May

29

YSL in MTL

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YSL Staples

My first encounter with Yves Saint Laurent was in high school. A boy I had a tremendous crush on would wear Jazz to class. (See, even back then I was chasing for a bit of heaven.)

Although the boy never returned my affection (he seemed to know it was a crush more than I did at the time) I just couldn’t help but be hooked. My feelings were just too intense. I just couldn’t stop. Thus began my love affair with all things Yves and YSL.

YSL, to me, is like the left wing of all the traditional fashion houses. To explain. Dior, Chanel, Prada, Armani are like the top-tier of fashion. Their time-honoured, bread-and-butter items–such as bags, flats, skirts and suits respectively–are fairly conservative. Nothing risky about them, but fabulous items no less.

Next to the traditional standbys are McQueen, Gautier, Cavalli, and Westwood; totally fun pieces, courageous, imaginative but a bit too extravagant. I don’t want to say impractical, but perhaps more catwalk than sidewalk. (Although why everyday isn’t an Alexander McQueen day is beyond me.)

And thereafter we can probably have two camps, but I’ll generalize for simplicity’s sake. The more subdued (and incredibly sophisticated) designers like threeAsFour, Doo Ri, and McCartney; and the ones that seem to “scream” such as DSquared2, Moschino, Betsey Johnson, and Heatherette.

In this “fashion matrix” (which seems to be the way my mind operates), where does YSL fit? It doesn’t. It’s simply off the grid. Read more

Apr

13

Murakami, “the Japanese Warhol.” I Just Don’t Get It.

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Murakami Warhol No Way

 

 

 

Ever since the Murakami show opened at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the press has repeatedly extracted an aspect of the artist I just don’t understand. Namely, that Murakami is “the Japanese Warhol.” 1

What?

Whether blogs are referring to The New York Times comparison, or The Times quoting director and curator heavyweights at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and more (and the cyclone of oddity taking shape) makes me wonder how the comparison became an accepted truth, and even, undisputed fact.

In an article for New York, Jerry Saltz, used the Warhol-Murakami comparison to make a larger statement about art and commercialism in general. Read more

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