Art

Art, Travels, Hotel

LES BAINS 1885 . 1978 . 2015, Paris

FROM 1885 TO 2011... A PLACE AMONG PLACES. 

Opened in 1885, Les Bains Douches, built and operated by the Guerbois family, 
became the first and the most renowned bathhouse of the capital. 
It was a temple; a space sanctified to massages and delights of Japanese, Russian, Turkish and sulphur baths. 
Customers could choose to swim in the pool or take a bath as they would at home. 
Marcel Proust loved to come and take steam baths, while the workers from the nearby Les Halles food market
came at dawn to shower and drink coffee and calvados after their night’s labours.

In 1978, this unique place transformed clubbing into an art and rapidly became a
cultural phenomenon; a temple of the Parisian night. It was a centre of gravity,
the eye of the storm, a crossroads of fashion, media, show business and arts. 
Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Naomi Campbell,
Claudia Schiffer, Bono, Prince, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, etc. The list is endless. 

In 2011, to reinvent and save this icon of Parisian nightlife, La Société des Bains was born under
the leadership of Jean-Pierre Marois... This, then, is the very first page of the new history of Les Bains.

https://www.lesbains-paris.com/en/

Photos by Mr R

Art, Parfums, Travels

ISABELLE DOYEN, Milan

Isabelle Doyen is a graduate from the renowned ISIPCA, Paris. Today, she is a part time teacher there, sharing her extensive knowledge of fine perfumery. Outstanding students Francis Kurkdjian & Mathilde Laurent are graduates of her class. 

The rest of Isabelle’s time is devoted to her perfume creation company Aromatique Majeur. Since the 1980's, Isabelle has been the ‘in house’ perfumer for Annick Goutal where with Annick, she co-signed many of Goutal’s perfumes. With Camille Goutal, Isabelle continues to create for the Goutal brand. 

Isabelle was one of the very first independent master noses, who has gained rare distinguished respect from her fellow peers as a talented artist expressing her creativity through fine perfumery. She considers fragrance compositions as a universal language - deeply personal, intimate & secret. Isabelle is a friend, who Renaud has known & followed for 13 years. Naomi & Renaud had always dreamed of working with Isabelle well before the creation of their premier fragrances. From Isabelle’s side, she viewed Naomi as a source of inspiration. So through a close collaborative vision ‘ Nuit de Bakélite ’ was born.

Photo by Evgeniya Chudakova in Naomi Goodsir Parfums, "Insomnia" suite, in Milan 2017

Art, Collaborations, Displays

TZURI GUETA, Milan - Italy

The encounter between Art & Science.

By combining silicone with open work textile materials, Tzuri Gueta invented a technique of blowing silicone onto lace. Tzuri Gueta graduated from Shenkar College in Tel Aviv, Israel as a designer & textile engineer. After settling in Paris in 1996, Tzuri worked at Trend Union - an agency run by Li Edelkoort where he concentrated on textile design. His innovative approach gave rise to surprising materials that border on sculpture – materials that deceive the senses of touch & vision.

In November 2013, the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, hosted the exhibition ‘Noces Végétales’ (Plant Nuptials) by Tzuri Gueta, inside the Great Green houses in the Jardin des Plantes. Using silicone-infused lace to create works inspired by the organic world, Tzuri enhanced the luxuriant greenery of the greenhouse by entwining his silicone pieces with nature.

Tzuri Gueta collaborates with the worlds most acclaimed haute couture houses : Chanel, Givenchy, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Stéphane Rolland, Issey Miyake, etc …

Art, Exhibitions, Travels

SHAY FRISCH / LUMINOUS CONNECTIONS, Milan

Shay Frisch exhibition "Luminous Connections" - Compo 37586_B / N, just ended at the Galleria San Fedele in Milan. A very interesting work based on the transmission of the energy that creates light. The catalogue of the exhibition - Silvana Editoriale -  is available at the Biblioteca San Fedele.

campo 4011_N, 2010 / electrical components

campo 7346_N, 2016 / electrical components

campo 14009_B, 2012 - 2016 / electrical components. Photos by Mr R

Art, Exhibitions, Press

PRESS RELEASE PRESENTATION, Milan

INSTALLATION - « INSOMNIA » at Hotel Principe di Savoia, March 2017

Naomi chose to use a hotel suite as a medium, transforming it - in situ, by dressing the furniture & objects with white cotton fabric - her own vision of a ‘nuit blanche’. The room is bought back to a blank canvas … 

Surrealistic techniques of psychic/compulsive writings & drawings from artists, such as Louise Bourgeois’s Insomnia Drawings’ inspired Naomi as a relevant expression of the nocturnal tuberose flower – obsessive, fresh, green, animalistic & addictive.

