Tag / inspo
Personal Traits to Desire
I’ve written down a list of traits I find most desirable in a human:
Discretion
Understanding
Uprightness
Love
Faithfulness
Discipline
Righteousness
Wisdom
Humility
A study of these and I find I have much to improve on.
It’s easy for us to forget these most important things when the things we chase after for which we can see the end result/return more easily/tangibly start to consume us.
Better to write them down, imprint them on your skin, sear them in your heart, then to forget and find yourself lost in the chase.
The chase is long. And the human race has proven time and time again that it’s a gigantic, messy blob prone to dissatisfactions, strivings, and wanderings.
It’s good to re-evaluate regularly what you are about, who you are, and why you are pursuing the things you are pursuing.
It would be a pity if you found yourself at the long tail of a track some day… having run all your life… having forgotten the why.. so far away from the person you initially dreamed you’d be.
Musings & Tucans in Le Marais
I am sitting in a very pretty coffee shop called the Yellow Tucan.
The cafe owner decorates the cafe with bright spots of yellow: oranges, tulips, architectural chairs, and truly brightens up the spirits of anyone stopping in.
It’s been 4 days since I’ve arrived in Paris.
Outside of my meetings for work I’ve committing to a practice of solitude as that’s what I have been looking for as I chose to take this trip– to recalibrate and deepen my focus.
After a sprint of work here and finishing this letter, I will go out to meet a friend, Pierre, to do what’s perhaps some much needed socializing. We will be going to the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature. It will be my first time, and I am so very excited to go as I know the decorative art pieces there are splendid!
It hasn’t been difficult at all to find new friends here. There have been the hiccups of having to ward off men though. …on runs, during walks between meetings. But it’s nothing.
Work is going very well, although I’m shy to share with you the details of the project I have been working on just yet. It takes a lot of preparation, a lot of risk, and sharing sometimes feels scary because it feels like I am putting all my eggs in one basket, when I myself am not absolutely sure where this heading. But this I think is the scared me talking. 🙂
Things are moving very quickly forward though. It’s enough to excite me and frighten me simultaneously.
I hope I have the courage to continue on.  And if not, I hope I have the courage to take up something new again. To persevere, and also to be brazen when acting for the good things– the worthy things.
Arming myself for the days ahead.
Love,
Soo
Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983
Night So much experimentation and fun in the 70s and 80s, I wish I was a part of it:
Customized Matchbooks for Club 57’s 1983 Matchbook Show
Complement these visuals with the 1967 track of ze Vegetables by The Beach Boys.
PSA*** Let me just say MoMA’s current exhibits are amazing (Specifically, three). This is a good month to go. I won’t spoil it for you, but there are some new, reckoning art for you to see.
Running through April 1 at The Museum of Modern Art.
Complement these visuals with the 1967 track of ze Vegetables by The Beach Boys.
Inside My Tulips
When something so simple can give you so much joy:
Start: Pot + 5 tulip bulbs
Flower Bloom:
The beautiful prints and propeller shapes formed by the overlapping petals.
Can you see the pretty fuzz on top of the tulip? It’s supposed to be mold though. 😦
The richness of the flowers’ robes.
13 hours time:
Inspired, so I paint (acrylic and watercolour):
Another day:
Chop chop :
I placed the flowers in a mason jar and headed to my sister’s to surprise her.
2 Days Later: My sister, inspired like me by their beauty started drawing as well.
She is the best drawer in our family by far. 🙂
How To Fall In Love With Art
How long has it been?
Up until college, I had grown up with an appreciation for fine art thanks to my parents, but it was never really something I had sought out on my own.
I knew enough “art” to maintain my sense of weird, self-righteous adolescent pride in being cultured and artsy. My interest was driven by nothing else really of nobler substance.
At 18, I moved to New York for college, and I enrolled in an art crit class on a whim during freshman year: the Art of Now course at New York University.
Fast forward to 2013, when I studied abroad in Shanghai. I decided to take on a heavier workload of art classes and immersed myself in contemporary and Asian art. I don’t remember much of the art I saw in detail, but this period of time would leave an indelible mark on me, and it was a catalyst for my passion.
