Photographer: Marc Hibbert
Stylist: Marina German
Hair: Fumihito using Bumble and Bumble
Make-Up: Mai Kodama
Photographers Assistant: Jack Storer
Model: Crystal Noriega at Select
Design: Rebecca Hawkes
The post CRYSTAL appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
Photography: David Ralph
Make Up: Maria Asadi using Neal’s Yard Skincare and Dr. Hauschka
Hair: José Quijano using Catwalk by TIGI
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Eudon Choi’s S/S15 collection, described by the designer as a “homage to the beauty and power of simplicity”, was inspired by Georgia O’Keefe; the masculine tailoring clearly nodding to the artist’s personal style and the floral prints mirroring her work. Despite the stark contrast between O’Keefe’s androgynous appearance and highly sexualized, feminine paintings, Eudon Choi balanced these opposing elements beautifully, creating simple pieces with subtle detailing. Masculine three-piece suits were reincarnated in pastel florals and monochrome, wide-cut pieces were given a feminine edge with subtle ruffles.
Words by Angelica Mandy
Photography by Corrine Noel
The post EUDON CHOI: SS15 appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
Christopher Raeburn’s trademark utilitarian aesthetic took on a more delicate feel in his S/S15 collection, “the alchemy between functionality and femininity” as he called it backstage at the show. He noted ‘flight’ as his inspiration behind this new direction and masculine shapes were made ethereal with sheer, weightless fabrics and whites and pinks featured alongside Raeburn’s classic colour palette of black, navy, grey and khaki, transforming his classic, utility inspired cuts into something much more feminine. Raeburn as usual focused on sustainability, using original parachute material used in humanitarian aid drops and deconstructed decompression flight suits, taking the theme of flight to an all-encompassing level.
Words by Angelica Mandy
Photography by Corrine Noel
The post CHRISTOPHER RAEBURN: SS15 appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
After debuting with Fashion East in 2009, Holly Fulton has honed and developed her graphic, wearable signature aesthetic. The show notes explained that her S/S15 collection was “an ode to sun-worship and freedom of expression”, which was evident in her graphic floral prints and feminine, summery colour palette, with modern, structured shapes steering the collection away from being too twee. A collaboration with Cutler and Gross provided some cute pastel 60’s eyewear and whilst Fulton’s focus this season was feminine dresses, some of the strongest pieces were her crop tops and tailored trousers.
Words by Angelica Mandy
Photography by Corrine Noel
The post HOLLY FULTON: SS15 appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
Fyodor Golan’s S/S15 collection was a multi-coloured storm of structured, architectural pieces in neon and iridescent fabrics, taking their trademark aesthetic of luxury sportswear to somewhere more futuristic and psychedelic. With various influences from 90’s club kid culture, to 60’s theorist Lucia Fontana’s slashed canvases, Fyodor and Golan’s collection was said to be a celebration of “digital romanticism”. Featuring block coloured neon shift dresses, iridescent his and hers space suits and full length multicoloured neon ball gowns adorned with plastic floral appliqués embellishments, Fyodor and Golan managed to keep their boundary pushing collection modern and wearable with contemporary shapes and intricate pleating and folding.
Words By Angelica Mandy
Photography by Corrine Noel
The post FYODOR GOLAN: SS15 appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
Photography: Tomas Falmer at LundLund
Stylist: Sofie Krunegard at HallLundgren
Make-Up: Linda Öhrström at Link Details using Organic Homme by Greenpeople
Hair: Darren Phillips at LundLund using Less Is More
Model: Oliver Kumbi at Nisch Management
Design: Rebecca Hawkes
The post MAN MADE appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
If you come from an extremely religious country in the Middle East, the perceptions from the outside world of what it is to be a woman in Israel often strays quite far from reality. The summer war in Gaza has left a lasting impression among many, blinding us to what the country really has to offer. Israel may be seen as conservative and religious, yet it is still home to thousands of young teenagers growing up and doing the same things we did when we were coming of age.
Photographer Dafy Hagai has attempted to break this misconception and shine a light on how real girls do their thing in her book titled ‘Israeli Girls’. What started out as a zine where she portrayed suburban Israeli youth culture, evolved into a six month project of documenting a gang of uber-cool teenage girls oozing a charmingly naïve sensuality in her hometown.
Hagai wanted to show that growing up in the centre of Israel has little to do with the more conservative environment that other parts of the country might possess. These girls are just like any other teen-agers; growing up, exploring their sexuality, body ownership and the beauty of female empowerment regardless of the political and social climate. ‘Israeli Girls’ captures a group of uber-cool youths from the beautiful setting of Tel Aviv in a retro-tinged, Harmony Korine-inspired summer dream.
