Philip Levine

Philip Levine's bald head is the most extravagnt canvas for one to draw and create. The acclaimed British artist uses his head as a true piece of art using all kinds of materials from Swarovski crystals, gold leaves and candy to punky metallic spikes or even coffee beans. This unusual, yet amazing technique makes Philip stand out in the global artistic and fashion world.

Thierry Boutemy

The world of Thierry Boutemy is enriched with the delicious perfumes of colours of roses, orchids, poppies, carnations and all kinds of beautiful flower bouquets. The Belgium-based flower artist is among the most beloved ones in the world of fashion with creations that are already considered as classics. His collaborations include American Vogue, Dior, Lanvin and Dries Van Noten. He was the flower set designer of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette film and is currently working on Michel Gondry's next film L'Ecume Des Jours. His flower compositions are based on simplicity, yet with a chic and artistic attitude, always spontaneously and in a natural way.

Bart Hess

Animation, innovation and fantasy are the keywords in Bart Hess' world. The great artist has many things to say through his creations and the best proof are his collaborations with Lady Gaga, Palais de Tokyo, Iris Van Herpen and Nick Knight. He has gained a throne in the fashion world with his pionneer concepts and provocative ideas through outstanding images and avant-garde videos pushing boundaries to another dimension.

London Art Fair 2012

Wiping the Sahara Desert - Hanae Utamura

 The London Art Fair opens its doors today at the Business Design Centre in Islington, with the participation of 100 galleries and 1000 artists.

Gravity

A young woman wakes up in a dream about tomorrow. She flies till gravity hits her. The following amazing film by Filip Piskorzynski and Natalia Dufraisse blends brilliant cinematography with powerful music in a surrealistic approach of dreamland. A true masterpiece.

Enjoy:

Future Map

Camilo Echeverri Roldan

 In its 14th year Future Map, the strong brand that showcases the most talented graduates from the University of Arts London, hosts its new exhibition with the hottest rising stars in the fields of fashion, fine art, photography and digital media. This year's Future Map is taking place at the Zabludowicz Collection in London, with the participation of more than 30 artists. See all the participations here

From 12 January to 5 February, 2012

Jing Jing Cao

Jon Anders Gulbrandsen

Emma Hancock

Pip Jolley

Iyvone Khoo

Mariya Kotova

Lulu (Lu) Liu

Giovanni Martins

Oliver Ruuger

Ka Xiaoxi Photography

Ka Xiaoxi's lens captures the new echo of China's alternative scene. The 27-year old photographer and artist from Shanghai and co-founder of the hot multi-artistic platform goooodie.com, has recently released his second book titled A Fragment of China's Youth, a great collection of rock n' roll mood - inspired snapshots of modern chinese youngsters and the big Asian country's new subcultures. This country is full of hidden treasures.

Food Creation by Ayako Suwa

When it comes to food styling, there are definitely millions of options, as it seems to be the latest trend. However, if you have a look at Ayako Suwa's work, you'll forget all the rest. Ayako is a famous food artist from Japan, whose Food Creation project reputation is spreading all over the world. After graduating from Kanazawa College of Art, Ayako started the works for Food Creation in 2006, based on the ideas of conceptualism, sensuality and emotion. With several exhibitions and performances held in Singapore, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo, along with many huge collaborations with big brands like Swarovski, Opening Ceremony and Montblanc, Ayako's food presentations are considered to be a unique experience for the guest. Visit her website for more exciting images and concepts.

The Race Behind The Hill

Athens - based Michalis Baboussis is the creative mind behind the alternative online project The Race Behind the Hill. Being a multitalented person with styling, photography, fashion design, creative writing, video art and graphic design among his interests and activities, Michalis enters into a dialogue process through each of his different roles and collaborations. He started his artistic journey after graduating from AKTO school of Arts & Design doing great collaborations with the Callas, art photographers Spyros Staveris and Photoharrie, artist H.O.P.E and online art mag Mixtape.gr just to name a few. His deeper need for communication and dialogue with more greek and foreign artists urged him to create The Race Behind The Hill platform in 2009, making it a constant in-progress project based on DIY aesthetics. The strictly black & white, male-figured images combined with poster poems attached in urban locations connote the artist's intention to create a rather different, virtual human race, inspired by the principles of mysticism and neoplatonism. I think it's one of the best greek online projects, loaded with amazing images, don't forget to visit.

Mark Ryden - Pinxit

Cherubic girls, psychic figures and disturbing archetypes are the body and soul of artist Mark Ryden’s work, the king of cultural kitsch who since the 90’s has drawn global attention. His paintings are among the most recognizable, with big-eyed, nostalgic dressed girls, mythical bunnies and lots of meat. Pinxit is a new limited-edition book by Taschen  featuring highlights from Ryden’s greatest exhibitions and includes collected essays by Yoshitomo Nara, Carlo McCormick and others along with a new essay by culture critic Kristine McKenna. All his paintings and sketches are reproduced with the finest techniques available, while over a dozen of them are foldouts. The super-glossy book is coming out in a boxed collector’s edition of 1000 copies signed by the artist. You can buy it here

Issey Miyake Animated

The following short animated film with drawings by Michael Crawford is featured in the big exhibition titled Irving Penn & Issey Miyake: A Visual Dialogue, still running at the 21_21 Design Sight Museum in Tokyo. Excellent, amusing and a true piece of art. You can read the full exhibition report here

Enjoy:

Make-Up

Francesco Vezzoli

A Palazzo Gallery in Brescia is currently hosting Make-Up, a new hot exhibition dealing with aesthetic beauty and its transformations. Twelve famous artists give their own interpretation to the meaning of beauty, with 2D and 3D works, experimenting with cosmetic cut-outs and allegorical abstractions on famous or unknown faces, finally resulting to an esoteric purification, beyond the mainstream standards.
The participating artists are: Maurizio Anzeri, John Bock, Dr.Lakra, Lothar Hempel, Jamie Isenstein, Alan Reid, Markus Schinwald, John Stezaker, Sue Tompkins, Ryan Trecartin, Vedovamazzei and Francesco Vezzoli.
Curated by Mariuccia Casadio
The exhibition will last by the 11th March, 2012

                      Both images above by MaurizioAnzeri

Desire (2011), Lothar Hempel

Audrey Hepburn (2011), Vedovamazzei

Francesco Vezzoli

All images courtesy of A Palazzo Gallery