. Can’t. Wait.

ps. As I said, one of my favorite things about any Wes Anderson film is the typography – and this time is no different. The script for Moonrise Kingdom is perfect. Thanks to a tweet from Tina Roth Eisenberg of @swissmiss, I found out that it was designed by Brooklyn based letterer/illustrator Jessica Hische. Lovely ♥

This is not a new story, but it’s just so beautiful that I had to write about it! Jiyeon Song created this amazing, experimental, typographic, and literally poetic sculpture called “The One Day Poem Pavilion”. The words to the poem are revealed as the sun passes over the sculpture, shining through a series of perforations. Depending on when you happen to walk by, you’d only see one or two lines of the poem… unless you sat very still, from 8am until 4pm, and watched the words slowly appear and disappear, revealing the entire six line poem. So amazing. But wait, there’s more:

“The specific arrangements of the perforations reveal different poems according to the solar calendar: a theme of new-life during the summer solstice. During the summer solstice, the poem will contain the theme of “new life”. During the winter solstice, the poem will be on “reflection and the passing of time.”

Yep, I’m in complete awe.

Oh, where to begin. This year’s Cheaper Show in Vancouver was, umm, fantastic! From the Friday night preview show, to the giant line-up that started in the wee hours of Saturday morning and lasted late into the night, straight through to the actual event. An amazing venue, thousands of very cool people, some very tasty chocolate cake, and of course, fabulous art. I got there early on Friday night and was able to go around and see the entire show… that was a little trickier later that night, and almost impossible on Saturday {too many interesting people to stop and chat with!} As I made my way around the gorgeous space, this was the sound I kept making {please note, I was alone at this point so I’m sure I sounded like some kind of crazy art groupie}… Gasp! Wha?! The dialogue in my head went something like this: “What?! They’re in this show!? I’ve written about him/her, I love him/her, and now I’m seeing their work up-close and in person! Holy #$%@”. Yep, that’s what it sounded like inside of my head, all night long. 1. Ben Skinner, 2. Vincent Pacheco, 3. Aaron Moran, 4. Erin M. Riley, 5. Russell Leng, 6. Zoe Pawlak… and the list could literally go on and on. There were also a truck load of artists that I’ve never written about before who I now love, have seen their work up-close and in person, and will be writing about in the very near future. Like tomorrow.

{ps. I was lucky enough to have two of my pieces in the show, and they both sold! Yay/phew.}

The list of things needed to make me jealous today:

A second hand Olympia typewriter, a little bottle of white correcting fluid, and a stack of beautifully mundane 6×6 negatives shot by a French artist named Christophe Dillinger. Obviously, a swivel chair would have been the cherry on top of that list, but sadly, no swivel chair… for anyone.

Reminders is a funny, beautiful, text-based photography series by Austin artist Erin Hanson. Let’s be honest – we could all use a few tips to help us become better, more regular, people, yes? Yes. Oh hey, I think it’s working already… I just washed my dishes, and I plan on feeling the music later this afternoon.  See? Helpful reminders really do work. Now, go call your parents… and finish that bran muffin!

{via frankie magazine}

Do you love typography? How about famed Italian film maker Federico Fellini? Well then, today is your lucky day! Canadian artist Jenny Shipper has created an artsy, typographic ode to Fellini, “each letter form containing elements present in Fellini’s films, whether it be set decoration, characters, line quality or Fellini himself. From A to Z each letter evolves into it’s own entity, individual as it is unique.” Love.

Yes… so far this experience has been all of those things:  astounding, brilliant, amazing, incredible, fabulous… Washington DC is astounding, Ben is brilliant, the staff at the gallery are amazing, and we got to do an incredible interview yesterday. In short, it’s been fabulous!

The 65′ mural is done. The two storey high foam board scaffolding sculpture has been assembled. The site-specific work is in place throughout the neighborhood {ex. ‘every time you walk by’, shown above},  and there are just a few pieces left to hang at the gallery today… and then at 7pm the doors at Honfleur Gallery will open. I’ll be back with a full report {and photos of everything mentioned above!} on Monday morning – wish us luck! Oh, and if you happen to run into the Obama’s, let them know that they’re invited. Thanks!

Austrian artist Mareike Auer is best known for her simple, humorous paintings that “try to get the bottom of everyday occurrences”. Now, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t show any of those? Well, I was going to show the business man riding a fox, or maybe the glass jar full of horses… until I found this little collection! What can I say, I fell in love. Game on, indeed.

Sí, sí, sí indeed! Ok, I have to admit that I don’t understand anything {except sí} on the mainly Spanish blog of Argentinian artist Andrea Cavagnaro. I do, however, understand that her work is amazing! I always get excited by the stacks of colored felt at the art supply store, but I’ve never really known what to do with it. Do I wish that I’d done something as fantastic as this?… sí.

{titles in english: 1. every love is powerful  2. UFOs  3. inhale/exhale  4. yes}

{via Pattern Pulp … great Q&A with Andrea on there too!}

In December, I wrote the first post in this series to keep you in the loop re: one of the coolest things I’ve ever been asked to do! Now it’s just a little more than a month to go until TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS AS PAINFUL AS IT SEEMS, a solo show by Canadian artist Ben Skinner, opens in Washington DC! The invites are being printed today, I’m knee-deep into writing the curatorial statement, and Ben is up to his elbows in glitter, vinyl lettering, and pink wood stain. Yep. It’s going to be amazing! Above are just a few of the pieces that will be part of the final show. You better get there quick though… I might end up buying everything!

{Honfleur Gallery March 4th ~ April 8th 2011 : Opening Reception Friday March 4th 7 ~ 9pm  // Oh my word… so excited that this is actually happening?!}