Dafy Hagai is encapsulating the true spirit of Israeli girls, and we fucking love it.
Israeli Girls is available to purchase from APE
Words by Rochelle Bambury
The post ISRAELI GIRLS: DAFY HAGAI appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
Photographer: Claire Brand
Stylist: Holly White
Make Up: Louise O’Neill using Bobbi Brown cosmetics
Hair: Tori Hutchinson using Bumble and Bumble
Model: Robin Tuck @ Nevs
Retouching: blink.imaging
Design: Rebecca Hawkes
The post IT STARTED WITH THE MUSE appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
The School of Life in London has commissioned Bella Freud to create a garment for the thinking man or woman. Obviously there can only be the one. What timeless minimal piece has lived through countless evolutions, never losing its essence, always looking cool? Exactly. The black jumper. Obviously, Freud has previous form with this item, just consider her lust-worthy Ginsberg is God or je t’aime Jane black jumpers, which always look the epitome of shoulder-shrugging Gallic effortlessness that one strives for. Freud also has the family name to back this garment up, not to mention her collaborations with creative icons such as Anita Pallenberg, Susie Bick and Nick Knight.
The result is a piece that, while not spouting any obvious bells and whistles, I suspect will quietly insinuate itself into your wardrobe and become a loved stable. Personally I’d remove the ‘twist’, a little label sewn into the outside hem which reads ‘know yourself’ and re-attach it to the inside as a reminder to do just that.
As Bella Freud comments: ‘The black jumper is the ideal suit of armour to contain you while allowing you to free your thoughts. This is what I had in mind when I was approached by The School of Life to create The Philosopher’s Jumper. For all its simplicity there is nothing more alluring than a perfect jumper in black merino wool. It is a sheath that keeps you feeling under the radar while attracting the attention of interesting people.’
Indeed.
Each jumper comes with a pamphlet on style and images of philosophers wearing their own black jumpers. It is also a great way of supporting and getting to know The School of Life, which is committed to helping people lead a more fulfilled life. Even if you can’t afford the jumper just now, take a look at their courses which are guaranteed to make you expand your mind. They publish books, offer therapies and run classes in locations around the world, not just London but also Amsterdam, Paris and Melbourne. The jumper is also modelled by two clearly both attractive and clever human beings, which makes you yearn for more of that sort of thing.
The Philosopher’s Jumper is now on sale from The School of Life’s online store theschooloflife.com for £150 in a range of sizes for both men and women.
To celebrate the collaboration, renowned fashion photographer James Mountford was commissioned to take portraits of 10 modern male and female thinkers, including the fabulous Philippa Perry.
Here’s a little bit about Hannah Dawson and Charlie Gent, the models.
Hannah Dawson.
Having taken a double first in History at the University of Cambridge, Dawson went on to do a MPhil and PhD there, working on the philosophy of John Locke. She was elected to a Junior Research Fellowship at Queens’ College, Cambridge, and after a spell at the University of Edinburgh, is now Senior Lecturer in the history of ideas at New College of the Humanities. Her most recent book is Life Lessons from Hobbes.
Area of intellectual interest: Philosophy of language, and moral and political thought.
Favourite thinker: Mary Wollstonecraft.
Favourite work: Leviathan by Hobbes.
Charlie Gent. Works with businesses to help them communicate better and think more creatively, using ideas from culture and science.
Area of intellectual interest: Perception and memory.
Favourite Thinker: Daniel Kahneman.
Favourite work: Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely.
Both images ©James Mountford
Words by Anna Bang
The post School of Life x Bella Freud appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Self-Portrait, 1640-1 ©National Portrait Gallery, London. Photo Philip Mould & Co
Since opening three and a half years ago, Margate’s Turner Contemporary has welcomed more than 1.3 million visitors.
This is thanks to the gallery’s already extensive list of outstanding exhibitions and installations, which endeavour to bring historical and contemporary art together in new and dynamic ways, a list that has included world-class artists such as Carl Andre, John Constable, Tracey Emin, Helen Frankenthaler, Sol LeWitt, Piet Mondrian, Auguste Rodin, Edmund de Waal and of course, JMW Turner.
