Rafael Arocha is an established fine art photographer who currently lives and works in Barcelona. He was born in Gran Canaria, Spain and has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout his home country. Despite strong ties to Spain, his work is universally relevant; he explores conceptual arenas such as memory, ritual, and ephemerality. In grappling with these subjects, Arocha exhibits a wide range of styles, from intensely dramatic to quietly piercing. In this curated selection from his recent series, Midnight, the photographer uses some of his most powerful techniques to deliver a body of work that is simultaneously charmingly honest and incredibly complex. Arocha examines memory, making us aware of its beautiful but fallible nature with his investigation through intimate worlds, coming in contact with obsessions, doubts, and emotions.

How various artists--from Anish Kapoor to Picasso--influenced the Spring/Summer 2012 collections

Bob Dylan's "Asia Series" -- copied from famous photos?

Amazing video of tricycle water calligraphy in China--check it out!

Ai WeiWei directs protest-themed W Mag photoshoot through Skype from house arrest!

15 NY based art world movers talk about art + controversy on Hyperallergic

An abandoned office tower turned into artist residences via the French government!

Modular design junkies rejoice--designable chocolate! Watch the video

Kate Middleton-ahem-The Duchess is settin' up to be Britain's art queen...

...meanwhile, the Sotheby's union protests are about to hit London: contemporary art sales 'threatened'

This is a photo of Marina Abramovic's jaw-dropping $3.5M SoHo loft--oh excuse us: FORMER loft. It's on the market!

The battle by Artist Leon Reid IV to deck Ol' Washington in Union Square with shopping bags has finally been.. won!

More loveable street art: Olek the crochet master covers the Astor Place Cube with her creation!

The Art in Odd Places fest along 14th st. in Manhattan ends tomorrow! We hope you get a chance to (literally) run into the numerous projects lining the street.

Independent Lens is releasing a documentary about Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, a postal clerk and a librarian, who managed to collect build one of the most important modern art collections in history.

Aljazeera features the "Gaddafi Graffiti" in Tripoli--comments on the article are perhaps even more interesting.

Hyperallergic talks about Art Forum's decision to put politically radical Chicano artist Asco on the cover of their October issue: relationship with Occupy Wall St... ?

Speaking of-- Gerhard Richter calls the art world "daft," and Animal New York covers the best of #occupyartworld.

And to end with a less contentious note: THE NEW MUSEUM IS GETTING A 102-ft LONG SLIDE.

More images like this after the jump:

Florence Montmare was born in Vienna, grew up in Stockholm and ventured to New York in 1996. She studied Photography and Graphic Design at the School of Visual Arts in New York. In 2000 she graduated from the full time program at the International Center of Photography, New York. Her studies resulted in successful collaborations with members of the faculty, such as Robert Blake and Sam Samore, whom she assisted between 2000 and 2005 in his studios in New York and Paris. Her video work has been exhibited in museums all over Europe and most recently her photography was the focus of a documentary on national Japanese TV. She currently resides in NYC.

More from Florence Montmare here.

Jewelry designer Pamela Love + her favorite artists have collaborated with Dossier magazine to include a set of temporary tattoos (all the rage these days, apparently) in their latest issue! Who wouldn't want to sport doodles of the California Raisin on their arms?

Cargo Collective strikes again, this time with "Invitation to an Assassination"--a series of graphic design prints that re-interpret famous assassinations as minimalist posters.

Artist Andrew Myers has been creating these amazing portraits with painted screws--a labor of love, he calls it.

West-coast street artist Cali Killa has been a subject of controversy since Urban Outfitters ripped off one of his images to sell graphic t-shirts; the artist has just won a legal battle with the clothing company=damges+return of all inventory! What's he doing with the shirts? Selling them on his own site, starting Sept. 30th.

Sensu: the artist brush for iPad. 'Nuff said.

MOMA has just begun a second edition of Yeonghwa, a film series on contemporary Korean film--check out the upcoming dates!

If you're a New Yorker, you've most likely heard of the Occupy Wall St. protest that happened this past week: the event has been making waves through the interwebz--check out this video of protestors disrupting a Sotheby's Auction, showing solidarity with the Art Handler's Union.

Speaking of that protest, the art industry is a sensitive topic, apparently.

Although other countries may be dealing with merging art and money in a healthier way. What happens when you mash together an elitist school of economics and street art? You get ...CAPITALISM? --a project brought together by the Norweigian School of Economics and Nuart, a street art festival. 5 street artists were invited to say, on the huge blank walls of the university buildings, what capitalism means to them. Check out the video + images of the walls!

And remember--if y'all want to stay updated throughout the week, follow us on twitter!

Credit: Anton Kusters

LA-based artist Freehand Profit just finished a project for StarWarsRemix: a storm trooper helmet made entirely out of the exclusive Adidas X Star Wars Superskate Mids--they look amazing!

Remember that Richard Prince copyright dispute that was decided earlier this year? Apparently the Court has just decided to allow Prince to appeal the decision; the fight goes on.

NY Times recently featured Chris Pape, or graffitti artist "Freedom" and his pieces that have survived exposure underneath Riverside Park: personal Krylon and Rustoleum sketches from decades ago! Check out the slide show.

We just stumbled on this amazing series, "Never Mind the Apartheid," of party photos from the 1960s shot by a club bouncer, Billy Monk at whites-only nightclubs in South Africa--the carefree, sometimes explicit behavior is a stark contrast to the racially charged context. The photos were abandoned decades ago, then in the early 80s someone found Monk's negatives and contact sheets and arranged an exhibition. Monk never made it to the show--he was shot on his way to the opening.

Look at what we found on Behance--an amazing series of work from Yosman Botero, who paints layered sheets of plexiglass. Vortexes and surreal space? Yes please!

Norma Kamali debuts her e-commerce site--in 3D! So many 3D videos O_O

Ace Hotel started their collab with the Impossible Project: 'Every guest room at Ace Hotels in New York, Palm Springs, Portland and Seattle are now stocked with a refurbished, vintage Polaroid camera and limited edition, custom packs of Impossible x Ace Hotel instant black & white PX600 UV+ film in the mini-bar.' SWEET.

Photos from the farewell "paint pour" at Monster Island art center in Williamsburg are a must see: the building, which housed several non-profit performance, studio, and art spaces will be demolished before the end of the year.

A Reuters photo journalist spent 2 years photographing and studying the Yakuza! Check out some of the photos here--they're amazing.

Remember to follow us on twitter to stay updated throughout the week!

Michael Murphy (artist) - LOOK Exhibition (2011) from Vanja Srdic on Vimeo.

HD Video Production: Hamsa Brooklyn | OnLine Multimedia Workshop, Director/Cinematographer/Digital Filmmaker: Vanja Srdic.

Featuring the works of Michael Murphy, gallery nine5's current exhibition shows the artist's experimentation with new media and adventurous fusing of classical art-making techniques with digital processes and manual skills. 

