Art Series - Paper Dresses

I seem to keep missing limited run exhibits at museums around San Francisco.  Here is an examples of one.  It was called "Pulp Fashion:  The art of Isabelle de Borchgrave".  Friends who went said it was incredible.  Oh well, at least I saw the postcard.   Here's the description of the exhibit:

Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave is a painter by training, but textile and costume are her muses. Working in collaboration with leading costume historians and young fashion designers, de Borchgrave crafts a world of splendor from the simplest rag paper. Painting and manipulating the paper, she forms trompe l’oeil masterpieces of elaborate dresses inspired by rich depictions in early European painting or by iconic costumes in museum collections around the world. The Legion of Honor is the first American museum to dedicate an entire exhibition to the work of Isabelle de Borchgrave, although her creations have been widely displayed in Europe.

Pulp Fashion draws on several themes and presents quintessential examples in the history of costume—from Renaissance finery of the Medici family and gowns worn by Elizabeth I and Marie-Antoinette to the creations of the grand couturiers Frederick Worth, Paul Poiret, Christian Dior, and Coco Chanel. Special attention is given to the creations and studio of Mariano Fortuny, the eccentric early-20th-century artist who is both a major source of inspiration to de Borchgrave and a kindred spirit.

Damn.  Sounds pretty amazing. 

Art Series V, Louisa S Cooper

Louisa S. Cooper was "Mrs. Witter" to me, and  a mainstay of our multi-family Labor Day beach weeks in Carpinteria, when I was a kid.  She long ago divorced Mr. Witter (now deceased), remarried and moved to Hawaii.  I don't know if she was a painter then, but she certainly became one.

It's funny how unaware of the interests, hobbies and professional lives of the adults around us we were growing up.  It seems kids now are much more aware, although perhaps I'm kidding myself (pun unintentional).

I do remember that she was a bit more exotic, and somehow different than some of the other moms.  Perhaps it was that she was slightly more liberal in the conservative domain of Pasadena, or perhaps it was the artist in her.  Perhaps it was because she smoked.  Who knows?  But it is fun to see her work, and know that she succeeded, living the life of an artist, in Hawaii no less.

The Umbrellas (Christos II)

It's been unusually wet this June in California.  In fact, by the time this is posted, we may have broken all recorded records for amount of rain in the month of June, and the month isn't even over.  For that reason, these postcards seem particularly appropriate.  My mom recently unearthed them while packing up her home of 48 years, saved from an excursion she and a bunch of friends took to see the "Umbrellas" in 1991.

One of many environmental works of art that Christos (and his wife Jeanne-Claude) have installed around the world, "The Umbrellas" were erected simultaneously in Japan and the United States. From the wiki: 

 In December 1990, after much preparation, the first steel bases for the umbrellas were installed.  In September 1991, the umbrellas were brought to their places by 2,000 workers. In California, some of the bases were transported to the site by helicopter. The final cost of the project totaled $26 US million. By 7 September, 1,340 blue umbrellas in Ibaraki and 1,760 yellow umbrellas at the Tejon Ranch in southern California had been set up; the exhibition opened on 9 October 1991. In total, 3 million people saw the umbrellas, each measuring 6 meters in height and 8.66 meters in diameter. The umbrellas became a huge tourist attraction, finding use as everything from picnic spots to wedding altars.

Also from the wiki:

Although their work is visually impressive and often controversial as a result of its scale, the artists have repeatedly denied that their projects contain any deeper meaning than their immediate aesthetic impact. The purpose of their art, they contend, is simply to create works of art or joy and beauty and to create new ways of seeing familiar landscapes.

I saw this installation only from the highway, while driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles, but I remember well all the excitement it generated.

P.S.  I wrote a post about the Christos New York "Gates" installation a while back.  You can read that here.