For 2015, the gallery has an even more ambitious program that is set to draw diverse audiences to Margate, highlight the gallery’s position as one of the leading arts organisations in the UK and last but not least, show the citizens of Thanet how blessed they are – not only the most beautiful skies in Europe (according to JMW Turner), a beach that featured in TS Eliot’s epic poem The Wasteland but also a stunning and very ambitious gallery designed by starchitect David Chipperfield.
Sticking with the theme that runs like a thread through Turner Contemporary’s exhibitions of bringing together historical and contemporary art in a way that makes us see both in a new light, the first exhibition of 2015 will be Self: Image and identity – self-portraiture from Van Dyck to Louise Bourgeois, which runs from 24 January – 10 May 2015.
Organised in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, the exhibition presents artist self-portraits from the sixteenth-century to the present day. More than 60 works from the National Portrait Gallery will be presented alongside key twentieth-century and contemporary self-portraits from major public and private international collections. Central to the exhibition is Sir Antony Van Dyck’s last self-portrait of 1640-1, purchased in 2014 following a joint public appeal by the National Portrait Gallery and the Art Fund. Turner Contemporary will be the first venue where visitors can see Van Dyck’s remarkable self-portrait as it embarks on a major nationwide tour.
Louise Bourgeois Self Portrait ©Collection the Easton Foundation. Photo Christopher Burke
Taking Van Dyck’s legacy and self-portrait as a starting point, the development of the genre of self-portraiture will be considered in the exhibition through four key themes: identity, mortality, patronage and contemporary approaches. From historical representation to contemporary responses, such as Jason Evans’s new commission Sound System Self-Portrait, the exhibition features more than 100 artists including Louise Bourgeois, John Constable, Lucian Freud, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Angelia Kauffmann, Sarah Lucas, JMW Turner and Gillian Wearing.
Grayson Perry Precious Boys, 2004, Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro ©Grayson Perry
Next up is Grayson Perry, who will be exhibiting throughout the summer from 23 May – 13 September 2015. Grayson Perry’s work combines references relating to his own life with his trademark droll social commentary on themes that are close to his heart such as class and taste to the status of the artist versus that of an artisan or maker. What sums up Perry’s practice is very much a passionate desire to share his thoughts on aspects of contemporary experience.
This exhibition presents a selection of Grayson Perry’s ceramics and other artworks including tapestries, prints, bronze and iron sculpture. Working in traditional media, he is interested in how each historic category of object accrues intellectual and emotional baggage over time. For anyone who loved his wonderful exhibition The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman at the British Museum in 2011, this will present the opportunity to once more see Perry as the great recorder of contemporary life that he is, drawing us in to his exquisitely crafted works with beauty, wit, sentiment and nostalgia. Although always charming, don’t mistake Perry for a mere whimsical chronicler; he is always at the same time exploring issues within society and culture that instigate fear, uncertainty and anger.
Simon Faithful EZY1899 Reenactment for a Future Scenario, 2012 Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Polaris Paris
The last exhibition of 2015 will be Risk, which runs from 7 October 2015 and finishes 17 January 2016.
Creating art is risky by nature; it always involves an element of the unknown – a gap between intent and outcome. During the last century artists have sought to expand that gap and, in so doing, challenge the status of the artwork as a closed object. The exhibition will propose risk as an important element of key artistic moments during the last century, which continues to feature in contemporary practice. Risk has played a role in Abstract Expressionist painting, post-minimal sculpture and ‘process’ art, performance art, and work made in the context of and responding to political conditions around the world, among other practices. Featuring works from the twentieth-century to the present day, the exhibition will bring together artworks and artistic practices that engaged directly with risk exploring the subject through a range of themes: the intersection between risk and chance; the artist at risk; the contemporary landscape of risk; materials and processes and exposure and self-revelation.
JMW Turner Study for Rokeby 1822 ©Tate London
Among the artists presented in the exhibition are Marina Abramoviç, Francis Alÿs, Marcel Duchamp, Simon Faithfull, Gerhard Richter, JMW Turner and performances by Jasmin Vardimon Company.
2015 is also the year of the duality that is ‘Mexico in the UK and the UK in Mexico’ which has inspired Turner Contemporary to show an installation by Mexican artist Carlos Amorales. The installation will be presented in Turner Contemporary’s Sunley Gallery which has previously hosted Auguste Rodin’s The Kiss, an almost secular space with its double height windows and breathtaking views of the North Sea.
