NEW DUTCH MASTERS: THE GRAPHIC ART & DESIGN OF MICHIEL SCHUURMAN

REVISIT EXQUISIT, 2010

Commissioned by de Service Garage

So one of the things I love most about the age in which we live is the rapid pace and expansive breadth of discovery that the Internet allows.  It truly is a world-wide web, and it succeeds in widening my own web of consciousness daily.  Today, for instance, I post in praise of a recent "discovery" (and I think for reasons fairly obvious to any regular social design reader): the Dutch graphic artist Michiel Schuurman, whose very groovy, eye-popping posters can often be found ornamenting the Amsterdam cityscape.   

It's no secret we're keen on the graphic zip of an Op-Art accent around here.  In fact, it was my very first post a year ago - one that celebrated the Italian Giallo starlet Rosalba Neri in a particularly arresting black & white number in the film Amuck -  that advised to "USE GRAPHIC OP-ART PRINTS TO ENLIVEN AND CONTEMPORIZE AN INTERIOR, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO WEAR THEM YOURSELF..."  Well, really, it was good advice then - and by then I mean last year and the Early Seventies - and it's still good advice now. 

Schuurman's work calls into play all the classic, retina-tickling Op-Art tropes - but he very successfully integrates them into compositions that are in result electrifyingly contemporary and, in my esteem, without any particularly detractive sense of the derivative.  Says the artist's website: Schuurman’s personal work specializes in typography and poster design which often boasts a rather maximalistic approach. His practice of combining bright colors, warped glyphs, harsh perspectives, and acidic patterns creates some awfully intriguing eye-candy, which he often screen prints himself. 

Well, needless to say, I think his posters are terrific.  Actually I'd very much like to enliven my own interior space with one - and really, I am very seldomly a framed poster kind of guy, so I hope that the extent of my endorsement of Schuurman's work is fully realized.  But enough of me.  A look at more of the artist's very stylish, very switched-on work...

Enjoy!

-a.t.s.

CURRICULUM VITAE - Written portraits - Louis Behre, 2011

Commissioned by the  De Centrale Bibliotek Den Haag

PS PROJECTSPACE, 2010

Commissioned by Jan van der Ploeg. 

This one was very appealingly hung in multiples, creating a continuous color-stripe effect.

HOFSTEDEROTH17:SOLO, 2011

Commissioned by de Service Garage, an Amsterdam gallery space

QUIET IS THE NEW LOUD, 2011

Self-commissioned

We Need a Whole Lot of Flowers, 2010

Commissioned by de Service Garage

DECODING, 2010

Commissioned for Graphic Design Festival Breda

Some of these editions are still available for purchase.  Michiel Schuurman's website is at www.michielschuurman.com

THIS IS THE BLOGGING OF THE FRIDGE OF AQUARIUS...

Sometimes don't you just think you'll fall asleep if you see another stainless steel kitchen appliance?  Of course the greatest threat of such an acute and décor-triggered case of narcolepsy is hitting one's head on an equally ubiquitous granite counter top.  Last month I had to replace my old refrigerator and found the choices wanting: black or white (which apparently in any other form I love) and of course good old stainless steel.  It brought to mind the Eighties when I thought it was beyond stylish to have commercial grade stainless in the kitchen, especially glass-doored refrigeration units.  Clearly a far cry from the dulled-silver hell that constitutes the American middle class kitchen of today.

Of course what I really wanted was a mustard yellow fridge: please do think sunny Provence and please do not think Harvest Gold - although we did just watch Super 8 and were charmed to see its inclusion in the period kitchen sets. (Still, I am short
a macramé owl hanging to really pull it off...)  What I actually did end up getting was yet another stainless steel model - because, simply, neither black nor white worked with the existent scheme and the last thing I wanted to do was initiate a domino chain of kitchen redecorating.  Stainless steel really is nothing if not neutral. Yawn...

I guess I just didn't know that what I really ought to have done was this: travel back in time and pick myself up a "Match Your Mood" number from Westinghouse! 

