Currently Inspired By...

Happy 2020 from Amy Parry Projects!

Hope your year has started beautifully! We are feeling very inspired by the transition into a brand new decade. Please enjoy this latest selection of new, eye-catching art; our first Inspiration Board of the year.

Lots more to come!

Amy Parry Projects Places a Unique Fabian Oefner Photograph

Fabian Oefner Meshing of Art + Science | by Mallory Johnson, 2019 Summer Intern

We recently chose one of Fabian Oefner’s disintegrating car images for a special client’s new auto gallery (designed by Blue Lantern Studios). The image will be customized to match the bright Mexico Blue of the owner’s personal Audi R8 which will be stored (among other vehicles) in the new space. The alteration of the original color not only makes this image exclusive to the client but it functions as an essential design element to tie the space together. This project goes to show that any room can be enhanced by the addition of artwork. Oefner’s dynamic, detailed and illusionistic image brings personalization and beauty to a space that is designed to be so much more than just a garage.

Oefner himself is an internationally renowned Swiss photographer whose work has been showcased from New York to Dubai. The artwork selected for this project comes from his series of images showing cars breaking apart. This particular large-scale photograph shows an Audi R8 frozen in time as it disintegrates. The front end of the vehicle is still intact while the rear is quite literally breaking away in front of our eyes. Against the black background every metallic component of the car stands out. Oefner allows the viewer to experience something that in reality would only last a split second. There is a certain satisfaction in not only being able to watch time stop, but also to see the inner workings of a luxury vehicle. On top of that, what we are looking at is entirely created by the artist. It is not a genuine explosion captured by Oefner’s camera, but a hyper realistic rendering based on thousands of individual photographs.

In order to create the Disintegrating series of images, Oefner photographs each part of the car, even the most miniscule elements. While it is a painstaking process, the outcome is an intricate image that highlights the elegance and integrity of each vehicle. There is a certain musical quality to the work as well. The way he has perfectly orchestrated this car to come apart makes the viewer feel as though they are watching a symphony of auto parts in which each nut and bolt is essential to the whole image. He stays true to the construction of each specific car, which ensures that the authenticity of the piece rings true even though it is a manufactured “explosion.” Oefner is unique in his conception of the image; it is a scientific dissection of the whole vehicle rather than just the fiery wreckage of a high-performance car.

One major element at play in this artwork is the concept of time. In his own words, “There is a unique pleasure about artificially building a moment… Freezing a moment in time is stupefying.” Oefner’s scientific approach to art and a preoccupation with conceptual ideas are best explained in his 2013 TED talk, “Psychedelic Science.” In this intriguing talk, Oefner explains his artistic purpose and offers insight into how he brings his images to life. He clearly has both an artistic and analytical mind; this combination allows him to manipulate a concept such as sound and make it into something that you can see. His work is both visually stunning and extremely playful, especially regarding the pieces showcased in his TED talk. The colors are bright and bold and similar to the Disintegrating images. There is a focus on bringing attention to even the smallest aspects. As for his purpose as an artist, he states that, “what I’m trying to do as a photographer, as an artist is to bring the world of art and science together.” Both science and art are responses to their surroundings, by combining the two concepts he is creating, “Images [that] speak to the viewer’s heart but also to the viewer’s brain.” Oefner’s purpose is evident in each of his Disintegrating images, he is appeasing human curiosity by displaying the insides of the car splintering into space.
 

You can check out more of Oefner’s work here: LINK | Or watch his TED talk here: LINK

Currently Inspired By...

When we discover new artists or get blown away by new work from some of our old favorites, we do our best to share the work and hopefully pass on the inspired feeling. It is a very exciting time to work in hospitality design and we have enough ideas for any kind of project.

Here's to the beauty of endless possibilities!

Please let us know how we can contribute custom art to what you're working on  this summer.

The Wonderful Work of Eileen Braun

A couple of weeks ago we had an amazing studio visit with mixed media sculptor Eileen Braun and were fascinated by her transition in materials - from ceramics to rattan - in the creation of her extraordinary, otherworldly vessels.

