Discovering Through Other Eyes: Captivating Artworks, Exhibits, Galleries & Objects
Recs by Noora Raj Brown, Ginevra Rossini, Bart Kooi, Ramya Giangola, Laird Borrelli-Persson, David Martin, Salvador Cosio, Rachel S Small, Ana Sting, Clémence Polès, Juan López Moreno-Calull, Talía Cu
As promised, not everything was going to be about fashion at The Art of Discovery. For this new installment, I’ve asked a selection of tastemakers, artists, editors, industry leaders and people I find cool, “What is the exhibit, art gallery, or design object that has captivated you recently?”, and they, very generously, have shared the following thoughts. I've done my part by adding images to illustrate and hyperlinking all the recommendations so you can easily access them to dig deeper.
In this post I hope you’ll discover fascinating objects and artworks, interesting creatives, both contemporary and from the past, amazing places, galleries and exhibitions worth visiting, and much more inspiration. Enjoy!
Noora Raj Brown, EVP of Brand at goop + Founder of Objects of Desire
@noorarajbrown
“I’ve always dreamed of owning a piece of lighting by Jeff Zimmerman. His work is so ethereal; the branches with hand blown glass reminiscent of a single strand of cherry blossom. R & Co recently debuted a selection of his rare early works: illuminated sculptures that show an artist studying, perfecting his craft. I’m fascinated by early/mid-career works - the ones that exist before the stride of “genius.””
“At the Rothko show last year in Paris, his early figurative works are stylistically so different from the color paintings he became known for, but the feeling, the need to express turmoil and isolation is still present. There is something so human about the struggle to find your medium of expression.”
Ginevra Rossini, Founder of Riding Safari Club
@ginevrarossini
“Recently I was in Japan and visited the islands of Teshima and Naoshima and was literally blown away by the experience and art installation destinations.”
“Also, a captivating documentary I recently saw that was incredible was Tehachapi, The Yard by Jr”.
Bart Kooi, Founder of Cabmate
@cabmate
“I recently visited the exhibition “Le monde comme il va” at the Pinault Foundation in Paris, and the “To Breathe – Constellation” by South Korean conceptual artist Kimsooja truly left an impression on me. The installation is made up of an immense mirror on the floor of the Bourse de Commerce’s rotunda, which visitors are invited to walk over. The glass dome above the rotunda and its 360-degree mural are already impressive on their own, but with Kimsooja’s installation, you feel as if you are floating through the space and becoming part of a living artwork.”
Ramya Giangola, Founder of Gogoluxe + Fashion Retail & Brand Strategist
@ramya
“I recently had the great pleasure in meeting the artist Sean Gin who specializes in ceramics and is based in Los Angeles. His work is currently displayed at Natalie Martin’s new store on Melrose. Sean’s work is very tactile, and I especially love the vases he has created that have dynamic shapes and a mixed use of color and hand created texture.”
Laird Borrelli-Persson, Senior Archive Editor at VOGUE
@the_lbp
“The Ballets Russes has been a passion of mine since my teens when I discovered Richard Buckle’s biographies of Serge Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky, so I was thrilled to go and see the exhibition on that pivotal troupe at The Morgan Library. I was fascinated to learn that Nijinsky and his sister had learned a form of choreographic notation that looked a lot like a musical score and also that there was an unedited version of the dancer’s diaries, which I immediately bought and read. It was written in a period of psychosis that would eventually lead to the dancer being sent to a mental hospital, and was very moving and sometimes sad.”
“Some of Nijinsky’s chorography was inspired by the 2D effect of the art on Grecian urns, so it was sort of mind-blowing to read what the translator, Kyril FitzLyon wrote about the dancer’s use of language: “Nijinsky yields increasingly to the seductions of wordplay, taking the syllables of his words apart, fashioning new words, and again and again juxtaposing words on the basis of sound, or ‘clanging.’ ”The new and unconventional ways that Nijinsky used steps and words speak to me of freedom at a time when it feels like everything is templated and framed, often quite literally, by the shape of the phone. What is new today? Who dares? That is the quest.”
David Martin, Founder & Editor-in-Chief of ODDA Magazine
@davidmartingss
“To your question, I don't have one exhibition or gallery that is a must in my life but it is recurring in my pattern of interacting with art, visiting the Yayoi Kusama museum every 6/9 months when I'm in Tokyo as well as the exhibitions at Southbank London. As for a design object, I’m in my living design and pro-modernist era, so I’m very attracted to anything that is part of our everyday life - from a bed with a particular design to a mug, something very minimal with a timeless and modern touch. From nobody in particular but with the commonality that it's all retro modernist.” [Examples shared below]
“I always keep an eye to Gagosian Gallery. It is a branch of art to which I am linked and closer and that always build an identity on the artist and his medium. Also, Frieze London and at the same time Frieze Seoul; the Daniel Arsham exhibition opening in September that I can't wait to see; and Kukje Gallery in Seoul.”
Salvador Cosio, Menswear Editor & Stylist + Head of Brand & Fashion Image at SVD
@mr.dairy
“I went to Copenhagen this summer and I visited the incredible Louisiana Museum. There’s a Franz Gertsch exhibition right now that blew my mind. It was my first time seeing Gertsch’s work that close and some of the pieces just feel... monumental. Especially the ones featuring a woman called Irene. They have a very high fashion vibe.”
Rachel Summer Small, Lifestyle & Entertainment Trends Reporter at Daily Mail + Culture Editor at Family Style
@rachelsummerssssmall
“I loved The Campus Upstate, which is a collaboration between the art galleries Bortolami, James Cohan, Kaufmann Repetto, Anton Kern, Andrew Kreps, & Kurimanzutto. The inaugural exhibition program expands across the entire campus of a former high school in Hudson, and the whole experience of discovering the installations room by room felt really raw and magical.”
Ana Sting, Multidisciplinary Artist
@ana_sting
“An art gallery that has captured me is Bombon Projects in Barcelona.”
Clémence Polès, Founder of Passerby
@clemencepoles
“Matthew Barney's SECONDARY at Fondation Cartier in Paris really drew me in with its intricate exploration of aging masculinity, sports culture, and American identity. I’ve always been drawn to art that digs deep into the human condition, which is probably why I created a platform dedicated to exploring the inner lives of passersby. Funnily enough, I visited the exhibition right after an impromptu viewing of Bad Boys: Ride or Die on the big screen, which turns out, makes the perfect prelude. Highly recommend the pairing.”
Juan Moreno López-Calull, Interior Designer
@johnbrowncalui
“The Mark Rohtko exhibition at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris last January… so impressive. I think is the major retrospective ever done of him, and although Rothko is an artist that I didn’t love, now I am captivated and I see him with different eyes.”
Talía Cu, Editor of Latin Zine
@taliacu
“A design object that has captivated my recently? A 3d printed bag created by Iceblade and Cueva, a Mexican fashion brand.”
What is an exhibit, art gallery, or design object that has captivated you recently?
So many incredible finds on this list!