Murphy's wire portrait of President Barack Obama, Tension [Obama] (pictured above), received critical acclaim and was featured in TIME Magazine's December 2008 issue.

Fascinated with light, color, tone and shape, the artist strives to challenge the boundaries between the second and third dimensions, with optical illusions often employed to this end.

Allowing viewers to openly connect with the variety of images he represents, Murphy's artworks value the shock of discovery, as works of all materials come together and break apart mid-air, like the portrait installation Corey, made of recycled bullet-proof glass.

Corey, by Michael Murphy.  Recycled bullet proof glass, braided fiber and wood.

See the full exhibition catalogue.

Exhibition: September 8 - October 6, 2011

gallery nine5

24 Spring Street

New York, NY 10012

(212) 965 9995

the Foundary, the online retailer that brings subscribers (presumably, like yourself) curated daily exclusives on products of substance, is live today with irresistible discounts on a hand-picked selection from the prints995 collection. For THREE DAYS ONLY shop limited-edition prints by Matthias Heiderich, Jose Soto and more at substantially reduced prices.

Visit the Foundary now for full details. Membership is free, and the rewards are endless. Don't see the print you've been coveting on the Foundary? Remember that new mailing list subscribers at prints995 get $25 off their next online purchase. You can't lose. 

Above: Cattails, Asylum, Valencia by Sonia Kozlova

According to the US Parks Association, only 10% of the country will have a view of the night sky by the year 2020--here's The Windmill Factory raising awarenes through a public art installation, "Reflecting the Stars" at Pier 49 on the Hudson River. The installation runs until October 25th, so stop by to watch when you have the chance!

Lady Gaga has surprisingly pulled together a star studded cast (including Le James Franco) to help her promote her line with Polaroid!

Amidst all the media concerning 9/11, if we could recommend one link to focus on in remembrance of the event, we'd pass on the YouTube / New York TImes collaboration featuring the best of YouTube and original footage from the NYT.

Check out this amazing simplified Mona Lisa for the digital age!

Andrej Pejic, rising model star famed for his androgynous look, has just been cast as Norma Jean for a video by Love Cat Magazine!

If you're looking for an interesting read, check out this article @ArtInfo covering 7 controversies that have shaped the debate around public art post-9/11.

The highly anticipated Surface to Air flagship has recently opened! The French brand has been making waves with its global expansion and a recent collab with Kid Cudi--find it at 27 Mercer St.

Isn't this cotton placemat/ napkin "roll" so clever! Perfect for a taste of an outdoor picnic during a rainy day dinner party.

Watch this crazy remix of camera shutter sounds put together by Shutterlog.

Another great read--Hyperallergic interviews artist Paul Myoda of the now unforgettable installation "Tribute in Light."

Speaking of tributes, you'll regret not taking a peek at the design that Anish Kapoor has drawn up for an enormous mobile concert hall that's to travel around Japan to those areas hit by March's earthquake and tsunami. Check it--it's inflatable.

Above: Blonde Lips headpiece by Charlie Le Mindu, 2009, © Manu Valcarce

Above: Picking Daisies glass hand grenade by Layne Rowe, 2011, © Layne Rowe

Above: Widow dressmaker pin dress by Susie MacMurray, 2009, Loaned by Manchester Art Galleries, © Ben Blackall 2011

Above: King Silver’ gorilla sculpture by David Mach RA, 2011, ©Private Collection, photographer Richard Riddick

See the full feature on [Dezeen]

Power of Making is the second exhibition in the V&A/Crafts Council partnership.

6 September 2011 – 2 January 2012 in the Porter Gallery
Open daily 10.00 – 17.45 and until 22.00 every Friday

Check out these great aerial photos of tulip fields that Apartment Therapy has drawn graphic inspiration from!

The amazing intervention art collective Luzinterruptus strikes again with these unsettling glowing nuclear suits.

UK Museums have been waging a war on cloth-eating moths that are threatening priceless artifiacts--ewww.

TrustoCorp has refused to stop at installing fake Houswives ads around the city: they've stuffed newstands full of fake tabloids (in which they've killed of Lindsay Lohan)

This is the most amazing anti-stress chair in the world. That's all.

Naked actess gets painted in Times Square before getting whisked away (wrongly) by the NYPD!

This Queens graffiti mecca has now officially been blacklisted for demolition--to make way for residential space.

This is the best fashion video we've seen in a while: 100 years of fashion (and dance!) in 100 seconds!

Speaking of fashion, Vogue Nippon hired a white model and then taped her eyes back to look Asian. That is all.

Created by Gustaf Mantel, these animated GIFs of famous moments from Stanley Kubrick films are incredible.  Most importantly, they bring to life our fantasy of a world with Harry Potter-eque portraits that can wink back from newspapers and photographs. More please.

See the full collection via [FastCoDesign]

Documentary photographer Balazs Gardi captured this selection of iPhone photographs in Afghanistan, documenting the quiet, intimate moments of war.  From soldiers behind the lines to villagers his images defy the typical action-packed, dramatic documentary photography of an internet generation producing toned, Hipstamatic images that are both subtle and profound.

[Foreign Policy Magazine]

Now, if the internet doesn't fail us when Hurricane Irene hits, here are some links to pull you through the storm:

Agyness Deyn is featured in the new Doc Marten's campaign--First and Forever--Check out the video, where an unscripted Agyness talks about her first heartbreak!

Improv Everywhere (the same collective responsible for the No Pants Subway Ride) asks you to Say Something Nice in Union Square!

Trustocorp's fake Real Housewives ads around NYC stir things up.

Marc Jacobs may succeed Galliano at Dior?! 'Nuff said.

Check out this amazing short video from autobahn studios on making a digital version of an old stone mason's font--a must for design and type lovers.

And yeah, Banksy's in the Hamptons. Again, 'Nuff said.

This ^ is a picture of a teacher's lounge after a before/after makeover from designer Brian Patrick Flynn! Gorgeous.

Apparently, a company is selling dirt from NYC in little vials for $120. Wut.

And for $200, you can get what looks like plain a NYC bodega plastic bag, but is actually a leather handbag from Cast of Vices.

Don't forget, a portion of every prints995 sale goes to benefit their incredible project.

The 2011 September Campaign. Our 5-year-anniversary video from charity: water on Vimeo.

Before you get a new iPhone case--check this one out for size: a wooden case that mimics the look of a camera! Gorgeous.

Design a better leaflet for Libya! Good.is is always on the lookout for ways to improve our visual experiences: they're latest call for improvement strikes at NATO's propaganda leaflets!

So cute--check out this Pentax Q-Black: the world's smallest and lightest digital camera with interchangeable lens--perfect for rush-around New Yorkers, no?

These dresses from Paper No. 9 are amazing! They're made out of kraft paper, feel like leather, AND--as body heat and natural wear take its toll, the outer layers of the dress reveal a secret layer of handwritten notes!