Hu Jieming, Casual Status, 1992
I returned, enrolled in some more art classes.. a studio class in drawing.
During my time as a student, I had more time in the afternoons and between classes to do other things (doing nothing, meeting friends at cafes or for lunch in the West Village, chilling near fountains – damn life from 18-22 was so sweet) and I began exploring gallery spaces and art exhibitions everywhere! pretty intensely.
A pic I snapped years ago on another trip to Pace Gallery.
I started taking random things at home: scissors, a tableweight, a pepper from the kitchen, a rose and draw.
So newly inspired I was by the intricate beauty in all things that held form, line, and shape.
I was falling in love with art then.
I began to accumulate a larger inventory of the things I liked and disliked, formulate stronger opinions backed by a latticework of thoughts and experiences built thanks to the plenitude of art I’ve seen in the years which have since passed post- college.
For example, I prefer minimalism and modernism. I like French impressionism, and abstract expressionism.
For some reason, Surrealism and Dada works get me.
Man Ray, Ingre’s Violin
Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele works are so luscious and rich. Contemporary movements like pop surrealism, otherwise knowns as “Lowbrow” art are so cool.
Mark Ryden, the father of Pop-Surrealism
I don’t find a lot of photography art to be impressive, but I’m okay with that. Installations with various forms of media are sometimes a hit or miss for me. I like contemporary art, but I’m not particularly fond of Jeff Koons (active from 1977 – ) or Damien Hirst (1988 – , or Jean-Michel Basquiat (1976 – ). But I do love me my Toyin Ojih Odutola (2008 – , Osamu Yokonami, and Chad Wys (2011 – ) :
Toyin Ojih Odutola, Above all else make it look effortless, 2012. Pen ink, marker, and varnish on paper.
Chad Wys, Sculpture with a Spectrum 2, 2014. Collage on paper.
It’s 2018 and I love art more than ever.
I move and live every week, drinking in all the things I see, from the daily visuals of life to the more curated representations of art at institutions.
And the more I do that, the more I understand this:
Art is an instrument that instructs the way we see and live our lives. Our lives, in turn, are ripe, breeding grounds for art: new expressions and new manifestos… and who’s to say that the act of life and breathing aren’t art in themselves.
They are synonymous with one another– and I cannot see the difference.
(on my best days- taha.)
Money Shot by Judith Bernstein
My friend Christine and I stopped by the Paul Kasmin Gallery yesterday to check out this LOUD art show, which represents the works of Judith Bernstein, a New York based artist, mainly known for her phallic symbol infused works and her ardent devotion to feminism.
Money Shot is a visual manifesto of some very explicit political commentary (truly, a no holds barred, lacking zero subtly situation). Asides from the strong messaging, the artist used fun and creative mediums like fluorescent paint and light for this exhibit to the delight of myself and the many other art goers that walked into the gallery (Exhibit A: it was fun to see anyone with hair lighter than brown with heads literally lit, and seeing men walk in with their stiff collared shirts noticing in surprise that the collars peeking out of their sweaters were brilliantly highlighted in spacey purple light).
Do I see a Darth Vadar, a skull, and a generic demon here or is it just me?
The Trinity Schlong
While this artist clearly shows her bias for the strong left, I believe this show is worth going to and seeing– regardless of one’s political affiliation, and preferably with an open mind.
It is worth mentioning and acknowledging the creative and intellectual risks this artist has made to voice out some very controversial and sensitive opinions, and the gallery that chose to represent her with this recent installation.
I applaud you, Paul Kasmin Gallery.
This show runs until March 03, 2018. @ 293 10th Ave., NY.
Best Works of Helmut Newton, “King of Kink”
Helmut Newton is a photographer best known for his erotica fueled snapshots and a taste for capturing fun… stripped bare. He was regarded by many as the “King of Kink” and you can go back to so many issues of Vogue easily with his indelible footprint.
