Paul Smith: art or fashion ?

The exhibition entitled "Paul Smith @ Illford" is held until 8 December at the store located at 3 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore in Paris, and was previously shown this summer in the Paul Smith shop of Tokyo. This series of exclusive photographs, made by the British artist Martin Parr highlight the winter 2007-08 collection by Paul Smith. For this project, Martin Parr met people from the street in the city of Illford and photographed them dressed in Paul Smith. "I used real people because I know that Illford, only 10 km from the center of London, is full of different ethnic groups in addition to being a welcoming town." This exhibition also displays color in the pages of "Fashion Newspaper ," created by Martin Parr.

To learn more: http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/

Jeff Koons broke my heart ...

NEW YORK - "Hanging Heart", the huge stainless steel heart of the American Jeff Koons, sold Wednesday evening by the auction house Sotheby's, has found a buyer for 23.6 million dollars (including fees ), hence becoming the most expensive work of a living artist sold at an auction. The previous record for a living artist had been reached with the sculpture "Lullaby Spring" by Damien Hirst. The piece was sold for 19.5 million dollars at Sotheby's in London last June. "Hanging Heart" was bought by Gagosian Gallery, which has also acquired "Diamond (Blue)", another sculpture by Koons, for 11.8 million dollars. The sale of contemporary art by Sotheby's on Wednesday reported 315.9 million dollars, a record for the company.

At Christie's on Tuesday, another work "Liz (Colored Liz)" drew the attention. Made in 1963 by American artist Andy Warhol, the portrait of Elizabeth Taylor was sold to an anonymous buyer for 23.7 million dollars. London media claimed that the seller was the actor Hugh Grant.

Paris Photo : 15-18 November 2007

Duane Michals
Dr. Heisenberg Magic Mirror of Uncertainty, 1998 Max Estrella

Paris Photo returns

Over the decade since it first began, Paris Photo has won recognition as the world’s premier fair for photography. This event offers a deep and broad view of the medium, with the best of fine art photography from its earliest days until the most recent, and a forward-looking worldwide overview of what is happening in this art form.

On November 15-18, 2007, Paris Photo brings together 104 exhibitors (83 galleries and 21 publishers) from 17 countries. With 26 first-time participants and 73% of its exhibitors from abroad, the 2007 selection promises to be one of the best in the show’s history. Eighty-three rigorously chosen international galleries are presenting more than 500 artists in monographic
and thematic exhibitions, and collective showings of rare or previously unseen work.

Oswaldo Ruiz
Pemex IV, 2006 Luis Adelantado Valencia / Miami

Alongside the 18 French galleries, Italy, with its 16 galleries, remains the largest foreign representation followed by the U.S. (15), Spain (7), Germany (6), the UK (5), the Netherlands and Japan (3 each), Finland (2), and one each from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Luxembourg, Portugal and South Africa.

Contemporary photography is gaining ground with the first-time participation of international names like Yvon Lambert (Paris / New York) and Massimo Minini (Brescia) and the return of the Kicken (Berlin) and Xippas (Paris / Athens) galleries.

The record participation of 21 publishers in Paris Photo 2007 (compared to 18 in 2006) is yet another sign of the boom in the market for photography books.

Simon Norfolk
Tibetan Refugees in the McLeod Ganj District of Dharamsala, India Bonni Benrubi Gallery

Guest of this year honour: Italy. For this eleventh edition, Italy is being honored through a retrospective in a "Central Exhibition" with works from the UniCredit collection and gathers great figures of Italian photography from 1979 to 1990. "The Statement" will showcase emerging artists such as Luca Andreoni, Botto e Bruno or Lorenza Lucchi Basili.

Finally, the "Project Room" shows a panorama of contemporary video developed with the support of Italian institutions. Two young talents are also to be awarded. On 15 November, the price BMW-Paris Photo will reward an artist on the theme "Water in the origin of life". The SFR Young Talents award will also allow five young artists, who were selected at the end of October, by a jury, to exhibit their works that explore the theme of "urbanity: Learn to live together in the city".


More info on : http://www.parisphoto.fr/

Chanel likes Zaha Hadid

Coco Chanel was friend with many artists and invented patronage before the hour. Lipchitz, Cousteau, Stravinsky and Diaghilev, ranked among the artists she helped. Now Karl will collaborate with Zaha Hadid for a mobile exhibition. The design was launched in Venice during the Art Biennale opening weekend.

The form of the Chanel Pavilion is a celebration of the iconic work of Chanel, unmistakeable for its smooth layering of exquisite details that together create an elegant, cohesive whole. The resulting structure is very much tied to that original inspiration—elegant, functional, and versatile both in its overall structure and detail.

The architectural structure of the Pavilion is a series of continuous arch-shaped elements, with a courtyard in its central space. The glazed ceiling adjusts to allow for control of the interior temperature in response to the particular climate conditions of each venue city.

To learn more : http://zahahadidblog.com/projects/2007/06/13/zahas-travelling-exhibition-pavilion-for-chanel