NYC Fashion Week Launch of Weddings, Butterflies & the Sweetest Dreams

Bonnae Gokson's gorgeous new book Weddings, Butterflies & the Sweetest Dreams launched at Vera Wang's Boutique in NYC.

A Fantastic State of Ruin Author, David Zurick, Hosts Book Signing and Lecture Events

Schedule of Events:

10/17/2018:
Chautauqua Special event
Eastern Kentucky Univ. Richmond, KY 40475 USA

10/29/2018:
Royal Geographical Society
Monday Night Lecture Series:
The painted towns of Rajasthan, illustrated lecture and book signing
1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR, UK

11/01/2018:
The Shekhawati Project, Public Lecture: The painted towns of Shekhawati Illustrated talk and book signing
8 Impasse Truillot, 75011, Paris, France

11/08/2018:
Asia Institute with World Affairs Council
Crane House: Public Lecture and book signing
1244 S. Third St., Louisville, KY 40203

Visit Author's Website Here for More Information

Bored Panda Post: The Mona Lisa Reimagined By 300 Most Innovative Artists

The Mona Lisa Reimagined By 300 Most Innovative Artists

By Omnipresent Gioconda

Fascinated by the legacy of Mona Lisa, I’ve decided to publish ‘Mona Lisa Reimagined’, an anthology of hundreds of pieces of art that have been inspired by this priceless world treasure.

This book features nearly 300 both established and emerging artists from over 50 different countries, making it the largest, most comprehensive collection of Mona Lisa-inspired artwork ever assembled in history.

No painting in history has been reproduced as often as Mona Lisa. Just what exactly is the mysterious allure of this portrait that has inspired unparalleled levels of imitation? Though many explanations abound, there really can be no definitive answer, as the ambiguity of Mona Lisa is certainly one of the major factors of its indelible appeal.

It was quite a struggle finding the right publisher for this project. Though the entire process was frustrating at times, I never gave up and always felt strongly that it was just a matter of time until I find the right one and I did.

Mona Lucy by Mark Stephens

American artist Mark Stephens was commissioned to create this painting in 1989, commemorating the 67th birthday of PEANUTS comic strip creator Charles M. Schulz.

There’s Something About Mona by Jane Perkins

“My portraits need to be viewed in two ways: from a distance to recognize the person depicted, and close up to identify the materials and appreciate the intricacies of how all of the pieces fit together.” Jane Perkins

Dito Mona Lisa by Dito Von Tease

The apparent playfulness of his work disguises a deeper reflection on the complexity of postmodern existence and the mystery of personal identity. “In the contemporary digital age, our fingers are the tools we use to handle touch screens, mouse devices, and keyboards, connecting us with the world. Thus, in a sense, each of us are hiding behind our finger while surfing the internet or communicating online. The finger is the image we project of ourselves, the mask we wear, even in real life” explains the artist.

Mona Whoopi by Timothy White

In 2009 Timothy White photographed comedienne Whoopi Goldberg portraying famous women throughout history who may have had issues with LBL (light bladder leakage). These popular advertisements sought to reduce the embarrassing stigma associated with the condition so that women would feel empowered to deal with this issue. The Mona Lisa ads were accompanied by a tagline, which read: “There’s a 1 in 3 chance that wasn’t a smile on Mona Lisa’s face.”

More...

Book Launch of Weddings, Butterflies & the Sweetest Dreams with Vera Wang

Weddings, Butterflies & the Sweetest Dreams is Featured in Hong Kong Tatler Weddings Issue 18

A Fantastic State of Ruin Book Trailer

https://youtu.be/cMjnu9MWQ1c

A Fantastic State of Ruin By David Zurick Featured on Edge of Humanity

Go to Article

Art, Architecture & The History Behind The Fading Havelis In Shekhawati

By Edge of Humanity Magazine, September 10, 2018

A Fantastic State of Ruin: The Painted Towns of Rajasthan

Scattered within the rural Shekhawati hinterland of Rajasthan in northwest India are pockets of a bygone urbanity…towns filled with mansions built by wealthy Marwari merchants, painted over in some of the world’s most beautiful frescoes and wall murals. These places often seem like abandoned settlements. Their extraordinary havelis, once filled with the sounds of large joint families, now lie mainly locked and boarded up, with the descendants living far away in distant lands.