These animated photos from Ignacio Torres go beyond 3D: they're STUNNING:

Diane von Furstenberg's daughter directs this movie about complicated female relationships--looking forward to it!

Come November 15, Odd Future will release--not an album, but--an art book (?) entitled Golf Wang featuring photography, writing, and design entirely by Odd Future--lucky you to the 500 people who pre-ordered and are receiving a signed print from Tyler the Creator!

In light of the new privacy changes to Facebook, why not tout this Facebook Page Dress, one of the many digital ink printed dresses by Romanian fashion designer, Lana Bălana.

Lupe timelapse from two twelve on Vimeo.

Don't forget negative space--work those corners!

Especially in apartments, corners often waste away unused and under-appreciated: don't let that happen to you--try out various looks for your corners. Use artwork to create a curated corner of several different pieces, or even create a little reading nook that's balanced with a bold framed print.

Try decking out a reading corner with Roy 04 by Mike Ruiz

Be creative with placement, and don't forget about high-traffic areas

Remember that there is no rule that requires all frames to be hung at eye-level. Play around with highs and lows and remember that a single print, hung lower or higher, can center a room, or a collage of framed prints can create a beautiful creative statement. Don't forget that in addition to playing around with placement, you can also work with high-traffic areas to brighten widely used areas of the home, i.e. the bathroom, the kitchen counter, and narrow hallways.

Try multiple sizes of the same print

Different sizes of an abstract print can work together to energize and integrate a room, especially when framed in alternating directions--how gorgeous is this example! And how perfect that these prints are offered in so many sizes at affordable prices *nudge nudge*! We love how this example uses the bright colors of the prints to balance a neutral room. Try it yourself!

Picture 39 by Jose Soto, VG_1007 by Victoria Dearing

Do the rockaway, now lean back

Art doesn't always have to hang on walls! Remember that you can lean prints of any size on shelves, or even unused compartments of a bookcase. This not only makes for a relaxed chic home, but it also makes it easier to move your artwork around whenever you'd like; so keep in tune with your feng shui by relaxing your art collection.

Brighten up the bed, never fret about the headboard again!

If you're a home renter/semi-nomad living in a big city, that's no excuse to give up on home design, but we understand that a lot of folks end up using beds without headboards--don't fret: invest in a larger print or multiple small prints to hang above the bed instead of a headboard. Even if you have a headboard, you can extend the grandeur of your sleeping area with prints!

Jahn Hall by Mattias Heidrich would make a mighty headboard, and George Jefferson by Sonya Kozlova is a perfectly playful addition to a more vintage inspired room.

We tempted you, didn't we?

In case y'all haven't head, Apartment Therapy has been teaming up with Ethan Allen to bring you some amazing posts on American home design and style: all of them are a must read, but if you have to pick one, check out AT's post on NYC style: 10 Homes Under 600 Square Feet! And they're all absolutely beautiful.

HGTV is not just for watching when there's nothing on TV but USA reruns of House, M.D.! Their small spaces design guide is one of the best around: they let you know which rules to break and which ones to follow to make every inch count!

Earlier in the summer, AT also brought us 100 pieces of inspiration for small spaces, from ideas for small balconies and kitchens, to inspiration for small spaces with humor and smart ways to divide a room!

Speaking of American style--who doesn't love a little Martha Stewart? The editor-in-chief at Martha Stewart Living tracks her West Village one-bedroom makeover with great DIY tips for transforming a small space.

Elle Decor's given us some amazing articles on how to tackle design in small spaces, including this slideshow of ideas.

You can't forget the furniture! Elle Decor's also offers this great slideshow packed with ideas for modern furniture solutions.

Affinity's semi-annual poll has found that Dwell magazine tops the list as the most innovative digital magazine, followed by Popular Science, Architectural Digest and Wired. Dwell has an entire section on their site dedicated to ideas for small space-- from tips for editing clutter to furniture suggestions and amazing slideshows of inspirational spaces.

A constant problem for New York apartments: kitchen storage. Here are some great ideas for storage that are sure to give even a studio apartment a great, utility-packed kitchen.

If you're dying for more gorgeous inspiration, check out the entries in AT's annual small/cool contest! Every year AT partners with Benjamin Moore to host a smallest, coolest home contest: start decorating now with your new apartment, or make plans for renovations if you want to enter in 2012!

So why not stay in and peruse the newest edition of our weekly 9 links?

Good Mag (good.is) teamed up with Chow for a doodling contest in July, and the winners are in! Doodlers were asked to illustrate their favorite meal, and the winner received Good goodies and a smoker!

Robert Smithson's iconic Spiral Jetty has long since been a subject of legal debate over ownership and control; Etsy, of all places, has laid out the situation for us.

Cosmopolitan's new publication for men, Cosmo For Guys, will only be released on iPad. The best part about this venture, however, is the promo video. Cosmo teamed up with Thinkmodo to create iPad Head Girl: hilarious viral video marketing campaign:

Summer craft time? Prisoners at Exeter prison in the UK used paper mache and paint lifted from the jail's arts and crafts department to cover up their escape!

More crafts? Or ridiculous paper manipulating skills. Designmilk featured Christina Lihan, a trained architect who creates absolutely amazing paper sculptures.

This year has been a pretty good year for Shepard Fairey: to kick August off he's got a show in Copenhagen that opened yesterday, but the best part is that in addition to the show, he's created 5 enormous new murals around the city.

In addition to super crafty inmates, the UK has also got some innovative people making pop-up outdoor movie theaters made entirely out of old refrigerators--if you're in the area, there are still tickets left!

30 Mosques in 30 States is well on it's way! The project began on August 1: it aims to visit 30 mosques in 30 states for the entire month of Ramadan. Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq's trip will span a 13,000 mile route that will eventually land them back at home in New York City; they aim to unveil Ramadan and Muslim culture in the US. They're documentng the project through videos, photos, and doodles!

Banksy's new work is ripping Murdoch a new one!

Well, to start off, their website is absolutely amazing.

And for another thing, the project explores the usage of text, street art, and the Internet as artistic mediums in order to comment on personal artistic views or those that are ignored in the mass media. The project has been executed by Dopludo Collective from St. Petey's in Russia.

The public text posters have been collected in art spaces in Moscow and will reach Amsterdam later this month!

Remix the President: a keyboard mixed to play words from Obama's inauguration speech? Art follows this president, no question.

This Sh** it bananas! drawing on bananas + oxidization = playing with food.

By now you've all heard of the Impossible Project, but here is FromMeToYou documenting the project--GORGEOUS photos.

James Franco and Gus Van Sant to teach at MoMA PS1!!

According to Gizmodo, the polaroid z340 looks like the lovechild of the polaroid one and a point and shoot.

And according to Apartment Therapy's Unplugged, the Canon S95 is the perfect in-between camera.

Take a few minutes to watch this beautiful conceptual video: A History of a Title Sequence--design elements and soft lighting, muted colors

The science of milk + color + sound = amazing interactive art caught on vimeo.