Carlos Amorales We Will See How Everything Reverberates, 2012 ©Carlos Amorales
Carlos Amorales works in a range of media to explore the use and limits of language. The centrepiece of Amorales’s installation in the Sunley Gallery, We Will See How Everything Reverberates (2012), is a sculpture of suspended symbols based on the shape of Alexander Calder’s mobiles. As with Edmund de Waal’s recent piece, Atmosphere, visitors are invited to interact. This time it won’t be to lie on the floor to use the exhibition as a tool to encourage silent contemplation but rather to play the cymbals in a work that exists both in silence and harmony as well as chaos and noise.
Margate and Turner Contemporary is 1 hour 30 minutes from St Pancras in London on the highspeed train. Check Southeastern Railway for timetable and prices.
Self: Image and identity – self-portraiture from Van Dyck to Louise Bourgeois
24 January – 10 May 2015
Grayson Perry
23 May – 13 September 2015
Risk
7 October 2015 – 17 January 2016
Carlos Amorales
February 2015 – January 2016
Sunley Gallery
Words by Anna Bang
The post Turner Contemporary | 2015 appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
The work of the fashion photographer and Vogue darling Horst P. Horst is currently celebrated at the V&A museum with the exhibition Horst P Horst: Photographer of Style.
Entering the first of the ten exhibition rooms instantly makes a lasting impression. The room is encapsulated in darkness, all of his work subtly lit by spotlights. This showcases Horst’s signature, as he was admired for his ability to play with light and shadow and dramatic spotlighting.
The exhibition does not just reveal a legendary fashion photographer, it is also shows Horst P. Horst as a well rounded individual with a mind of his own. Starting early in the 1930’s, his long lasting mentor Hoyningen-Huene gave him a chance as his assistant and taught him everything he knew about photography and even (behind closed doors) became his lover. Being the assistant of such a star photographer as Hoyningen-Huene didn’t just bring him experience, it also opened doors to important contacts such as Cecil Beaton and the Art Director of American Vogue, Dr Mehemed Agha, who later on encouraged Horst to work as a fashion photographer. The first milestone was set and his career took off by working regularly for Vogue, where Horst’s first cover was published on the American, British and French editions of Vogue, depicting Princess Sherbatow in a red velveteen jacket.
Another insight that the exhibition gives you is that Horst found a breathing space from the fashion world by travelling to Israel, Italy, Syria and Morocco. He discovered ancient cultures, architecture and nature that he found inspiration in. A series called “Patterns From Nature” were the result of this fascination and showed another side of the creative and talented photographer. So much unseen work – and work from a different perspective than fashion – let the legend of a photographer grow larger but also makes him more human.
This exhibition left a big impression on me; it doesn’t just represent the fame of Horst P Horst as a fashion photographer, but rather as a unique individual that was talented in many ways. Get your own impression and visit the exhibition which runs until January 4th 2015.
All images @ Copyright © Condé Nast/Horst Estate
Horst: Photographer of Style
6th September 2014 – 4th January 2015
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
Words by Sarah Tobias
The post Horst P. Horst – The work and life of a legend appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
Photographer : Corrine Noel
Stylist : Sam Thompson
Make Up: Anastasija Potjomkina
Hair: Svajunas Grybe
Models: Aris & JJ @ Nevs
Design: Rebecca Hawkes
The post HUNTING FOR MONSTERS appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
“Hunting For Monsters” is a short fashion film by Corrine Noel. The post-apocalyptic clip takes us into a dark and mysterious world inhibited only by three strangely beautiful characters. The stop-motion style cinematography, moments of double exposed, unreadable text, and enigmatic location leaves the viewer to interpret their own ending of this curious and intriguing story.
A film by Corrine Noel
Stylist : Sam Thompson
Make up: Anastasija Potjomkina
Hair: Svajunas Grybe
Video: Grybe Films
Music: Troves
The post Hunting For Monsters appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
15 Folds, founded by fashion designer and artist Margot Bowman, director Sean Frank and digital media designer Jolyon Varley, is a platform that gives creatives across different disciplines the opportunity to showcase animated GIFs in response to an original theme. Why ‘15 Folds’? The name was inspired by the game Exquisite Corpse, in which players take turns writing on a sheet of paper, fold it to hide part of the writing and then pass it to the next player for a further contribution. Each month begins with a GIF, posted by the house on a given theme. From this point selected creatives take it in turns to post their own original gifs to the site in 48 hour intervals – each drawing reference only from the post before.