An architectural patronage in Shekhawati emerged in the early 1800s wherein the Marwari merchants sent money from distant business outposts for the construction of havelis (houses with introverted courtyards), chhatris (memorial cenotaphs), mandirs (temples) johras (stepwells), dharamshalas (community resting houses) and kuis (wells) in their home towns. The structures incorporated elements of Rajput and Mughal architecture. The courtyards, doorways, and exterior walls were lavishly ornamented with wall paintings depicting varied motifs ranging from floral and animal themes, to folk art, religious themes, images of British kings and queens, military men and memsahibs, to novelties such as motor cars, trains, gramophones and clocks whereas inner rooms and private chambers often would hold erotic images discreetly hidden away. The wall frescoes give a unique glimpse into the life and aspirations of an entire community – from their religious beliefs, folklore and day to day life, to the wonder of faraway lands that beckoned with promise of riches and trade.

While some historic structures have found a new lease on life as homestays and heritage hotels, many others face abandonment, dereliction and eventual collapse. Family subdivisions lead to multiple ownership patterns, with family members spread across an international diaspora, and, as a result, the buildings too often are relegated to a lone watchman or are locked away or abandoned altogether.

Abha Narain Lambah, conservation architect (from “Introduction” to A Fantastic State of Ruin: The Painted Towns of Rajasthan)

Trip Fiction Recommends Find and Seek New York

From: http://www.tripfiction.com/find-and-seek-new-york/

We were delighted to be introduced to ORO Editions, a company dedicated to publishing world-class bespoke architecture, art & design books, and multimedia publications that celebrate creativity and a unique design spirit.

If you are heading to New York for a bit of sightseeing with children, say under 12, this would be a delightful addition to the family suitcase.

Beautiful architectural renditions of some of the famous – and not so famous landmarks – adorn the pages of this hardback. With each there is a stanzas of 2 and 4 lines giving a brief overview with a little rhyme or two thrown in.

Take the High Line which you discover stretches over 20 blocks, hop onto “Intrepid”, the aircraft carrier open for visitors. Amble past The New York Public Library where you should…

Visit the carousel and outdoor reading room,

Borrow a book, but make sure to return it soon.

FunnelCake: On the iPhone by David Hume Kennerly

Face it, most of our iPhone pictures are routine - selfies on a mountaintop, pictures of the cat, or, even more boring, pics of that weird-shaped metal piece we need to replace at the hardware store. It makes sense. After all, the iPhone is pretty limited, isn't it? No optical zoom, no interchangeable lenses, a flash with a limited range, fewer megapixels than that fancy DSLR your neighbor carries around, and the lens probably has your fingerprints on it. You can gussie up the photos with a filter if you're feeling retro, but that doesn't change the limitations of the camera, does it? Sure, your iPhone has the advantage of being with you most of the time, and that's great, but what can you do with it?

It turns out that it's quite possible to take amazing photographs on the iPhone, and David Hume Kennerly is here to prove it. A life-long photographer, Kennerly has gone from tooling around with a Brownie Hawkeye as a child, to working as a pro with a Canon 5D Mark III, earning a Pulitzer Prize in Journalism along the way. He has photographed presidents, produced Emmy award-winning documentaries, and traveled the world in search of the perfect photograph. So, with a resume like that, why would he bother with the iPhone?

SANTA MONICA -- JULY 1: Kara Sadlik on the rings at the beach, Nash Metropolitin, dog at Caffe Luxe, Santa Monica, California, July 1, 2013 (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/GettyImages)

It began with a challenge that Kennerly set for himself: to go back to his roots and take one good photograph a day, beyond the assignments, beyond the paid gigs, just a simple camera and good composition. He wanted a camera that was simple and easy to use, something light to carry and always available, a stripped-down camera where the only thing that mattered was the subject. What else to choose but the iPhone?