Michael Guppy's digital art re-thinks masterpieces with a touch of the photoshop generation.

In hues of black and white, "Why Patterns" combines motion and suspense as dancers interact with ping pong balls on the stage, and those that are projected onto the stage from the air and perimeters.  Bouncing white orbs, the ping pong balls surround the dancers, become dynamic constellations around stiff human figures, vacillating the performance between moments of intense action and anticipatory stillness. 

Why Patterns (Drop) from Snarkitecture on Vimeo.

+Read more on Cool Hunting.

^ The artist of this work is the same person who designs those tops and jeans you've been coveting for ages: Helmut Lang. Check out the designer-turned-artist if you're rolling in the Hampton's this summer. Nowness asks Lang about his work, which is btw made out of archives of his old collections that have been shredded!

This week's dose of hope for humanity: ex-TV industry guy/ex-megachurch marketing director goes through massive ups and downs in his life, then decides to drop everything and start talking to homeless people, photographing and filming them along the way--giving them a voice.

The first of its kind in the US: an LGBT artist residency program opens up on Fire Island

Dazed and Confused editor John Paul Pryor has just released a novel, Spectacles--apparently it's disturbing beyond belief.

Summer is the season of A) moving and B) redecorating: so check out these amazing beanbag chairs shaped like amps, cameras, and burgers! Just released by Woouf!

Some visual stimulation for any west-turned-east coaster to remember those beaches: images of sand captured at over 250X magnification. Beautiful.

Mashable takes a break from talking about Google Plus and Apple's sooooaring shares/Lion OSX to bring you 15 Creative QR Codes--from Muakami to M&Ms

Cultural diplomacy: Main St. to bring in performers and artists from Pakistan, Indonesia and Haiti to perform across the US.

Another MoMA blockbuster? Talk to Me has just opened: an exhibition that explores communication between objects and people, and--of course--design. The show includes the story of Kacie Kinzer's unforgettable robots from 2 years ago!

Remember to follow out twitterin' for more scrumdiddlyumptious art news!

a handpainted touch--

The work isn't necessarily a breathtaking piece of design, but it gets the job done--and the Republicans still got nuthin' on this.

We're excited to see what the campaign will bring out in artists: hopefully everyone will be as inspired as they were last time around, despite all the talk of the President's 'broken promises.' In the street art battle for 2012, who will win--broken promises and attempts at improvements, or those who never promise anything other than "oh, we'll never ever touch the military budget"?

Sonya Kozlova is an eighteen-year-old photographer born in Moscow and raised in Milwaukee.  Using the aura of unknown contexts, Kozlova captures movement and color in such a delicate manner as to veil her photographs with a dreamlike quality.  The images continue to disclose their intricacies over time: the depth of a single spot of color, the travelling lines across an image, and the gentle mimicry of texture and motion.

The artist discusses her photography in this exclusive video for prints995 on YouTube and Vimeo:

[Photographer Sonya Kozlova on prints995.com from prints995 on Vimeo]

You can charge your iPhone with the new Vitamin Water ads! Bus shelters in NY, LA, Boston, and Chicago are now hosting charging stations as part of the coolest ad we've seen in a whle.

The California-based sculptor Don Wakefield recently discovered a copy of his work in a corporate collection in California; only problem is that he didn't make it--a fake had been purchased in Beijing.

Remember that Picasso thief everybody couldn't get enough of? Turns out that 11 more works that went missing from NY galleries and hotels were found in his home... eek.

Photojojo's got a new iPhone SLR mount! Looks pretty amazing:

Want to send messages to Emmy Rossum--while she's INSIDE a film? Intel and Toshiba are launching a new social film experience involving facebook and twitter!

New public sound art project coming to Brooklyn. 'Nuff said.

An amazing site is about to launch: Visual.ly--an online service that lets you create your own infographics, easy peasy!

You've most likely heard about JR--the street artist and TED Prize winner who launched the Inside Out Project, a call for a global street art movement involving personal black and white portraits. He's started to document the process on video on Youtube!

SO AWESOME: check out Tattly--the recently launched online store for 'designy' temporary tattoos! Perfect for summer time: bare those arms with some slick, temporary tats!

And remember! Follow our twitter if you want to keep yourself updated throughout the week!

Artlog's Chelsea Art Crawl 2011 is working with the Brooklyn Museum, the Appraisers Association of America and the Chelsea Art Museum to provide after-hours access to over a dozen galleries and non-profits. Then of course there's the incredible summer party at the Chelsea Art Museum from 9:00pm to 11:00pm.There will be Grolsch beer! And Coruba Rum cocktails! For $25 a pop you can enjoy art talks, curator tours, and other events--head over to buy your ticket now! Remember drinks and food will be provided while supplies last. So get there before the supplies stop lasting. Again, there will be GROLSCH BEER.

Starting a conversation about Capitalism is like walking up to a stranger and asking, "Can I talk to you about Jesus?" The word "capitalism" is a red flag. And for good reason – pretty soon some dude is talking your ear off about "The System, man." Ugh.

...As a culture, we need the vision and boldness it takes to discuss the problem itself...as citizens we need the courage to begin these discussions in order to move on to new and better visions for the future...

Lambert is therefore proposing a polling booth for one simple question: Does capitalism work for me? He wants to travel around the control with a giant LED sign that reads CAPITALISM and a voting mechanism that will allow him to display a tally of the voting outcomes.

Sounds pretty flippin’ amazing; when this happens, we hope we’ll all get the chance to vote.

The New York Asian Film Festival has been going on, and Bedevilled is screening this Sunday. L Mag is a huge fan, as are we.

Anna Skladmann has a book coming out of her series "Little Adults," which captures the cloistered lives of the children bred in the Russian elite. The photos are poignantly unsettling and beautiful.

The Secret Service shut down peoplestaringatcomputers! Apparently this awesome tumblr project where an artist secretly installed cameras into macbooks at an Apple store violates some serious laws~

Brooklyn Street Art recently interviewed Shepard Fairey about being too corporate for street, too street for corporate. Has a New York museum picked up MOMA, Los Angeles' Art in the Streets yet?

Not that anyone was surprised, but The Art Newspaper apparently made it official that Qatar is the biggest contemporary art buyer in the current market.

Artist Brian Lobel has been conducting a live-stream piece centered around purging his facebook friends. Would you ask strangers in cafes to decide whether or not you should click 'delete'?

David Chang of Momofuku has launched his food mag Lucky Peach, but who knew that the visuals would be so awesome?

Marina Abramovic's new theater production is premiering tomorrow! We wish it was in New York, though--if you're in the UK check it out! The production also features Willem Dafoe and Antony from Antony and the Johnsons O_O

Super creative and amazingly cute: Miami-based artist Agustina Woodgate's "poetry bombing" has us squeeling with delight!

Enjoy! And if you'd rather be up to date real time instead of catching up on your news on lazy weekend mornings, remember to follow prints995!