Eileen Braun, Smoke, 2017, rattan reed, wax, pigment and string



We are sharing here, her description of the work and a glimpse at what she has been working on.

"In 2016, I put my clay work on hold and sought a new media less demanding of material constraints. After a lot of experimentation, I found it in encaustic wax and rattan weed. As I make the work, the forms grow increasingly more complex. Their sizes range from 3 - 7 feet high and the deep shadows (not easily shown in images), provide a completely different personal experience. The work is deceivingly light, weighing in at a mere 2- 6 pounds.

My art mirrors natural forms with a biomorphic edge. Often the exact life cycle stage one is viewing is too complex to pin down.  Is it focused on seed, mature growth, or the desiccation of this system? I leave that up to the viewer.

Movement, texture and complexity of form are integral to the work as well.  My hope is that the viewer will be drawn in by the shape. While approaching, they will be intrigued by the ever-changing views because one can see both through and around the form simultaneously. The texture, shadow and line created by the materials add to the multidimensional cornucopia of delights.

Process: The sculptures are constructed from rattan reed, encaustic wax, cotton string, and glue. In some instances I have added dress-makers pattern tissue - influenced by my research of Japanese Akari lamps.  The rattan reed is left natural or occasionally pre-stained; soaked, manipulated and secured at all junctions with cotton string.  Additional elements to the sculpture are constructed or texturized with encaustic wax. The exoskeletons in many instances have been en-robed in wax, giving them the appearance of metalwork."

Enjoy the work and imagine the possibilities - tabletop installations, wall-hangings, ceiling installations...

Just exquisite!

 

APP Words with Friends - Galen Cheney

Galen Cheney is a Vermont-based artist that APP has felt a strong gravitation to lately. Cheney's work is so expressive and complex, yet seems to fit within a multitude of environments. We look forward to placing her work. In the meantime, a conversation...


APP: Galen, we just love your work and have to give a nod to the abstract expressionists that came before you. We are huge fans of Clyfford Still, Betty Parsons, Helen Frankenthaler and Cy Twombly. Want to tell us about some of your favs?

GC: Yes, the Abstract Expressionists are my painting heroes, generally.  Their art was their life and vice-versa.  My favorites among them are Joan Mitchell and DeKooning. They had a willingness — perhaps even a compulsion — to risk everything in a painting in order to create something meaningful, something new. I admire and aspire to that degree of artistic bravery.  Like you, I am also a big Twombly fan, as well as Guston and Diebenkorn.  And there are so many good painters working today: Mark Bradford is at the top of my list; I relate to the physicality of his work, his manipulation of non-traditional materials in the service of sublime beauty.  A few other contemporary favorites are Cecily Brown, Susan Rothenberg, Leonardo Drew, Julie Mehretu, Bill Jensen, and John Walker.  There are really too many to name.
 

APP: Agree completely. How do you see the changes in your life reflected in your work, particularly in where you have lived? I know you were born in LA and spent time in both MD and MA before settling in Vermont. In terms of street art, and referencing layered urban mark-making, where does this come from?

GC: I have spent a lot of time in Italy, and my first visits there when I was 14 and 15 had an enormous impact on me.  Yes, the art that I saw was part of it, particularly ancient frescoes in Pompeii and frescoes in Florence by Giotto and Masaccio, but just as affecting was the ancient history that suffused everything.  Witnessing noisy, contemporary life, including the day’s graffiti, within that ancient context affected me deeply. 

I am drawn to the enduring human need for visual self-expression.  Graffiti, ancient and contemporary, is a rich example of that.  These days I spend a lot of time in New York, and even its walls covered in layers of torn-off posters are a turn-on for me.  I often employ a similar kind of process in my own work — laying paint on, scraping it off; gluing paper or fabric on, pulling it off.  It’s not a planned technique in order to achieve a particular effect, rather it is just a process of working.  All those changes of direction in the making of a painting amount to rich and varied surfaces that are a record of the process.


