An Enchanted Retrospective in Paris- François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne

I have always have been enamored with art nouveau paintings, architecture, furniture and jewelry; its high art, fantastical and imaginative structure always takes me to a wistful, make believe world where I read philosophical literature in a wired bronze chair engraved with golden rabbits hopping about in leafy tutus, as if dancing about the piece’s legs and arm rests. Classic huh?
French husband-and-wife artists, François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne have constructed such extraordinarily beautiful art nouveau pieces where sculpture and furniture mingle. They have charmed art collectors with their whimsical and sensual sculptures. Friends of the couple include Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford and Reed Krakoff who all admire his botanical-inspired furniture and elegant way of interpreting the natural world.
In mid March the duo’s work will be showcased at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne’s designs act as a sense of absurdity where bronze sheep will adorn the court yard of the exhibit and animal inspired furniture, include a monkey themed desk, will be displayed for the public.
Their pieces are simply delightful and celebrate an artist’s elegant oblivion to the boundaries of fine and decorative art. I love the special blend of luxurious sensuality and earthy irreverence which truly embodies the Parisian way.

(Source: New York Times)

The Body and Blood of Art... really.

The spectrum of artistic creativity has an extremely long and winding plane that seems to be warping in and out of consciousness every minute. Does that even make sense?
An artist by the name of Gunther von Hagen has created a controversial form of art that has ruffled a lot of the tight wads feathers. His art is a display of partially dissected corpses in varying poses, mostly sporting positions. Von Hagen’s exhibit will be arriving in my city, Calgary, in May 2010 at the Science Center.

I am utterly fascinated by such a brilliant way to expose the bleak reality of the human body’s inevitable demise. Not only is von Hagen unearthing the complex beauty of our biological inner workings, his art reflects a notion that the conventional world seems to cast as arrogant: Our bodies do not hold any type of significant substance, our physical selves are ultimately flesh and bone which will whittle away into the nothingness of our world. He is elevating the concept of self identity by illustrating the misappropriation of value that is placed onto our physical bodies.

Am I going out on a far out limb here? Is von Hagen taking his anatomist background and simply experimenting with art? Maybe… all I know is the radical fusion he is creating sure made my mind go to a tea party with Charles Darwin and Jean-Paul Sartre.