As we have all heard by now, Cy Twombly, who remained until his last day a titan of American modern art, has passed away. He died in Rome, where he made his home. He was known as a formidable talent who eschewed categorization while remaining approachable and humorous despite his fame. As a tribute we’ve pulled up an old TateShot on Twombly, where Tate Director Nicholas Serota discusses the painter’s work and style.

A few days ago, the Asia Society Museum opened its exhibition of previously unseen photographs by recently released political dissident Ai Wei Wei. Apparently, Ai once claimed that he was very bored during the decade he lived in New York, and he didn’t enjoy photographing all that much. Ai Wei Wei: New York Photographs kind of betrays that claim. Featuring photos of fellow expat Chinese artists and intellectuals, riots in East Village, drag queens, and poetry readings, Ai offers not only fresh insight into his own artistic development, but also a distinct vision of New York in the 1980s.

The exhibition runs until August 14th, so remember to check it out!

In case you didn't catch these tidbits throughout the week, here are some links for you to peruse while leisurely looking forward to the Fourth of July:

In need of new postage stamps? Try the new ones inspired by 12 American Industrial Designers

Brooklynite attack with photoshop! L Magazine's got a design competition for their 'Best of Brooklyn' issue

ArtsBeat talks to John Byrne and David LaChapelle (they used to be a couple, apparently...)

Klimt, Van Gogh, and Da Vinci inspired Barbies... who will be Ken?

Pitchfork festival faces protests concerning Odd Future... about time, really.

Brandeis Rose Museum settles and decides not to sell art

Pretty damn incredible embroidered portraits by Daniel Kornrumpf

An artists lets us know what's wrong and what's right with the art world... douchebags?!

Millionaire extorts thousands from street artist; the artists strike back--go take a look this weekend and stop by our gallerynine5 while you're there!

Enjoy! And if you'd rather be up to date real time instead of catching up on your news on lazy weekend morning, remember to follow prints995!

"New York Close Up" | Trailer | Art21 from Art21 on Vimeo.

The trailer looks fantastic, and we’re excited to watch the series especially considering how diverse the artists appear to be. Hyperallergic, however, warned that “the whole premise of New York Close Up is vaguely masturbatory. This new series shares several similarities with other Art21 projects in that there is no real dialogue about the work. There is no outside criticism, only artists talking about their own vision and Art21 congratulating them on a job well done...without showing well-rounded commentary, it feels much more like a reality television show, and a not very entertaining one at that.” Harsh criticism that we’ll have to watch to confirm; nonetheless the process of watching an artist at work is both entertaining and provocative, and the series looks like it will prove visually stimulating, if not intellectually so.

Andy Spade's Hamptons Manor from Alison Chernick on Nowness.com.

Who knew you could so successfully express yourself with a collection of art objects? From high brow to low brow, gallerist and designer Andy Spade (who founded Kate Spade with his wife) shows us how its done. His Southampton home has been transformed into a showcase for his treasures (it used to be Parsons founder William Merritt Chase’s painting academy!). From vintage exhibition catalogues to antique brass instruments to paintings found in Kansas City flea markets--Spade’s collections exposes an emotion-driven practice of collecting that reveals a dynamic and intensely creative personality.

This video is a must see.

Chinese artist Liu Bolin literally inserts himself into Kenny Scharf's monumental graffiti wall on Houston Street in NYC.  via CuratedMag

or this:

These striking crocheted works by Brooklyn-based Agata Olek are hard to forget.

Now in case you need a refresher on Yoko Ono’s 1964 book Grapefruit, let us remind you that in the book, Ono detailed instructions for a performance piece “Painting to Shake Hands,” in which the artist would shake hands with the public through a hole in a canvas. Imagine the work of Olek and this piece by Ono coming together and you’ve got Olek’s new take on Ono’s piece: “Crocheted Grapefruit” just concluded yesterday at Grand Central, where Olek’s yarn-clad assistants shook hands with strangers. If you were one of these passerby—lucky you!

(credit Olek's twitter)

Our favorite video of gallery nine5 artist L'Atlas' street art performance/installation in Paris.

Best quote: "Just doing a little decoration..."

There's certainly something to talk about here (or squeal in adolescent joy over)—Asif Kahn’s installation artwork in Miami:

When asked to create a piece that would provoke dialogue, Asif Khan decided to take an anti-architectural, playful route with his design for an impermanent cloud installation. His cloud machine explores how we can create shaded space where convesations can happen; the machine uses helium gas, water, and soap to make clouds that eventually form a canopy.

Now all we need is a pocket sized replica to carry around for the summer.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:

1/ Westhafen by Matthias Heiderich 2/ GD 1011 by Gerald Dearing 3/ Pinkscape No.1 by  Florence Montmare 4/ Ascending by Michael Koehler 5/ Blue Bridge by Ramon Estevanell 6/ Habibi by Dianne Duenzl

Kennedy James, the France-born, New York-based artist has elevated bondage to a fine art form. Known for serial bondage the artist works in miniature, tieing-up, binding and harnessing dollhouse-scale armchairs in Louis XV, Napoleon III or Voltaire styles, drawing attention to the inherent submissivity and anthroprometicality of her inanimate subjects. 

Launching tonight, Kenney James will have a full-scale bondage work present at gallery nine5's FEATURED Summer show, on view through August.

+ Read more about Kennedy James' Serial Bondage here.

"Windows" by Matthias Heiderich

Love our newest prints995 addition, Matthias Heiderich?

+Read his interview in GRAFIK Mag to find out more about the artist and his work.

+Winner of the Golden Lion- Germany's installation of the late artist Christoph Schlingensief's work.  Curator Susanne Gaensheimer discusses.

+Read more

Nicholas Kirkwood x Keith Haring on Nowness.com.

We're on a bit of a Keith Haring kick, inspired by gallery nine5's upcoming Featured. summer show, which includes a William Coupon portrait of the artist in his studio, circa 1989.

Watch shoe designer Nicholas Kirkwood discuss the artist's work and its influence on his current collection of architectural offerings, including heels emblazoned with the artist's "Radiant Baby" and "Safe Sex" renderings.

June 16 through August 31, gallery nine5's Featured. summer show will be featuring four limited-edition prints from the professional archive of American portrait photographer William Coupon, shot between 1986 and 2001. A full generation of New York City icons is represented in these works; images of Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, shot between 1986 – 1989, inspire a palpable nostalgia for one of downtown's most vibrant creative eras, and the personalities that made it legendary.

Mid June – September 8, 2011 / gallery nine5 / 24 Spring Street, NYC

+ For details visit gallery nine5

At the American pavillion, "it's really just America running in circles".  Puerto Rican artists Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla representing the United States in the 54th Venice Biennale.  Far beyond a gymnastic routines, the artists use their bodies, wrapped around airline business class seats, constantly moving as kinetic human sculptures. 

+Read more on the DailyBeast. 

+Media Gallery: Images of the American pavillion. 

Floating Chicago - A collection of mirrored skyline timelapses from Craig Shimala on Vimeo.