The result of his search for the perfect daily image is his book, On the iPhone: Secrets and Tips from a Pulitzer Prize-winning Photographer (Goff Books, 2014).

On the iPhone is not so much a book to read cover-to-cover, as it is a book to be delved into at leisure, skimmed and perused. You won't find how-tos on aperture or depth-of-field, which would be mostly irrelevant for the casual iPhone photographer anyways, but instead there are Kennerly's fabulous photographs.

Each chapter begins with a brief writeup on the chapter topic, which range from "Buildings: A Love Story" to "Street Photography" to pictures taken from airplanes. At 200 pages, the book provides a generous selection of photos, with captions accompanying them, explaining the how and why of each.

The photos are refreshing in that they are generally not about the special effects available on the iPhone, effects that are often used to cover up for an otherwise mediocre pictures. Instead, the photos are about composition, movement, and telling a story.

With some photographers' work, you can tell in an instant who the photographer was because they have such a distinctive style. That doesn't seem to be the case for David Kennerly; there is no single photo you can point to and say, "That's a Kennerly iPhone photo". His work is so wide-ranging and varied, going wherever a good picture is to be found, that each page in the book is a revelation.

NEW YORK -- DEC 5: PDJ. Central Park snails, Lewis Carroll monument, Alice in Wonderland sculpture, New York, New York, December 5, 2013. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly)

On the iPhone ends with "Sixty Tips for Better Pics", a collection of thoughts on how to get the most out of your iPhone photography. This section feels a little like an unnecessary add-on to the rest of the book. The tips are in fact quite useful, but might have been better interspersed in the rest of the book, possibly associated with specific photographs to demonstrate their utility. However, that's a minor quibble in a fine book of photos. Funnelcake says: check it out.

Source

A LIFE IN BOOKS Wins Three More Awards!

The 2015 International Book Award - Best New Fiction

http://www.internationalbookawards.com/2015pressrelease.html

The 2015 International Book Award - Best Cover Design, Fiction

http://www.internationalbookawards.com/2015awardannouncement.html

The 2015 Paris Book Festival - WILD CARD Award

http://parisbookfestival.com/winners2015.html

(FINALIST) 2015 International Book Award - Best Interior Design

http://www.internationalbookawards.com/2015awardannouncement.html

In total, that's nine awards, plus two finalists for "A LIFE IN BOOKS"

WINNER 2015 International Book Award - Best New Fiction

WINNER 2015 International Book Award - Best Cover Design, Fiction

WINNER 2015 Paris Book Festival - Wild Card Award

WINNER 2014 IPPY Outstanding Book of the Year Award for Most Original Concept (Independent Publisher)

WINNER 2014 Best New Fiction - USA Best Book Awards

WINNER Next Generation Indie Book Award

WINNER National Indie Book Award

WINNER CBAA Exhibition Prize College Book Art Association

WINNER PRINT Magazine Regional Design Award

FINALIST International Book Award - Best Interior Design

FINALIST Best Cover Design, Fiction - USA Best Book Awards

A LIFE IN BOOKS: The Rise and Fall of Bleu Mobley is an illuminated novel by acclaimed author/artist Warren Lehrer. The 4 color novel includes 101 books within it, all written by Lehrer’s protagonist—Bleu Mobley—a controversial author who finds himself in prison looking back on his life and career. Mobley’s autobiography/apologia is paired with a review of all 101 of his books, each represented by its first-edition cover design and catalog copy, and more than a third of his books are excerpted. The resulting retrospective contrasts the published writings (which read like short stories) with the confessional memoir, forming a most unusual portrait of a well-intentioned, obsessively inventive (if ethically challenged) visionary. A LIFE IN BOOKS explores the creative process of a writer/artist, as it reflects upon a half century of American/global events, and grapples with the future of the book as a medium, and the lines that separate and blur truth, myth, and fiction.