I hope you enjoy this most compelling promotional film, one that vividly illustrates the decorative benefits of the company's "Complete Refrigerator," circa the late Sixties.  You'll see it starts off slow and moody as Young Mrs. Homemaker contemplates the winter landscape.  But then, like all groovy things, the electric organ kicks in.  And although it's not documented in the film, perhaps she's paid a call to her M.D. on the way home, since from the looks of her abrupt bout of uncontrolled shake dancing and home decorating, I myself am led to believe she's just gotten a needle of B12 and speed in her butt.  And then soon enough everyone's joining the party.  You will have, too, before all is said and (re)done...

Well, it's a terrific blast from the past - great visual and musical fun.  But on a realistic note, it's a good reminder of what Interior Design can and should be: a world of stimulating customization, a world of expression and license.  Face it, no one gets into the trade for the thrill of spec'ing one of three standardized finishes.  And I think this is one of the reasons I am so often keen on Sixties design - it really oozes optimism, possibility, and a certain kind of freshness and freedom - virtues which are always in style, if you ask me.  And there's something that's definitely out for 2012, and that's neutrality.

And as a matter of fact, I really do want a Mrs. Robinson zebra-striped fridge to match my Mrs. Robinson zebra-striped shift.  More than you know...

Enjoy! xo

Westinghouse ... "The Complete Refrigerator"

OP-ART INFLUENCE IN FLOOR TREATMENT (A.D., JULY 2011)

How I hate to stumble on an abandoned blog. Or worse: a blog whose last entry starts with "sorry I haven't posted anything lately..."  And here I am, my own blog teetering on the verge. Well, suffice it to say my creative/editorial energy was directed, by necessity, elsewhere throughout the better part of the summer. But still I was always making note of great little items I knew I wanted to share...

Last month I was waiting to get my hair cut. I like to arrive early so I can peruse the magazines in the reception area and otherwise unwind.  Usually I don't go for the Architectural Digest, but the July cover promised a sneak peek into the private residence of the sadly late, great Elizabeth Taylor. Of course someone with a taste for Sixties glamour like myself is going to take the bait.

Liz aside, what I did find and actually liked quite a bit was a spread on the South Carolina beach house of interior designer Amelia Handegan (photos posted above and below).  And of course anyone who coos on about Op-Art accents as much as I do is going to flip over the graphic floor treatment in the hall above.  I've always loved a white room to begin with - add a dash of that optical black & white and I'm all about it!

Of course on a practical note, I'll say it's good this is a light-usage second home or that A.H. is well off enough to have domestics: painted floors, especially white ones, are frankly a colossal pain in the ass to keep up. I speak from experience since I have painted hardwood floors (long story) myself, the color of an elephant.

Below, a couple more photographs from the editorial - these of a guest bedroom where Handegan again brings in an optical punch, in this instance a black and white Persian kilim I like quite a bit.  Ambiguously Franco-Indienne textiles compliment the airy interior and add a little hippie chic, which is also fine by me, of course...

KRISTEN MCMENAMY FOR ITALIAN VOGUE (MAY 2011)

#1:  USE GRAPHIC OP-ART PRINTS TO ENLIVEN AND CONTEMPORIZE AN INTERIOR, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO WEAR THEM YOURSELF...



#10: UPHOLSTER YOUR PAD WITH LOUNGING, SMOKING DISCO HIPPIES.

Kristen McMenamy was and always has been my absolute favorite of the great 90's Supermodels.  Maybe she didn't have the broad recognition of a Linda, Kate, or Naomi, but she did have (and still has) a spirit to her work that made her a muse-y favorite among designers and stylists looking to push beyond convention.  So last year when Kristen reappeared on the modeling scene - making her return with a distinctive head of very long, very straight, very grey hair - it really was like a breath of fresh air. 