+ Via prints995 Tumblr

In an era defined by change, documentary and commercial photographer Elliot Erwitt's iconic images capture the major personages and events of the past 60 years. His upcoming exhibition at ICP in NY, which will display his favorites, promises not to disappoint. 

+ For more must see art shows this summer, check out Flavorpill's Top 10

Our latest contributing artist to prints995, Thierry Clech, has a represented series that transforms his experience of locales throughout the world into a collection of striking black and white images. This is a favorite from the artist's North India series, pulled from his flickr, shot between the 9th and 31st of August, 2010.

View prints by Thierry Clech here.

Thierry Clech is the latest artist represented by prints995. He has a sharp eye for graphic moments constructed by the intersection of architectural elements and urban shifts. Such mastery can be seen in his “La Défense Nº 4”, one of a series of photographs taken in the business district of his native Paris.  A body is frozen in cinematic succession as it is reflected in every part of a modern, glass building. Equal parts surrealist, futurist and rationalist, the artist reconstitutes reality, working with no restraint in black and white.

+ View All prints by Thierry Clech

A Special Collaboration with PIN-UP magazine, Phillips De Pury & Co is currently in the thick of an exhibition featuring work by 12 contemporary designers, each offering a new challenge to bedside table form.

"The nightstand betrays more about our character than we might realize! But ideally, as we switch off the light at night, shouldn’t the last thing upon which the eye settles bring a final swell of satisfaction to the day?" We couldn't put it better ourselves!

View full exhibition details, and a slideshow of highlights here.

On View 14–24 May 2011

450 Park Avenue New York
Monday – Saturday 10am -7pm
Sunday 12pm – 6pm

"A single object, a single form, a single color."

The largest sculpture to date from Indian-British sculptor Anish Kapoors is currently on view in Paris, a work conceived in order to respond to the exceptional architecture of the Grand Palais. Kapoor's temporary, site-specific installation rests inside the nave of the glass-domed hall, and represents the fouth incarnation of the french ministry of culture and communication's Monumenta program, following artists anselm kiefer, richard serra and christian boltanski.

monumenta 2011
'leviathan' by anish kapoor
grand palais, paris
may 11 to june 23rd, 2011

The Met’s “Night Vision: Photography After Dark” makes us recall the contemporary, high-speed black and white of Ennid Berger and saturated urban colorscapes of Michelle Dean Kaminer.

1. TIMES SQUARE by Ennid Berger

2. STOP by Ennid Berger

3. CROSSWALK by Michelle Dean Kaminer

“Night Vision: Photography After Dark,” continues through Sept. 18 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gerhard Mayer.

Restored last year, this mural by Spanish artist Jose Maria Sert can be visited at Rockefeller Center in the lobby of the GE Building.  This mural, dating from 1934, replaced Diego Rivera's controversial mural Man at the Crossroads that was originally commissioned for this location by the Rockefellers.  They objected to the prominent depiction of Lenin on the lower right and asked Rivera to remove him from the composition.  He refused and the mural was destroyed, although he ended up repainting this design in Mexico City.  The Sert mural depicts Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, and Ralph Waldo Emerson constructing an allegorical America.

Akiko Ikeuchi is a Japanese artist who creates delicate silk sculptures in galleries around the world.  View more here.

This exhibit seems to be part of a larger national trend of art institutions to begin including "street art" in the domain of the museum and the gallery.  The LAMoCA is about to debut their "Art in the Streets" exhibit.  French museums are up on this trend as well, with countless shows at museums like Le Grand Palais, Le Fondation Cartier, and Le Palais de Tokyo.  The Brooklyn Museum had a graffiti exhibition a few years ago, and in 2008 the MoMA invited the Graffiti Reasearch Lab to produce temporary tags on the walls using lasers (watch the video here).  The aesthetic of collage, stencil, and spray paint is also gaining popularity in the field of high art, with figures like Banksy and Shepard Fairey gaining celebrity status.  Gallery nine5's latest artist Gonzalo Papantonakis creates art that evokes a "street" feeling.

But does this trend represent a positive movement for the original producers of this kind of art?  What does it mean to have a graffiti painting contextualized in a museum?  Who is the intended audience for this kind of work?  Can the art still have the same meaning when there are forces that have the power to censor it, like Jeffrey Deitch did with the MoCA mural? 

It is fascinating to note that in spite of the increasing interest of the art world, two of the most important bastions of graffiti art in New York are in peril.  For ten years the 200,000 square-foot warehouse in Queens known as 5 Pointz has acted as a legal graffiti location and art exhibition space for artists of international renown in the graffiti circuit.  In past month it has been anounced that that location will soon be demolished to make room for a high-rise residential tower and luxury shopping mall.  Last summer, the infamous murals (some pictured below) by artist Chris Pape aka Freedom that were painted in the 1980's in the underground Amtrak tunnels in Manhattan were painted over.  The PANTHEON exhibit features works by this same artist.  The Donnell Library will soon be demolished to build a new hotel.

This piece, exhibited in Munich, is constructed out of 9,000 backpacks.  It is called "Remembering" and spells out the words "she lived happily for seven years in this world".  It was made on the occasion of the 2008 earthquake; many children were trapped in collapsed schools.  He is well-known for his role in designing the Beijing National Stadium for the Olympics.  He also have several pieces at the MoMA, including "Study of Perspective - Tiananmen Square", part of an inflamatory series in which he flips off famous monuments around the world.

Frédéric Bourret was interviewed on Art-Folie about his A Découvert series.  Read the piece in French or the English version below.  He was also recently featured on La Lettre de la Photographie.  Check out his exclusive prints995 series.

Art-Folie: Why did you choose to work in black and white?  What is the difference between color and black and white for you?

Frederic Bourret: I don’t work in black and white exclusively but certain series are better suited to it.  One of my color series won a Talent Award in 2006.  Black and white allows you to create a more interesting intensity.  Black and white is appropriate for an intriguing mood.

AF: Film or digital?

FB: I work in digital although I have a loaded film camera in the depths of my closet with which I take a picture a year. At this rate I'm not ready to develop it.

AF: What equipment do you use?

FB: Right now, I use a Nikon D90, but I am not attached to a device or a brand.
 
AF: In your series A Découvert, what was the trigger? What were your motivations to start this project?

FB: The series took two years. It all started with one photograph. I wanted to take more intimate nude photos where the model would feel at ease. My first priority was to not fall into the vulgar or provocative. The human adventure was exciting.

AF: A form of modesty is notable in your shots—was it your intention to find an indirect contact with the subject?
 
FB: Yes indeed, there was a great complicity in carrying out the shooting. I wanted to photograph without being seen. Nude photography is a delicate art, there is ease but also great difficulty in developing trust between the model and photographer.

AF: In your work in New York, your compositions are very unique.  What was your goal?

FB: I wanted to show another side of this city. New York may prove serene and mysterious, almost poetic if one takes the trouble to observe it well.

