Off the Wall: Geometric

Intern at Large Karli Hendrickson just wrote me about a fantastic book she’s reading: “Off the Wall, Wonderful Wall Coverings of the Twentieth Century”  by Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker. In the second section of this book “Circles and Squares- Geometrics, Abstracts, Op Art, Minimalist Art” the book explains that geometric motifs were typical of the 1950’s. Post World War II, low-cost screen printing inspired the production of more experimental and avant-garde patterns. Also during this time, an upwelling of ranch homes in the growing suburbs inspired the wallpaper industry to create bold patterns wallpaper to accent and jazz up the simple, open, and modern design of these ranch houses. Textile designs at this time were also very bold and featured prisms, grids, doodles, and loops of geometric inspired design.

New York Watertowers in LA

Just got these installation shots from Social Control, a very cool production company in LA, that installed Tom Slaughter’s ‘NYC Watertowers‘ last week.  I’d say the pattern holds up quite well on the West Coast.  Thanks for the photos Jessica!

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!

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!

Still Life With Wallpaper

Intern-at-Large Karli Hendrickson just alerted me to Still Life with Wallpaper, a blog and Etsy site that features wallpaper in illustrations and prints.  Very charming work!

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 Park Avenue Armory

Images from the fully mounted antiquarian book fair at the Park Ave Armory in New York.  It’s amazing how dramatically the room transformed over the course of the week.  Tom Slaughter’s ‘Library‘ pattern is looking great!

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!

‘Identica’ Installation

Our first installation shot for Miky Fabrega’s ‘Identica’ pattern, part of Cavern’s first artist edition series.  Looks great!