Check out this editorial being published this month in Italian Vogue. http://www.vogue.it/en/magazine/cover-story/2011/05/swimwear 

Of course for me, it's like hitting the trifecta.  Kristen is back and looking as good as she ever did. She's 46 and frankly fabulous.  Stephen Meisel shot this spread at the famous Chelsea Hotel, pretty much synonymous with the Warhol Factory set, and (in congruence with design principle #2) Kristen and company are giving us some very serious lounging, disco hippie vibe.  And finally she's styled in one shot with Op-Art printed bikini bottoms (see design principle #1).  The Op-Art accent is just a jag of mine that is not going to go away.  Of course nudity is always great - though is it an accent, too, like Op-Art or piece of chinoiserie, or is it a neutral, like diamonds or camel hair?  Food for thought, when the appetite is very light...

OPENING CREDITS FROM "JUEGOS DE VERANO" (1971)

 

No sassy lesson for this one, just a quick share. Babydoll turned me on to this the other day: the really very fabulous opening credits to the Argentinian film "Juegos de Verano" (Games of Summer) from 1971 (or 1973 according to IMDB). It's apparently a sexploitation film, though I doubt the rest of it could get me hotter than the animated Op Art intro and groovy track from Waldo Belloso. I recommend viewing in a fringed suede midriff vest. Enjoy!

  

OP ART VILLA FROM "MODESTY BLAISE" (1966)

    

#14: SOMETIMES FRANKLY MORE IS MORE.

Those of you who have followed from the start might recall the post from January 11, 2011 - and the very first of the design principles thus far posted - #1:  USE GRAPHIC OP-ART PRINTS TO ENLIVEN AND CONTEMPORIZE AN INTERIOR, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO WEAR THEM YOURSELF. It's no secret I think Op Art accents are the deal, really my kind of chic. 

So the other night I'm sitting around watching films with Babydoll and Mr. Arge, as often we do, and at some point into 1966's Modesty Blaise we come across this scene: a peek inside the villa of the criminal mastermind Gabriel (played by the silver-wigged Dirk Bogarde). I almost passed out, these wall treatments are so hot! 

I mean, really, why just accent with Op Art when you can full-tilt marinate in it? 

I'll also applaud the designer's use of color, which keeps it very seaside fresh and I suspect also softens down the optical effect to something easier to live with, otherwise very intense in high-contrast black and white...

Movement in Squares by Bridget Riley, 1961

 

Do check out this excellent Brittish website (http://www.op-art.co.uk/) for more information on Op Art and the artists instrumental in its development, like Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely, as well as contemporaries.  Plus the Sound Matrix under the "Music" section is worth tripping out on for at least twenty minutes.

COCKTAIL PARTY FROM "AMUCK" (1972)

#3:  WHEN ENTERTAINING, SPIKE YOUR GUESTS' DRINKS WITH PILLS AND PLAY WHIMSICAL PORNOGRAPHIC FILMS.

From the 1972 Italian Giallo thriller "Amuck", Rosalba Neri makes the scene again in her chic Op-Art separates. Yes, it's another decadent night in crumbling old Venice - in case you weren't sure, hubby spells it out clearly and overdramatically to the attendant Barbara Bouchet: "I'm just a composite of what they are... decadent, corrupt, lost in the myriad facades of a doomed city..." Good thing she's his secretary. You really do have to pay people to listen when you talk like that. Rosalba mixes up one of her signature cocktails: one part scotch, one part pill. Then it's on to a little dancing and a film.

THE OP-ART CHIC OF "AMUCK" (1972)

#1:  USE GRAPHIC OP-ART PRINTS TO ENLIVEN AND CONTEMPORIZE AN INTERIOR, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO WEAR THEM YOURSELF...

From the 1972 Italian giallo film "Amuck", Rosalba Neri looks very chic for dinner in her eye-popping black and white.  It's a great contrast to her traditional Venetian background setting, and the effect says uniquivocally, "Hey there. Look at me."  Uniformed domestic staff always heighten the chic, so apply to taste...

#2:  ACCESSORIZE WITH A WHITE-GLOVED MANSERVANT WHENEVER POSSIBLE.