Their latest collaboration is with Absolut, to introduce the Andy Warhol Edition, a new limited edition bottle celebrating creativity, pop art and the brand’s iconic collaboration with Andy Warhol. Absolut has a longstanding commitment to art and originality so to launch the bottle Absolut has collaborated with 15 Folds to create ‘15 GIFs of Fame’, a series of digital artworks created by 15 outstanding creatives from the world of art, design, music and fashion. The ’15 GIFs of Fame’ artworks reflect the artists’ interpretation of the theme Fame, taking inspiration from all aspects of Andy Warhol’s life and career as an artist. Participants include:
Bobby Abley takes inspiration from his love for pop culture and the relentless pursuit of fame through instagram with a piece called ‘A million likes in 4 seconds’.
Fred Butler uses a quote by Dotson Radar who was a friend of Andy Warhol and quite candidly commented on the darker side of his infatuation with fame in relation to the stars he engineered from The Factory.
Lotte Anderson explores the fickle nature of fame with a piece entitled Flavour of the Month, summed up by the statement ‘the thing, a la mode, the craze, hip, trendy, all the rage, en vogue, happening, du jour.’
O Thongthai explores the theme of fame by fusing elements from her most recent jewellery collection with her unique illustrative style.
15 Folds creates a piece entitled Hoi-llywood, exploring our desire for icons, which is as old a time itself. Drag culture forces us to re-address and subvert our expectations about our icons. Andy Warhol captured this culture through his Polaroids of New York queens. Now 15 Folds are digitising this tradition with our generation’s medium – the GIF.
Margot Bowman’s piece entitled ‘Special’ is all about likening fame and those who have achieved it to the idea of show ponies, and critiquing its two-dimensional nature.
Sean Frank’s GIF entitled Finally Famou$, is inspired by the lengths people will go to for their 15 minutes. How far will you go to see your name in lights, and what is the price you ultimately pay?
Digi Fairy explore how content culture allows anyone and anyTHING to be famous for 15 seconds with a piece entitled #THEinterPET.
Gordon Magnin looks at the fleeting nature of fame; like a ray of sun reflecting from a passing car, a flash of light immediately vanishing, into anonymity and memory.
Ignasi Monreal explores the way in which people are consumed by the idea of fame and adapt to the pressures.
James Kerr imagined how a young, up-and-coming Andy Warhol might have hustled the self-promotion game, and almost immediately thought of Warhol standing on the side of the road, in a banana suit as a sign spinner. Often, the road to fame is wrought with a lot of hard work, courage and, at times, plenty of embarrassment.
Mehdi Lacoste’s GIF is an interpretation of people trying to grab a piece of fame, however short lived it is. The piece is entitled ‘It’s not your brain, it’s just the flame’.
Naomi Shimada looks at the phenomenon of reality TV stars and how they embody everything that the word FAME means today – lack of substance, obsession, money and a healthy dose of soul selling. She asks – ‘where are we heading and how do we change up the energy flow?’
Nimrod creates the ‘Warhol Band’, a GIF depicting four people in a band wearing animated Warhol faces before going on stage.
Tessa Edwards’ GIF entitled ’15 minutes of Privacy’ subverts Andy Warhol’s prophetic ’15 minutes of fame’, where actually we will all be famous all the time according to way culture presents the individual as a ‘brand’ or public profile via the internet. Since it is so difficult to escape our own public profiles, in the future perhaps we will only be granted 15 minutes of privacy instead.
The specially created artworks will be entered into The Andy Warhol Art Exchange by Absolut, the world’s largest online art exchange. At absolut.com/artexchange, Absolut provides fun and easy-to-use generative art tools, enabling anyone to be an artist, so people from around the world can unleash their creative spirits and submit their own original work. All participants will get an artwork in return from someone, somewhere in the world, with a chance to receive artworks from the 15 Folds artists. There will even be an original Andy Warhol artwork included in the exchange!
Absolut’s Andy Warhol Warhol Edition is available at Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, RRP £21.99. A percentage of the proceeds will contribute generously to The Andy Warhol Foundation’s endowment from which it distributes grants supporting contemporary art. The Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization recognized as among the leading funders of contemporary art. You might like to try the Absolut Bowman, one of three 15 Folds Cocktails created by Absolut Ambassador Rico Dynan:
Absolut Bowman
50ml Absolut Citron
25ml Lemon Juice
20ml Agave Syrup
2 Drops Hot Pepper Sauce
20ml Mango Juice
20ml Egg White
Dry shake, wet shake, pour into glass and sip.
