CURIOUSER NEW YORK

When was the last time you've been to a large international art expo and/or art fair? Last Spring alone five international art shows took place in New York City, and I've gone to all of them - the indulgence of which not only did very good to me, but I've discovered many new emerging and modern artists, whose work was amazingly impressive and unique, and so thought the other visitors - btw ...

I'm a bit sucker for the contemporary art. I try to never miss a contemporary art show, and in the last few months I've truly over-indulged on the New York art scene . 

I really wished I was in Paris  last week, and not because for all the reasons I love this city - including the Parisian fashion . The world’s first annual film festival dedicated to fashion, style and beauty that continues to shake up the old rules of fashion by shifting the focus from still photography to moving image - the fifth edition of A Shaded View on Fashion Film - took place is at Centre Pompidou in Paris, one of my favorite exhibit halls in the city! A still from 'Fashion Golden Eighties', directed by Olivier Nicklaus Claude, 1979. Photography: Guy Marineau

If you are wondering how come I've been blogging about the interior design all of the sudden? Well, I can't help it. I should have been a designer! Really...it's a hidden passion of mine. I take a notice of something cool, different or something that 'speaks to' my taste, like the decors of the Parisian apartments I've blogged about yesterday. So, here's some more from the chick collaboration of  Nilufar Gallery, Dimore Studio and Balice Hertling - the trio that has teamed up to create a joint exhibition in a Parisian apartment during the city's contemporary art fair, FIAC.

Are you one of those people who, when watching a film that is set in Paris, you pay attention not just to the story line but to the exterior and interior designs of the settings - be it a street, office, store, parking lot and/or an apartment? I'm one of those people. Not only I peek into the offices and stores, but sometimes I peek into someone's window just to get a glimpse of what the life must be like inside this apartment that is located on...Montmartre in Paris, for example. I remember I put my travel companion through horror, when I stopped at every single first floor apartment window on Montmartre to look inside to see the interiors of the apartment, where, once, some famous French impressionist might have lived. As a matter of fact, I did discover many interesting things about the very particular - very French - interiors, which no travel book will feature for you.

Follow me this Sat 10/28 on Twitter - I'll be live-tweeting from the Designers & Books Fair 2012 at Fashion Institute of Technology . Can't wait to meet and listen to the top designers who represent Architecture, Graphic Design, Fashion, Landscape Architecture, Product/Industrial Design, Urban Design such as Elaine Lustig Cohen (Graphic Designer and Artist), Tom Geismar (Graphic Designer, Chermayeff & Geismar), Hilary Greenbaum (Graphic Designer, Whitney Museum of American Art), Prem Krishnamurthy (Graphic Designer, Project Projects), Alice Twemlow (Design Writer, Co-Founder and Chair of D-Crit MFA Program, School of Visual Arts ), and Hal Rubeinstein (Fashion Director, InStyle) 

If you are in NYC this weekend, don't miss out to meet more than 35 U.S. and European design book publishers and booksellers and hear the leading designers talk! Fashion Institute of Technology is hosting Designers & Books Fair 2012 on Saturday and Sunday. Designers & Books Fair 2012: The world's many design celebrities

The last place I'd go for fashion to would have been the South Street Seaport Museum , but as I've learned last week:  1) never underestimate the fashion scene in New York City 2) fashion can be found in the most unexpected places  3) there's still a lot I don't know about New York City - and keeps surprising me...  Last week I was doing some research when I came across an interesting blurb about a Fashion Night Out event at the South Street Seaport Museum and I thought that they might be joking as this is the last museum I could assume would be doing a fashion event. But they did, and they had a reason for that.  The museum's exhibit "Made In New York" featured the local aspiring designers - the graduates of Parsons School of Design . Of course, one should take into consideration that the South Street Seaport Museum is not MET, so the exhibition is not of the same grandeur. It's on a smaller scale, but nevertheless, a very interesti...

I'm not sure if it's the rain and/or the gray skyline that trigged my hidden inhibition and appreciation of the noir-style artsy fashion with an erotic twist, but it is, what it is - it's very luring, very sensual in a very twisted, dark way with a bit of... a lady-swan behavior.  I appreciate the artists, who approach a fashion photoshoot in such a creative way that, when you look at the final result of what should be an ad for a clothing and/or accessory piece campaign, you wonder about the idea behind the look.  Why has it be shot the way it was shot? Wh aa t?

I can't believe I'm so behind on some of the coolest and free fashion events that there are in New York City - the Museum at FIT events. Last time I was there was for the Daphne Guinness amazing exhibition of personal fashion collection, much of which was a dedication to her favorite Alexander McQueen.

Just as you can never have too many pairs of high heels and pairs of jeans in your closet, you can never have too many stylish books adorning your coffee table. I doubt there's a household that does not have coffee table books - well, at least one.  Personally, any family and/or individuals I've ever visited had at least one or two books gracing a coffee table. From history, nature and travel to fashion and photography  books. One can tell a lot about a person by the selection of the coffee table books - whether it's an artsy and/or a travel aficionado individual. Could I say that one can tell a lot about a person by the books he/she has on a coffee table? I believe - you sure could...

As I've promised you in my previous blog , where I talked about the still art works that were showcased at the Scope Art Show New York , here are the audio and video works from the galleries from around the world. What was interesting is that last year I haven't noticed much of these formats at the show. This time around, however, the audio and video works were prominently present at the art show, and I really enjoyed some of them. There's some good stuff happening on the art scene right now. The digital media has made its way onto the art scene - that's official! I'm very excited to see what happens next year...

Here's a thing - I'm very artsy. And if I had more time on my hands, I would have been designing something by now - fashion, ads, book covers... It's truly a pity that I'm not utilizing my one year of Graphic Design education at Oregon State University, my one year Desktop Publishing / Graphic Design program at School of Visual Arts in New York and my Copyright Advertising program at Georgetown University in Washington, DC - all of which I've finished with a great idea of doing something artsy.  I used to be so immersed into the whole designing process that when I first started to freelance in PR in 2002, I actually offered the 'services' of designing brochures, posters, websites. One of which was actually used for a brochure at the Art & Design School of Art in New York. Yes, those were the times when I actually did it. Now it all comes down to painting or collaging in the Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator in a spare moment of the sudden free ...