Respecting Our Elders: Todd Oldham

What is it about Todd Oldham that makes him so inspiring? I see his work and my heart skips a beat. His books, his photographs, graphic design, products, and interiors all exude this organic, joyful quality.  His innocent, colorful quality translates perfectly to his ingenious Kids Made Modern project, an educational and crafty guide to design.  Maybe it’s Oldham’s ability to express his unique perspective in such a wide variety of different mediums that ultimately makes him so appealing.

In this blog, loosely dedicated to walls, patterns, and surface inspiration, I thought I would include a few images from his website of the interiors he has designed.  So cool:

Renegade Crafts Fair

Intern at Large Karli Hendrickson and I checked out the Renegade Crafts Fair in Brooklyn last weekend – it was an almost overwhelming display of hand-made crafts.  Karli took some pictures of some of her favorite artists:

Allison Cole

AMH

Bow & Arrow

Caitlin Keegan

Gold Teeth Brooklyn

Happy Owl Glassworks

KOM

Morris & Essex

Souldier

Survive Design

Tugboat Print Shop

Thanks for the photos, Karli!

Design Heroes: Josef Frank

This past weekend I stopped into Just Scandinavian, a design shop in TriBeCa, and I have been thinking about designer Joseph Frank ever since.  His wallpaper, textile, and furniture designs all exude the simplicity and vibrancy associated with Scandinavian design, but they also have a fanciful quality that is uniquely his own.  I love how it all looks so colorful and bold while still being refined and tasteful.  The shop keeper at Just Scandinavian described Frank as the “Swedish William Morris,” as both designers shared a passion for pattern and nature, and both came to define their respective national aesthetics.  I told her that walking into the store, I felt like I died and went to color heaven.

Check out Just Scandinavian- they have an online shop and sell home goods by Frank and other amazing designers!

Inspired Walls in Rihanna’s Latest Music Video

Rihanna’s latest music video, directed by Melina Matsoukas, is one of the more original videos I’ve seen in a while.  My favorite sequence features some amazing sequences in a Keith Herring-inspired room.

Watch the video here.

Patterns in Paintings: Barkley Hendricks

I’m a huge fan of Kehinde Wiley- especially the way he uses color and pattern to activate his canvas.  Cavern Intern-at-Large Karli Hendrickson just told me about another artist, Barkley Hendricks, who was born in 1948 and was a predecessor of Wiley.  Best known for his 1960’s and 1970’s portraits of people in urban American, Hendricks clearly shows a flair for pattern repeats.  Read more about him and his exhibition at the Studio Museum here.

Thanks for the heads up, Karli!

Fairey in Detail

Finally had a chance to see the Shepard Fairey mural on Houston & Bowery  and snapped these photos of the most wallpaper-like elements of the piece:

Tom Slaugher Watertowers at Michael Hennessy Home

Photos from the Michael Hennessy Home opening party last night.  The store is featuring Tom Slaughter’s NYC Watertowers wallpaper — with his framed, watertowers print on top.  A very literal representation of my interest in the blurry line between wallpaper and fine art.

Fairey on Houston

Shepard Fairey just put his mark on the wall Keith Haring made famous, on Houston and Bowery.  Like Haring, Fairey covers surfaces with his signature style and activates spaces that were previously neutral, unnoticed, or forgotten.  But unlike Haring, Fairey’s work draws direct inspiration from traditional wallpaper– his oft used, repeating floral pattern looks like it came right out of a baroque living room.  By conjuring wallpaper right beside images that evoke posters, newspapers, stickers, and flags, Fairey creates the illusion of paper layers and toys with the idea of surface itself.

To me, Fairey’s mural on Houston highlights the perhaps obvious but nonetheless dramatic transformation that has happened to New York since Haring painted his mural on the same spot in 1982.  “The corner of Houston and Bowery was a desolate area to begin with,” Haring once recalled, “so we decided that we didn’t have to ask permission.  We thought that if we cleaned up the garbage then no one was going to ask us whether we had permission to paint it.”  How times have changed!

New York Magazine has a terrific slide show of the installation process.  I’m looking forward to seeing the show at Dietch.

[Images from Tom Slaughter]

Cavern at the Armory!

Tom Slaughter’s ‘Library‘ pattern was installed yesterday for a temporary exhibition at the Park Avenue Armory.  The legendary Sandy Smith is hosting his annual antiquarian book fair this weekend.  Slaughter’s pattern makes for a perfect entrance.  I’ll get more photos from when the space is fully installed, but here’s a sneak preview of the installation.  Thank you Sandy, Tom, Kimberly, Marianna, and Tom Nulty for coming together to make this happen!

Liberty of London for Target

Fabulous intern-at-large Karli Hendrickson just stopped by Target to see the new Liberty of London for Target line.  Sounds like the collection is as amazing in person as it looks online.

Liberty of London has been around since 1875 and is famous for their high quality floral prints. They have even printed patterns by my wallpaper hero William Morris.  I love how the brand applies their style to such a wide range of objects: anything from lamp shades to bikes to Nike sneakers.  Karli also points out how cool it is that such a high-end luxury brand would work with Target.  Design to the people!