Artist Profile:

Marc Swanson

The Brooklyn-based artist was born in Connecticut and the son of a U.S. Marine. When he moved to San Francisco in the ‘90s, Swanson was surrounded by the city’s gay and counterculture scene. Neither environment -- small-town, wooded New England nor San Francisco’s flamboyant gay pride -- felt like home to him, and he confronts this duality of identities in his work.

On display through April 25 at the Baldwin Gallery, his crystal-covered deer head sculptures embrace the conflicting nature of masculine identities that he was feeling at the time.

More generally, Swanson is a contemporary American artist who is known for his handmade work that brings together formal preoccupations and references to personal history and identity conflict. He works in a variety of media, including sculpture, drawing, video, photography, and complex installations. In addition to the series of rhinestone-based sculptures, which he continues to explore, his sculptural work employs a variety of materials, including light, wood, glass, fabric, gold and silver chain, mirror, and naturally-shed animal antlers.

Swanson is a graduate of Bard College, and his works have been part of group exhibitions at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Miami Art Museum; and the Saatchi Gallery, London.

“The Gilded Cage” perfectly demonstrates the struggles Swanson feels between his past and future. Furthermore, the struggles that Aspen sometimes faces -- preservation versus progress -- are also reflected in his pieces, making the Baldwin Gallery’s show particularly relevant to this time and place.

If you go: Baldwin Gallery, 209 S. Galena St. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, 12-5 p.m. baldwingallery.com.

Event Synopsis:

HIGH POINT MARKET, NC.

High Point Market was the high point in my fall. Hosted in North Carolina, the biannual event is the largest furnishing trade show in the world, spread over 180 buildings encompassing 10 million square feet of things I love: textures, patterns, colors, prints, structure and making space livable and lovable. 

This trade show didn't just come out of nowhere; in 1909 the first Southern Furniture Market took place over two weeks and has been held in some form ever since (except at the end of World War II). People come from all over the world for it, and after attending for my first time I now know why. 

I travelled to the southeast in early October for the event, and still feel inspired by it today. Highlights from High Point include a book signing with Kelly Wearstler at Visual Comfort (she's one of my icons!) and a fringe chair from McGuire and Baker. Some other great stops were Four Hands, Moe's, and Arteriors (mixing art and interior design, just like it sounds). I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Just click on the photo to scroll through the gallery, and scope out what's new in interior design.   

Artist Profile:

John Pomp

John Pomp, an up-and-coming glass artist based out of Philadelphia, seamlessly marries classic and modern design in his lighting and glassware. His made-to-order lighting and furniture feature soft, organic lines that mimic the fluid nature of molten glass and are perfect for a mountain modern design scheme.

“It’s important to me that people know what I make is truly handcrafted, so I try to illustrate that with my pieces,” he told Philadelphia Style. ”The design of the Touch decanter exemplifies that sensibility. My hands formed every dimple in the center of the glass.”

Although he learned the ancient art of Venetian glassblowing from Italian maestros, Pomp gives this old-world technique 21st century context. He is known for his wabi-sabi aesthetic, which embraces imperfection and often includes asymmetry and simplicity.

“He also looks for slight imperfections because they indicate that a piece was made by hand. ‘When you see some of these fine, fine pieces of glass that are truly handmade, you’ll see these beautiful subtleties, like little tool marks,’ he said.” Source: NY Times

 

A quick look into a day in the studio of John Pomp, Glass blowing artist, Furniture and Lighting designer.

Travel Adventures:

Italy

Recently I had the pleasure of traveling to Italy to attend the wedding of my good friends Jessica and Nicola. Set in heart of Chianti at Castello Gelsomino, the wedding was a romantic fete flanked by old world architecture and rolling hills.

Needless to say to anyone who has traveled to Italy (or anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing photographs), there’s never a need to overdue it when it comes to creating an atmosphere in a hotel, restaurant, or, in this case, a wedding reception. The castle at which the festivities were held gave perfectly for this type of event because of its beauty in addition to being one of the top Chianti wine producers in the region. After all, What’s a wedding without great wine?

Married in a local abbey, Jessica and Nicola lead their guests back to the castle for a relaxing evening bathed in candlelight and baby’s breath. Greens, lilac and whites reflected throughout castle and which lent itself to beautiful photographs of a trip and evening I (and the happily married couple) will not soon forget.

Designer Profile:

Kelly Wearstler

We’ve all seen it before – clothing and accessories designer expands to include lush home line including everything from sheets to sofas, or visa versa. However, often times designers find themselves in a precarious situation – one in which the goal of expansion obviously somewhere got lost in translation reducing the integrity of their label that was once iconic and groundbreaking to mediocre displays at your local Macy’s. There are exceptions, of course, such as Versace or Missoni and most recently, Kelly Wearstler.

Born in South Carolina and a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art, Wearstler began her career focusing on interior design. Wearstler’s distinctive style that mixes whimsy, sophistication and swank has been referred to as revolutionizing the look, feel and meaning of modern American glamour.

Perhaps her most famous and most frequently viewed project is that of the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills. Originally built in 1949 as the Beverly Carlton, the hotel was a home away from home for stars like Marilyn Monroe. Fifty years later, the oasis was renamed The Avalon for its 1999 reopening, after it was completely revamped by Wearstler.

In addition to commercial projects, Wearstler is sought after by some of the world’s most prominent people to lend her touch to the interiors of their homes. The New Yorker called Wearstler “the presiding grande dame of West Coast interior design.”

From books to collaborations with names like The Rug Company, Bergdorf Goodman and more recently, Lee Joffa, Wearstler has her hands in everything, and she does it well.

Wearstler recently debuted a collection of ready-to-wear, jewelry, furniture, home accessories and objects d’art and opening a 2,400 square-foot flagship boutique on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.

Though there is no question that I love the aesthetic of Kelly Wearstler and the many wonderful contributions she has made to the world of design, I think perhaps what I admire the most is the fact that she is a wonderful role model for women. Women like Wearstler remind us that there is no limit to our creativity and that about which we can dream.