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05 18 14
Sunday in the park… A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Un dimanche après-midi à l’Île de la Grande Jatte),one of Georges Seurat’s most famous works, is a renowned example of pointillism. The painting was first exhibited in 1886, dominating the second Salon of the Société des Artistes Indépendants, of which Seurat had been a founder. Art Institute of Chicago.
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05 17 14
Starwood is introducing a major brand refresh for its Le Méridien properties that carries the theme “Destination Design,” which includes a comprehensive new advertising campaign, marketing initiatives and a visual identity system that launches new design approaches to hopefully deliver a new perspective of global travel and hospitality. The Le Méridien brand, which has a portfolio of more than 120 hotels in 50-plus countries worldwide, was established in 1972 by Air France “to provide a home away from home for its customers.” The featured video depicts the design team’s inspiration, approach and process. It is interesting to see their influences including cinema, architecture and newer editorial content and design. Overseen internally, the rebranding also includes menus, business cards, brochures and stationery. The rethinking of the brand also ties back to the hotel and guestroom design. All in all, it is a deep dive into a big rebrand and shows the importance of research, exploration, strategy and execution. Making us all crave a summer trip to the city of light…
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05 16 14
Say it big… Honey, I Twisted Through More Damn Traffic Today, Ed Ruscha, May 2014 – May 2015, adjacent to the High Line at West 22nd Street, New York. Ruscha presents his first-ever public commission in New York, a large-scale work hand-painted by a professional mural company on the side of an apartment building adjacent to the High Line at West 22nd Street. One of his few public art works ever realized, Ruscha’s mural combines his interests in architecture, language, and public space to create a dry and humorous commentary on life in the contemporary metropolis. Camouflaged in the architecture surrounding the High Line, Ruscha’s giant street sign reads like a speech bubble emanating directly from the streets of New York – a collective thought balloon hovering on the High Line like a silent soundtrack for a new symphony of the city. Photographs by Timothy Schenck. Public art— a very good thing…
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05 16 14
Art SPOTTED. Christopher Williams | The Production Line of Happiness | The Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitechapel Gallery, London. With a career spanning 35 years, Christopher Williams (born 1956) now stands as one of the leading contemporary artists engaged in photography. Deeply invested in the techniques and history of photography, Williams is just as profoundly committed to contemporary art as a forum for intellectual inquiry and thoughtful opposition—resisting, for example, a capitalist society in which photographs typically act as agents of consumer spectacle. Through exacting mimicry—and stunningly beautiful images—Williams’s work has subtly questioned the conventions of photojournalism, picture archives, fashion, and commercial imaging. This exhibition, Williams’s first retrospective is definitely one of the more important shows of the year. Wrapping up in Chicago this weekend, catch it in New York or London if you can…
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05 15 14
Wit, humor, design & burrito. The new Chipotle Cultivating Thought packaging curated by renowned author Jonathan Safran Foer and featuring influential thought-leaders, authors, actors and comedians. Cheers…