marcel dzama.

Make room for cool, Canadian born artist, Marcel Dzama. Save your pennies. His work ain't cheap but completely original and dark and comic and surreal. Wizard of Oz meets the work of Edward Gorey. Colors are muted browns and greens and burnt out reds and oranges. McSweeney's has posted a stellar bio along with a series of interviews in which the artist particapted. Dzama’s drawings are hand-tinted with watercolor and root beer (yes, ROOT BEER!) are inhabited by strange fairytale creatures a la the (signature) tearful ghosts, human trees, bear suits, dracula figures and weird green monsters. He wrote a sold-out hardcover book for McSweeney's: The Berlin Years now available in paper.

Want something of Dzama's you can afford? His salt and pepper shakers are around $50. And, this cute and kooky lamp (below), available at Artbrat and Giant Robot (about $150).



It's based on his "Saddest Ghost" from a 2004 exhibit @ Richard Heller Gallery.

fine oaxaca tequila.

For those connoisseurs of fine tequila, ready for a change from the Patron batch, try Los Amantes Mezcal. It's a smoky blend, aged (x three time distilled) and perfect for sipping after dinner. To my most immediate knowledge, you can find this gorgeous drink at my favorite Mexican restaurant in New York: Cafe El Portal (174 Elizabeth St. between Kenmare and Spring) and it's sister joint: Xicala Wine & Tapas Bar (151B Elizabeth St). The bottle was created by up & comer,Guillermo Olguin, a respected Mexican artist from Oaxaca (see map below).



Another Olguin piece:

shu oils.

I still love both the packaging AND product of shu umera's skin purifiers: *Cleansing Oil Light & OTAKA: Light and Refreshing, *Cleansing Oil since 1960 & TAMA: The origin of shu uemura and Ai Yamaguchi and *Cleansing Oil Enriched & OKYO: Eliminate heavy, deeply ingrained elements. shu is also available at my favorite new york mainstay, Barneys.



The bottle's artwork was created by emerging Japanese artist, Ai Yamaguchi(the 28-year-old former associate of Louis Vuitton artist Takashi Murakami). Her designs capture long, sleek black tresses of female does; their oversize eyes gleamed but registering no real expression. A few other select previous works are seen below. Look out for more...

simone shubuck.

These simple but intricate drawings by Simone Shubuck are exceptional. Shubuck makes work on paper, using colored pencils, graphite, and other mixed media. She apparently fills sheets of heavy paper and 'dead' stationery with delicate, layered scenes where birds, Cartier bracelet designs, lists of Jay-Z's aliases, images of Egon Schiele, Peter Beard photographs, and plants and flora collide and coexist. She combines pop cultural themes with her own personal doodles, phone numbers and random (at times enlightening) thoughts. For more on Simone.

the grizzly man.

Another great summer documentary amoung the trash at the megaplex. Check out: Grizzly Man. It's about the life of Timothy Treadwell, who lived for fourteen summers among the grizzly bears of Alaska until a rogue bear (age: 28) clawed both Treadwell and his girlfriend to death in 2003. The docu is a massive conversational piece (I've been thinking about it all weekend). Man vs. nature, living a solitary life with grizzly bears and one man's overly sentimental view of nature.

I love this black and white photo of director Werner Herzog . Is he channeling Treadwell?

not too shabby.

ilse crawford is a creative director who launched british elle decoration. she understands the mixing and blending of styles--contemporary and what she refers to as the "emotional". her company studioilse created the soho house new york, the electric cinema- london & the influential hotel babington house, bath. in the last year studioilse has launched two ranges of furniture. She also recently put out a great design book, Home Is Where the Heart Is.

robert moses: friend or fiend?

Last night, we watched by far the most eye-popping episode of New York: A Documentary Film. A few facts remain painfully clear from that era: white flight and suburbanization; colossal changes brought about by highways and urban renewal: overseen by one man: Robert Moses. The film comes to a climax with the unfathomable destruction of Penn Station (1963) for Madison Square Garden.

We demolish this:


for this:


The documentary also provides in-depth footage over the battle over the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which was never constructed, thanks in large part to an activist named Jane Jacobs. The proposed road would have effected the Lower East Side, SoHo and Greenwich Village.



Proof the power of people still have a voice.

on the radar.

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Instead, subscribe to RADAR immediately. It recalls the old Spy magazine--smart, extremely witty, funny, irreverent, opinionated and factual (yes, the truth is actually out there). This is a magazine you can actually read out loud, with friends, and not have them be annoyed you are reading to them. A collective effort of articles on Scientology, Kangol hats, Top 40 Dumb News Anchors, How to be Famous and other culturally important topics...the list goes on and on. Great read for the young, urban things. Great gift.

layer cake + crash

In the year of crappy blockbuster movies, do yourself a favor and rent the recent, stylish film LAYER CAKE (directed by Matthew Vaughn). It's got a British Usual Suspects thing happening (including the "surprise" ending) and is really quite good.

oh...and now that i'm thinking about rentals. Perhaps you want to check out, CRASH. It's the controversial film you will love or hate. Sure, it's an LA movie (something foreign to must of us). Still, I happen to be a fan--writing is key here. It's a thinking piece. Almost humbling.

peter beard.

I'm still a terrific fan of Peter Beard and remember the good ole' days at his gallery (The Time Is Always Now) on Broome Street. It was an insane, interactive playground full of books, leather, blood, paint, pens, chairs, bikes, hot women, smokes, Rolling Stones music on the system, plants and the smell of art. Since traveling to Africa in 1955, he has photographed zebra, giraffe, elephants, crocodiles and later dabbled in pop culture with buddies Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol. This prompted him to tweak photographs of Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy.





Below are some selected "recent" works of art and can be checked out on the Peter Beard website. Beard recently wrote a book (dedicated to his daughter) entitled Zara's Tales about his adventures in Kenya--most notably when he was almost killed by an elephant. If you can't afford his art. Some of his books are NOT to be missed: The End of the Game, Longing for Darkness: Kamante's Tales from Out of Africa, 28 Pieces, The Adventures and MisAdventures of Peter Beard in Africa and the rare Fifty Years of Portraits (my favorite).

Peter Beard: "I need the sun to get really good effects from the blood," then adds, "Ever since art school, I've hated the whole white-gloves-for-handling-photos thing. I like Bernard Berenson's definition of art -- 'whatever is life-enhancing.'"

the art of the chase

...and when celebrities used to be cool & interesting. Ron Galella on the chase: "Jackie was my ideal subject. She was always mobile. It presented a challenge to go after her. I also enjoyed going after Robert Redford. He's aloof, he's shy, he doesn't stop. And I admired him — he's more than an actor." Galella's book includes an exhibition of 190 vintage prints taken between 1960 - 1990.






RG's final word: "My job is thick with risks, threats, occasional violence and sometimes the necessary folly that courts humiliation and ridicule. But I don't care. I see myself as the Dean of American paparazzi.