AF: What state of mind were you in when you walked the streets of New York?

FB: I was mostly in a state of mind in which I was not looking for anything, I didn't say 'ok today I'm going out to take an interesting photo.' I focused on what I saw and not what I thought. On days when the inspiration wasn't there I didn't take any photos.

AF: Are there any photographers you admire?

FB: There's one in particular, Lee Friedlander.

AF: If you could go back in time, what photograph would you take?

FB: The New York prohibition, the atmosphere of illegal bars.

AF: If you could go in the future, which photo you want to take?

FB: That's a good question, I would say a portrait of St. Peter at the gates of paradise.

  

Grasses in Snow, Detroit. 1942.

Sunlight on Water. 1943.

Be sure to stop in the room at the MoMA's Abstract Expressionist exhibit dedicated to photography.  Displayed along with the more famous Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan's photographic abstractions are arresting in their attention to the art in the every day.

“In sticking to solely black, white, and hues of gray, the show deals with extremes… Looking to the explicit eradication of color, prompted by desire not necessity adds another layer. In using black and white, the image is retracted from reality, allowing the eye to be drawn to other stimuli, like compositional choices, depth, or texture that may have been upstaged by the departed hues. The definitive contrast of black and white provides harsh juxtapositions made palpable by gray tones, breathing life into the abyss.”

prints995’s own Michael Koehler is currently featured in HUELESS

Mallick Williams & Co. Gallery, March 4 through April 15.

Explore more prints from Michael Koehler’s black and white series, exclusively on prints995

Text by Lynn Maliszewski

+ View this article w/ additional images on prints995 Tumblr.

A group of fourteen highly regarded Moroccan craftsmen have been constructing a 14th century Maghrebi-Andalusian-style courtyard inside the museum since last December.  It will incorporate an intricate style of mosaic design known as zellij, carved woodwork, plaster arabesques, and even a self-circulating fountain.

In light of recent world focus on the Middle East, the project has taken on a new importance to act not only as an important part of the art historical narrative presented by the Met, but also as a symbol of respect and communication between the United States and the Middle East.

+ Read the NYTimes article

Arslan Sükan treads lightly between the realms of reality and fantasy in his series "While You Are Sleeping"-- now showing at Istanbul's premier contemporary gallery: Tepebasi Gallery.

Read an interview with him on Dazed Digital.

Dianne Duenzl is a fine art photographer based in New Mexico.

Duenzl uses traditional film photography to explore objects and landscapes, striving to access their emotional potency. Duenzl's images are filled with melancholic desire and nostalgia, reflecting the artist's yearning to relate to the present, as well as times past, in the quiet moments she captures. "These images are part of an ongoing attempt to capture a sense of wistfulness and longing that is part of the human condition."

+ View Dianne Duenzl's full Sacred Ordinary series, now online at prints995

Candy Chang turned the side of an abandoned house in the her neighborhood in New Orleans into a giant chalkboard where residents can fill in the blank with what is important to them in life.  She says the project is about "turning a neglected space into a constructive one where we can learn the hopes and aspirations of the people around us."  Check out more photos of the wall here.

+ Chang is a public installation artist and graphic designer.  She has done many other interesting projects.

Shot above: prints995 at last night's opening reception for Glenn Ligon's AMERICA at the Whitney Museum.

AMERICA is the first comprehensive mid-career retrospective devoted to the New York-based artist who's text and image driven work builds on the legacies of modern painting and recent conceptual art.

The show opens today to the public,on view March 10 through June 5. 

Mylar sculpture by Tara Donovan at Pace gallery.

Fifth Avenue Theater, Seattle, by Hiroshi Sugimoto

Delta by El Anatsui

Andy Warhol. Screen Test: Baby Jane Holzer (1964). 16mm film (black and white, silent). 4 min. at 16fps. © 2010 The Andy Warhol Museum

With a March 21 closing, New Yorkers and traveling Warhol enthusiasts have just another two weeks to sample MoMA's Andy Warhol Motion Pictures. On view is a tightly curated installation of Screen Tests shot between 1964 and 1966, as well some iconic Warhol films, Kiss, Sleep, Eat and Blow Job.

"The show was conceived of in 2003 by MoMA curator Mary Lea Bandy and was exhibited as Andy Warhol: Screen Tests. After moving to Berlin’s KW Institute for Contemporary Art in 2004, the show traveled internationally for five years as facilitated by PS1 Director Klaus Biesenbach. All films have been transferred to video for the installation but there is still something archival—“filmic,” as Bisenbach says—about the footage."

The archival quality of Wahol's screen test collection have a continued legacy in the form of Interview Magazine's 'screen test' series. Check out the contemporary expression of the style on Interview Magazine Online.

Star Slinger is a music project created by Darren Williams last year in Manchester, UK.  This song uses samples from the Staple Singers' Let's Do It Again.  The music video, directed by Alan Jensen, visualizes the dreamy psychedelia of the sound.

Tonight marks the first night of New York's aclaimed annual Armory Show: 274 galleries from 31 countries set up shop on the piers of the Hudson to display the most cutting edge contemporary art on the market.  This four day long show is a major event for the international art community. Various galleries around the city are also participating in Armory Arts Week.

Tim Flach brings techniques of human portraiture to the realm of animals.

On Wednesday, March 2nd ARTBOOK presents Making A Case For The Book In The Digital Age, what promises to be a lively panel featuring David Ulin, book critic for the Los Angeles Times, Lisa Pearson, publisher of Siglio Press, and Lorraine Wild, book designer and founder of Green Dragon Office. All presenters advocate for the primacy of the physical book, even as contemporary culture continues to trend toward digital media expressions. 'Ulin, Pearson and Wild will discuss books as physical artifacts, and the inherent qualities that cannot be replicated in other media.'

Making a Case for the Book in the Digital Age | Wednesday, March 2nd, 7-9PM | ARTBOOK @ Paper Chase

View the full announcement and venue information here.

 If one could image the experience of a place it might look something like this.

Last Wednesday in London, Sotheby's was auctioning this Andy Warhol piece, Nine Multicolored Marilyns.  A group of protestors stormed in, throwing fake £50 notes, moaning, and holding a sign that read "orgy of the rich".  The British government just announced budget cuts for funding of the arts.  People also gathered outside to protest the cuts.  The reaction of the auction-goers is almost the most interesting:

They seemed hardly fazed.  The auction went on as planned, with sales equalling $71 million. 

+ Read more on the Huffington Post and Hyperallergic.

Modern lines and pure, geometric forms are the hallmarks of Narcisco Rodriguez's work. Favoring a minimalist palette punctuated by vivid blocks of color, Rodriguez's graphic silhouettes recall the moody, razor sharp aesthetics of modernism's most striking experiments.

+ view more caps from the Narcisco Rodriguez Fall 2011 RTW Show on Style.com

Joshua Bronaugh's dream-like portraits convey emotion with thick strokes of color.  View more on his website.