Words by Anna Bang
The post 15 Folds x Absolut Andy Warhol Edition appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
Photographer: Michel Widenius @Eyes
Stylist: Natalie Olenheim
Make Up: Martin Sundqvist
Hair: Joe-Yves Asmar @ Mikas Look
Model: Ia Wenedikter @ Elite Stockholm
Retouch: Mud Studios
Design: Rebecca Hawkes
The post Wheels & Leather appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
When the term ‘frills’ comes to mind, you don’t necessarily associate it with denim. Frills, denim? Denim, frills? Does that even exist outside of a toddler’s closet? That being said, Simone Rocha has challenged these notions and combined the two in her recent (and downright beautiful) collaboration with denim aficionados J Brand.
At the very beginning of the process, J Brand asked Rocha what style of jean she liked to wear, and she honestly admitted that she and her closet are both strangers to denim, however this didn’t stop her from taking on the challenge by “working against the grain and trying to treat it like any other fabric” (style.com)
Rocha started her research with her love for preppy school uniforms and an outright rejection of the classic blue denim. Instead she opted for a colour palette of black, statement red and a blushing pink. Her love for all things cute and girly has definitely come across strong, but in a way that reinterprets denim and merges masculine, boxy silhouettes with über-feminine details (aka her signature frills). It’s almost like she’s making a denim collection for anti-denim women.
The 14 piece collection goes on sale at Dover Street Market on November 14 and consists of cropped jackets, ankle baring boy jeans and voluminous dresses all possessing Rocha’s frilly goodness.
We predict a global sell-out, so you better grab your tents and form an orderly queue.
Visit her website at: Simone Rocha
Words By Rochelle Bambury
The post SIMONE ROCHA X J BRAND: YES PLEASE appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
The Canvas initiative event was held a few weeks ago as a way to showcase the young image makers and communicators from the BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion & Imaging course at UCA Epsom. The aim of the event was to bring together fresh and creative talent and profile them to the professional industry. That’s where VOLT came in. Alongside PUMA, we hand picked 13 students whose work screamed potential to us and asked them to exhibit their work at the event to help get their names out there.
The event was held at the Vibe Bar in Brick Lane and was a hoot not least thanks to BIRD restaurant and their amazing chicken wings and sliders while Bulldog Gin helped us wash everything down with their very moreish gin and tonics. The work of the students was scattered around the location, along with music from Tuckshop, Cooking with Sherry and Codec. The ‘I CAN’ wall was a hit, where everyone shared their thoughts on what they CAN do. We were loving the cheeky ones who ‘CAN twerk’ and ‘CAN Tequila’ (yes please).
Check the video for a little peek into what went on and what you can expect from future Canvas events!
The post CANVAS EVENT: IMAGE MAKERS & COMMUNICATORS appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
Sad news. The one and only Chris Bracey has passed away aged 59. Bracey’s career started in the 70’s when he started producing neon for his father’s company. Dismayed by the seasonality of creating signs for funfairs he had the bright idea of making money from sex instead. Not by selling it, but by creating signs for the people who did. He approached some of the Soho nightclub owners and persuaded them to let him name and create neon for their clubs, thus transforming the streets of Soho, its strip joints and nightclubs into dazzling tecnicolour. Seeing an exhibition by Bruce Nauman further opened his eyes to possibilities of being creative with neon.
He has worked closely with some of cinema’s finest talents including Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Nolan and Tim Burton, transforming a set into their vision. Kubrick commissioned Bracey to redo a London Street and studio into Greenwich Village in New York, while he created pieces for recent movie, World War Z that transformed Glasgow into 50’s America. He created props for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dark Shadows, Casino Royale and many more besides. Last but not least, Bracey owned God’s Own Junkyard, a warehouse in London’s Walthamstow, which houses one of the biggest collections of neon signs and sculptures outside the USA.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Bracey in 2013 and despite being extremely busy and very worried about the future of God’s Own Junkyard, he was funny, warm and full of anecdotes. A real mensch and a true London character.
In April 2013, he had sell-out solo show at Scream gallery entitled ‘I’ve looked up to heaven and I’ve been down to hell‘. After his death, he sent one last tweet which ran true to his inimitable style: “Hi Chris ere, just wanna let you know I am actually in Gods Own Junk Yard and let me tell you its bleedin amazing up ere. xx”
Words by Anna Bang
The post Chris Bracey | Neon Artist | 1954 – 2014 appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
Photographer : Masami Naruo
Hair : Tomomi Roppongi using Bumble and Bumble
Make up : Tomohiro Muramatsu using Bobbi Brown
Design: Rebecca Hawkes
The post Table of Geometry appeared first on Volt Café | by Volt Magazine.