APP: And in 2015 you were a fellow at the Da Wang Culture Highland in China. How lasting of an effect did the residency have on you? I know you took just a brush, ink and a marker, so it seems you were already open to the calligraphic and to using papers more common there. Can you give an example of something gleaned in Shenzhen that inspired a significant influence within your practice?

GC: My time in China continues to strongly inform my work. When I was there I began really focusing on collage as a method for making work.  I love scavenging, and I did that, gathering cast-off papers, hand-written notes, paper trash, basically.  I combined those with special Chinese papers and passages of ink brush paintings that I was working on.  I was energized by the process that I began there and I am continuing to work in that way today, though with painted textiles more often than paper. I love paper, but I am sensitive to the needs of framing paper pieces and wanted to explore more durable materials.
 


APP: Do you sew outside of using that technique as a manipulation in your work? Can you comment on any feminist concerns you have as an artist? What your work says or ignores? 

GC: No, I do not sew!  I didn’t grow up in a sewing household, though I recently inherited a friend’s old sewing machine and I am determined to learn the basics.  Hand-stitching is such a slow process, and though I like the look of it, the speed of it is at odds with my preferred way of working.  And then there’s the feminine association that seems to inevitably arise with stitching.  That said, more and more artists — both women and men — are working with thread in various ways and it feels like it is losing that strict association with the feminine or feminist. I am a feminist, though my work is not overtly about that.  I just try to make strong paintings.


APP: And you succeed. When did you make your series of "War Paintings?" Are you anticipating more work in this vein given the current turmoil in our world/our own country?

GC: The War Paintings were a response to the bombing of Beirut in 2006. Sadly, since then there have been and continue to be other wars that might have inspired that work.  My work is abstract, though I think it has everything to do with the world we are living in. It will never be a narrative of current events.  While it embodies the complexities of contemporary life, my work, if successful will rise above the noise.  This is the promise of art, to enrich us, engage us, to help us make sense of being human.


APP: You've really shown your work everywhere. Was there a particular place or group of people that you felt just "got" your work?

GC: Mostly it has been other painters that have most appreciated my work. Though now, after many years of tenacious and uncompromising painting, things are beginning to shift and my work is gaining broader recognition and appeal. I am always pushing myself to become a better painter with every painting I make. For me, that struggle, that process of discovery is the whole point.  And just maybe the stars are beginning to align.


APP: What is a typical winter day for you?

GC: Coffee first, followed by hauling wood for the wood stove and filling the bird-feeder.  If there is time, I’ll do a little reading (right now I am reading the Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead), painting, hiking in the back woods with my dog, Viggo, answering emails, looking online for artist opportunities. There are always chores to do, but I get into my studio (which is in my house) just about every day.  I often paint at night, which comes early during winter in Vermont.

 

To learn more about Galen, please visit her website.

Source: http://galencheney.com/

APP Out of Town / Palm Springs, CA

Winter in Palm Springs is just magical. In mid-January there are plenty of parking spaces and coyotes, and everywhere you look there are palm trees and rainbows framed by a spectacular backdrop of snow-covered mountains. Driving around with your mouth hanging open, there is inspiration literally at every turn.

Palm Springs architect and resident, Trevor O’Donnell offers a terrific Mid-Century Modern Architecture Tour. The approximately two-and-a-half-hour trip gives a drive-by view of homes that represent the best examples of this fascinating movement. So much to see and so many stories about the lifestyles of the families who lived in the homes, the competition (as well as mutual admiration) between architects and why the simplified, efficient designs, perfectly situated within the desert landscape, offered their inhabitants better, more relaxed living experiences. After all, Palm Springs is legendary - considered to be the ultimate place to step back and unwind.

Art consultants typically receive a plethora of details about interiors in order to make their suggestions for complementing artworks. In this case, it was just fun to imagine what could be found inside by only seeing the exteriors. The following images were inspired by this first trip of the year: mid-century modern homes paired with works of art from APP's endless art database.

We specialize in capturing a sense of place in our art packages. We could do this all day…

Source: http://www.psarchitecturetours.com/