U.S. Vogue May 1993, “White Mischief”
Here are a couple of my favorite works from this talented German Australian:
Woman Examining Man, 1975 for U.S. Vogue
Nice, 1976
Unfaithful
Cruising From Behind
While I don’t appreciate all his works, I do truly think he was the best of his kind for what he did.
There is so much life and mischief captured through a single portrait– he did it so well.
33 black-and-white photographs—framed, signed, and numbered—on sale this month at Guy Regal’s showroom in the New York Design Center. Open to the public today.
Inspired by Marina Keegan’s The Opposite of Loneliness
“On my deathbed, I will instruct a nurse to bring me the following:
A bag of parmesan flavored Cheese-Its, a burger, the crispiest rosemary covered thin fries, a glass of Diet Coke (lightly chilled), dill flavored waffle chips, a steak tartare with extra capers, the creamiest strawberry choux-creme cake, a McDonald Big Mac, and a Burger King Double Bacon Cheeseburger.
In my final moments, I will consume this food slowly and delicately as I fade into oblivion.” – Marina Keegan
Complement this creative marriage of Keegan’s prose from The Opposite of Loneliness and my appetite with If I Die Tomorrow, by Korean hip-hop artist, Beenzino.
September 2017: Art Shows to See
Here are some shows to be excited about and below is a view of my favorite works from the referenced artists. Look out for them if you go!
Suzan Frecon’s Oil Paintings, David Zwirner Gallery, 525 West 19th Street, New York (9/15)
Campana Brothers: Hybridism, Friedman Benda Gallery, 515 West 26th St, New York
Noah’s Chair, Noah’s Bench, 2017
Ad Reinhardt’s Blue Paintings, David Zwirner Gallery, 537 West 20th Street, New York
Number 88 (Blue), 1950
Rodin at the Met, Metropolitan Museum of Art (9/16)
The Age of Bronze, 1876
Italian Artist Gehard Demetz, my modern day Geppetto.
Formally trained in religious sculpture, Italian artist Gehard Demetz has progressed to become one of the most talented artists of our century. He wields his art technique and experience to create works, many with children as subject, that explore the dichotomies and marriages of contradiction… between that which is evocative and whimsical – provocative and contemporary. His sculptures often carry an energy verging on the socio-political.
He relies on mediums like wood and bronze and certainly knows how to make dry wood come alive.
These are my favorite works of Demetz throughout his career as a sculptor:
Introjection. 2017, Wood
Life Without Christmas. 2017, Wood
Dirt on my Shoulders. 2016, Wood
Restoring My Blisses. 2015, Wood.
My Parents’ Stories Sound Different. 2015, Wood.
Personally, I would say his best works were made in 2013.
Stones In My Pocket. 2013, Wood.
Mom’s hands and daddy’s nose. 2013, wood.
Complement these visuals with a contemplative rendition of Bach’s Christus, Der Uns Selig Macht, BWV 245, arranged by one of my favorite composers and pianists, Chad Lawson.
Pulse of the Fashion Industry, 2017
An informative report on the state of retail by Copenhagen Fashion Summit’s Global Fashion Agenda in collaboration with BCG and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition this year, with interesting tidbits like this:
Resort 2018 Crush
Good Menswear: You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know Until You’ve Seen It.
“Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance.”
—Arthur Ashe, Professional Tennis Player
In support of the art of dress, I give you a version of men’s style, reflecting my current style preferences:
Thom Sweeney – Beautiful bespoke, you spoke?
Herno Light Tech Thermo Jackets:
The Gillet, available in multiple colors… muted too, yes.
Bow – Tie, HENRY Loafer:
Necessary Anywhere Socks:
                MoMA on a sock
There is no “better” or “right” style– I believe though that there’s something in the deliberation given to treating oneself and one’s body as a temple, outside and in– that is “style”.
All power to men who see and live that too, whether that be realized in the mode of Jaden Smith or Mr. Birddogs guys here:
I hope this scroll gives you enough pause to think how you might dress for the next morning 💫, and if not, then ponder this:
“Clothes don’t make a man, but clothes have got many a man a good job.”
—Herbert Harold Vreeland, Academic
Letters by Soo 