+ Her Fall 2011 Ready-to-Wear Collection showed in New York last week.  View more images at Style.com.

+  In the Conservatory, by Edouard Manet.  

+ The most zoomed-in provides incredibly high resolution, here focused on the lady's eye.  The website also provides viewing notes, artwork history, and multimedia information about individual pieces.

+ See more on his Flickr.

His Kusho series documents the collision of black ink and water.

+ See more images, as well as videos and his statement on his website.

Richard Box is the artist-in-residence of the physics department at Bristol University.  The 1301 fluorescent tubes in this installation, "Field", made use of the electric fields created by the power lines above.  Inside each tube, mercury atoms are excited by the electricity, causing them to emit ultraviolet light.

+ Check out his art blog.

The highly anticipated online art auction, VIP Art Fair, opened on Saturday and will run until the end of the week.  In an effort to reach a broader audience, 138 galleries from 30 countries are participating; 1,938 works of art are on view from major galleries around the world.  Browsing the fair is free of charge but for anything beyond that, including viewing price lists or having access to intant messaging communication, visitors must have a "VIP Ticket" which cost $100 on opening weekend, now reduced to $20.  It's still cheaper than a ticket to Art Basel, but it seems an unnecessary gesture that will hinder small-scale art lovers from participating.  VIP stands for "viewing in private", a reference to the unique new experience of buying art online.

"Ghost Blocks" (2010), by Naiza H. Khan, a Pakistani artist represented by Rossi Rossi is one of the pieces on sale.  

This is one step in the larger trend of galleries around the world that are increasingly turning to the web for a burgeoning new art market.  At Christie's in 2010, The Economist reported that $114 million worth of art and antiques were sold online, which represents 16% of lots but only 3% of total sales.  It's interesting to note that more than half of the firm's online bidders were new clients.

Works such as these  "Colored Vases" (2007) by Ai Weiwei of Gallery Hyundai are an example of many three dimensional pieces that are part of the auction.

Some may have reservations about buying art objects on the Internet, especially pieces of a sculptural, three-dimensional nature.  Can a collector truly know whether he or she likes the piece without ever having seen it in person?  It raises questions about the future of the art market and the nature of art itself.

Florence Montmare's series Illuminations was shot in Arles in 2001.

'Suffering from insomnia and in a relationship that was ending, she started photographing herself and her partner in bed every night. The results are fragile, ghosty records of the couple moving together, coming apart, laying next to each other but very much in their own worlds.'

+ View the full series on Dossier Journal. Quoted text by Skye Parrott.

+ Though the debut album by UK musician/composer James Blake isn't due for release until February 7, the 'dubstep' artist is already ranking high on the BBC's Sounds of 2011 and Brit Awards 2011 critics choice lists. Some visual stimulation above, the video for James Blake's attention-grabbing cover of Feist's "The Limit To Your Love," from the mind of award winning Danish director, Martin de Thurah.

Online · In his usual stroke of pop-glam genius, celebrity photographer and prints995 contributor, Mike Ruiz, transforms reality-televison phenomenon Khloe Kardashian into a high-fashion stunner on set at the Yellow Rat Bastard magazine cover shoot.

Online · Remarkably convincing images of pedestrians defying gravity in the streets of Paris, New York, Madrid and Barcelona.

+ Series by photographer Franck Bohbot. View it in its entirety here, via Fubiz.

LA · If you are in Los Angeles from the 17th of December to the 15th of January you might invetiably take in at least a fragment of designer Jon Jackson's concept project, AdiosLA.

Conceived as a visual goodbye to the Los Angeles as the designer makes his move to New York City, AdiosLA is comprise of 5 10'x23' billboards, spanning 5 high-profile locations across the city.

+ Image via Wooster Collective.

The politically-charged mural by Italian street artist Blu, commissioned without review by the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, was painted over in a controversial move by new director Jeffrey Deitch, formerly of Lower Manhattan's Deitch Projects gallery. MOCA stated its 'inappropriate' nature as reason for its removal, also citing the museum's proximity to the Veteran Affairs building and nearby Japanese-American War monument. The mural was intended to be part of a show planned for next spring called "Art in the Streets", which will feature over 100 street and graffiti artists spanning the 70's to the present. 

+ Stills From A Film: 'Invisible Light', the third release off of The Scissor Sister's latest LP Night Work.

+The Scissor Sisters will be at Madison Square Garden with Lady Gaga on 2/21 and 2/22/2011

+ Swiss artist Andy Denzler draws on the tradition of Gerhard Richter’s distorted “photographic” images.  These works, layered thickly with oil paint, are reminiscent of the moments of static when old VHS movie tracking gets misaligned.  His images have an ghostlike aura that draws you into a world of shadowy memories.

In to the Black Woods, 2010.

Berin 1968, 2009.  

Distorted Face II, 2009.

+ The latest addition to our online stable, Luis Castilla, has worked for 20 years as a performing arts photographer, origins expressed by his keen interest in the human body, its physical and symbolic plasticity. Achieved through the use of texture and discoloration, this series is an ecstatic distortion of reality, a detachment from the concrete in favor of the emotional. 

+ View the entire Luis Castilla series here, exclusively on prints995.

+ On constant rotation, video for Mark Ronson ft. Boy George, 'Somebody to Love Me', directed by Saam Farahmand.

Director/ Saam Farahmand

A death-driven collaboration between photographer Paul Fairchild and Michael Tompert presents apple products in various stages of ruin.

See the full image gallery at Fubiz

+ Stills from R+I Creative's recently premiered short documentary, "Influencers: How Trends and Creativity Become Contagious". 

Written and directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, the film is a concise and open dialogue on the contemporary patterns and purveyors of influence as they are expressed in the worlds of advertising, music, fashion, art and new media. An esteemed roster of new york city tastemakers lend their voice to consider the lasting impact of originators like Jay-Z, Paul Newman, TED and the LES creative class on popular and cult persuasions and the breadth of each's reach. Check out the short film in its entirety, and further stills from the film below.

Lennon's album of remastered solo hits launched early this month. GQ US marked the release with a 28-image style editorial on the rebel icon, songwriter and peace-speaker. There's no more legitimizing factor in the attribution of style than a photograph to put the act on the record. A record that spans a number of decades and identities is all the more impressive. Take a look at a selection of images from the GQ profile below, and preview the remastered Lennon tracks here on iTunes.

 Find more here, at GQ online.

The visual memory of early modernism is one projected in black and white, informed by  the movement's rational perspective toward formal representation, and further by the requisite greyscale images that shape our perception of the time. Beyond the primary red, blue and yellow that punctuate the modernists' graphic design it is hard to imagine that a comprehensive range of color was on the menu at all, particularly for the era's interior palettes. 

First assembled by Birkhauser in 1997, a comprehensive swatchbook based on Corbusier's color pulls between 1930 and 1959 sheds a vibrant wash on the era and movement that gave us grid consciousness, and the claim that 'ornament is a crime.'

View the NYT article here