A few hand made original & unique silicone plants by Tzuri Gueta from ‘Noces Végétales’ are displayed in the suite, as a link to some aspects of the perfume.

Art, Exhibitions

L'ART POUR L'ART, Henri Olivier

"Walk through shadows" by Henri Olivier.  The Musée Marc Chagall, in Nice invites Henri Olivier to show his work in the museum's indoor and outdoor spaces. Influenced by American minimalism and Arte Povera, his installations serve as a poetic interpretation of the space designed to showcase Marc Chagall work : a building built by André Hermant in 1973, surrounded by Mediterranean gardens designed by Henri Fisch. Exhibition till April 30th, 2017.

Henri Olivier, The shadow of the olive tree, 2017. Olive tree, pot, still & inox.

"What would be a landscape be without shadow? The olive trees are casting their shadows into the space, transcribed via a black silhouette on the floor and wall". Henri Olivier

Synapses - "Objects aren't there so much to be contemplated as they are to create links between shadow, reflection and echo: inside or outside, close up or far away, before and after... " Henri Olivier

Henri Olivier, Synapse XI, 2017 - Charred olive tree stumps, neon.

Mur Mur - "There's always a wall to stop us in our tracks ! We may as well finish the job, seal up with lead and close off all escape routes ? And yes this is where things begin." Henri Olivier

Henri Olivier, Mur Mur, 2017 - Lead wall.

Art, Boutiques, Displays

A WINDOW IN ....Riyadh

Between shadow & light, a fantastic perfumery in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, welcoming our last window display.  O100°, in Riyadh.

Fashion, Art

CREATIVE MINDS, Conny Groenewegen

"Fashion Machine" is an art performance presented at the Dutch ambassador's house in Paris, in September 2016. Made of 2.000 fleece sweaters, each systematically cut in 14m stripes and knitted - on antic wooden knitting machines - into more special textile objects. This artistic installation was made for (took place initially at) Temporary Fashion Museum in Rotterdam.

Conny Groenewegen based her spatial intervention for the exhibition Fashion Data on a typical leftover product of the fast fashion industry: the fleece sweater. Originally made from another industrial relic, the PET bottle, the fleece sweater is certainly not the most adventurous fashion item that ends up in the collection bins for used clothing. However, it can be found there in massive amounts and the product is actually hardly suitable for re-sale in thrift stores or the markets of Eastern Europe, Africa and India.

For the installation 'Fashion Machine', countless fleece sweaters were cut up and the polyethylene yarn put on spools again. The exhibition space introduces a kind of sweatshop for the processing of these yarns, which are reworked into flags and mattresses. The installation makes the production mechanism and scale of the fast fashion industry tangible, while the banal material takes on a new shape and an almost activist expression on the spot.

www.http://tijdelijkmodemuseum.hetnieuweinstituut.nl

www.connygroenewegen.nl

Travels, Art

UNE TOUCHE DE STYLE, Glen Proebstel

 

PERFECT  IMPERFECT, the beauty of accident, age & patina

An interior design book that embodies a philosophy of thoughtfulness & creativity in living.

Text by Karen McCartney, Photography Sharyn Cairns / Styling Glen Proebstel

Perfect Imperfect takes as its founding principle the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, advocating the beauty to be found in imperfection, impermanence and the authentic. Importantly, this is done without losing sight of the benefits of living in the 21st century, where designers are merging digital technology with the handmade to produce items that combine the best of both worlds.
 

Glen Proebstel is a talented Interiors, Still Life & Food Stylist / Producer / Art Director from New-Zealand now based in New York. He regularly collaborates with The New York Times, H&M, Tory Burch and many more .... A truly inspiring friend. www.glenproebstel.com

Art

BERNARD VENET - Les Origines 1961 - 1966

An exhibition at Espace de l'Art ConcretMouans-Sartoux, France from 12th June - 13th November 2016. We had the luck to attend the vernissage & to witness a performance by Bernard Venet - a major artist & a considerable man.

Tas de charbon, 1963 / Reliefs cartons, 1963 / Espace miroir noir, 1963