Bindis and Bullets

Shades of Gray

ekphrastic — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 22:39:39 +0000

Gray Gallery, a new gallery in West Hollywood, just opened last month. The gallery is a combination of vintage jewelry, colored gemstones, and one-of-a-kind pieces by artists. Cousins Vram Minassian, a jewelry designer, and Chahan Minassian, an interior decorator, conceived of their endeavor from an organic perspective. Chahan asked artists he works with to create pieces for the opening, including a massive bronze-inlaid wall by Peter Gray.

“Whichever artist that he comes in contact with and then he represents, they’re already very, very talented artists,” said Vram of his cousin. “But once they go into Chahan’s world, he goes, why don’t you make it this way, and bigger, taller, skinnier. For example, that massive wall, that’s 26 ft x 12 ft high, it’s the biggest that Peter Lane has ever done, and that’s because Chahan stretched his vision from making small sculptures or mirrors, to growing. We think L.A. is absolutely the perfect place… because we definitely have the size, versus New York, where it’s a lot smaller, or Paris.”

“I like a lot of vintage collections, and actually one of my specialties is to show in Europe, American ’30s, ’60s,-‘70s, one-of-a-kind designer pieces, which is not what I’m doing here. Because basically here, I think there’s a lot of it, and not good,” said Chahan, who is from Paris, Vram based in L.A. “…But, basically, equally, I think what I am bringing is a little more of the personal vision to things, a little more selective and individual approach to unique pieces. I think there’s really time for that. Every piece that is here is a unique piece done by a sculptural or artist just for us.”

Estate and jewelry-dealer Ineke Peskin located one-of-a-kind vintage pieces for the show from Cartier and Boucheron, shelved inside of the wall itself. One vintage jewelry collection in the window of the wall was labeled simply, as a charming Frenchman with the key informed me, “French”. Consisting of unknown French jewelry designers, this collection made me think of wistful walks on a secluded beach along the coastline in France during the ’40s. And of course, on a gray, cloudy day. On view through the winter, until Gray’s next show.

Vintage Cartier

French Vintage and estate Jewelry

Imaginable seascapes

hearts a’flutter

ekphrastic — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 00:41:40 +0000

Paris Vogue cover of Audrey Hepburn from May 1963. Hepburn starred in the film Charade, in Paris that year, shot on location. Tres bien!

paris 1963

No Place Like Home

ekphrastic — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:19:11 +0000

Rad kicks, courtesy of Chic Little Devil Style House:

Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?

ekphrastic — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:00:49 +0000

Gaga Over Gaga

ekphrastic — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:29:09 +0000

Lady Gaga featured in the Dec. issue of Vogue for editorial shoot inspired by Hansel and Gretel. Clever.

JAWS

ekphrastic — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:50:09 +0000

M.I.A in Jean-Charles Catelbejac at Jimmy Choo for H&M event in Hollywood.

PHOTO BOOTH

ekphrastic — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:06:40 +0000

Photographer unknown.

Florence and the Machine

ekphrastic — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:55:59 +0000

This British singer and group are in a word, outstanding.

Interview with NylonTV here.

kao pao shu

ekphrastic — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:04:52 +0000

I attended Simply Stylist a little while ago during L.A. Fashion Week, an event for stylists and celebrities to check out talented and lesser-known designers. While I was there, a stylist picked up some rad pieces for an editorial shoot with Juliette Lewis in S Magazine.

The line, Kao Pao Shu, (which sounds like something Lewis would exclaim while onstage) features designs by Naida Begeta. Begeta is from Sarajevo, Bosnia, having moved to L.A. from Italy a couple of years ago.

The designer’s recent collection includes handmade purses made out of seat belts that mold to the body, and dresses of ribbons and prints from her own artwork. According to her PR rep, Charlie Cario-Cooper, Begeta’s collections are adjustable, flexible, and easy to wear.

In the war between fashion and art, these pieces have no enemy:

Gucky

ekphrastic — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:01:12 +0000

James Franco’s spoofs himself as the new face of Gucci in a video for Funny or Die. It is amusing how Franco refuses to oblige in sexy-face, even for an ad campaign .

Image from Gucci ad:

Franco in his comfort zone:

James Franco: Gucci Commercial Outtakes from James Franco