Please excuse this very belated post! 2010 has started off with a Bang! and I’ve been keeping really busy with projects including a collaboration with Sang A, a luxury handbag designer based in New York City. For her presentation of the Fall / Winter line  during New York fashion week on February 15, Sang A commissioned me along with various artists to make works of art on her signature Flash cluth to be displayed alongside  the collection at Mixed Greens Gallery in Chelsea.

I immediately thought Disco Glam for the Retro / Mod inspired parallelogram Flash clutch. When I met with Sang A, she thought it would suit me to do the painting on the black vintage patent leather Flash, and better yet on two of them! I was flattered and excited to mix things up a bit with my painting style. I decided to do a disco ball that covered the side of each clutch with chains at the top and loved the idea of putting them together to form a single ball. I imagined two single ladies or sisters going out for a night with matching bags but totally different personal styles.

The clutches are currently being sold to benefit FREE ARTS on Sang A’s website – To view the Disco Flash click here.

Much much more to come! Creation never stops!

XO N. F.

Happy New Year to you all! I look forward to 2010 being a prosperous, healthy, and positive year.

I just completed two new paintings I’d like to share with you:

This piece is titled “Broken Together.” It is a continuation of my “Disco Romance” series. The various titles of the paintings in the series allude to romantic gestures, both literally and metaphorically. In the case of this piece, “Broken Together” references the fact that the disco / mirrored ball is at once broken pieces of mirror, and also pieced together to make a whole object. Like being single, or being in a relationship, it also references the way it feels to be broken inside, but seemingly together on the outside as well as being physically broken apart from someone.

This piece is titled “I.M. Pei knew something about disco.” It is based off a picture I took of a part of the Louvre when I was in Paris last year. It was during the day and the glass pyramid, designed by architect I.M. Pei, was reflecting light onto the museum. It was so magical and reminded me of the light reflected from a disco ball. Like the other architectual themed paintings in the series “My Favourite Things,” this painting is filled with contrasting elements. The painting is both dark and bright with dark browns, blues, and purples along with bright pinks, purples, and white on the side of the building. It was more romantic for me to change the time of day and make it a night setting. The splashes of light hit the detailed facade like dots, keeping the viewer’s eye moving around and wondering what the source is and where it’s coming from. I used purple light on the right in order to emphasize the disco effect of the pyramid’s reflection. The title is meant to be humorous, glamorizing I.M. Pei’s controversial pyramid. I happen to like its contrast to the old building of the Louvre. It made the existing environment more dynamic, and in this case, sexier.

I had a very musical week this week thanks to great friends…

On Tuesday night, I was invited to see Lang Lang perform Rachmaninoff at Carnegie Hall. I didn’t really know what I was in for, but I knew those three names in a sentence meant something special and I was very excited to have this opportunity. I really enjoyed the simple white and gold decor of the interior of Carnegie hall, and as I climbed the stairs to my balcony seat, I felt like I was going to slide down onto the stage…scary at first, but then very magical and surreal. I’m thinking I may use the photos I took from my iPhone as material for a painting.

Lang Lang, I learned that night, is a child prodigy and renowned pianist, playing that night with the Beijing Philharmonic. Check out a YouTube performance here. I was blown away by the romantic set he played with violins, cielos, drums…everything! The second half with just the Beijing Philharmonic was extremely interesting — it was like a score to a Chinese thriller film accompanied by Chinese women screaming vocals. Eeeeeek!

The next night, I went with my brother Julien to see an longtime friend of ours, Khira Jordan, perform with her band Behavior at a dive in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Now I rarely go to Brooklyn, but it was a nice night and a great reason to go. We got down to some unusual funk, rock, and indie grooves that really distinguish Behavior as an up and coming band to watch. Go Khira! Check out the band here.

I also just got the Simian Mobile Disco album: Temporary Pleasure. Some of the tracks are a little too techno for my taste, but I really dig the sounds they put together and their single, “audacity of huge” is a new fav of mine. Check out the video here. I’m obsessed with the kitschiness of it all! And on that note…here is another ball I took a photo of recently…more to come!!

I came across an intriguing article today in the New York Times Art & Design section titled On a Mission to Loosen up the Louvre by Carol Vogel published on October 9^th.

The article examines the transformative efforts of Henri Loyrette, the Louvre’s director, to not only break annual visitor records, but also add American contemporary art to its collection.  Before you know it, tourists are not just going to flock to see the famed Mona Lisa, but Joseph’s Kosuth’s 15 sentences in giant white neon tubing in the museum’s 12^th century catacombs and Cy Twombly’s painted ceiling in the 16^th century Salon des Bronzes.

In a nutshell, Loyrette has caught on to what seems to be a trend of major museums today: to put on a show! It is comparable to what most Met visitors encountered for the past few major exhibitions: The Pictures Generation, but have you been on the roof to see the Jeff Koons shiny balloon sculptures?? And now Vermeer’s sex-charged (well it’s at least aimed that way – a curatorial or advertising idea?) exhibition featuring his famous “Milkmaid” painting, but have you seen those shiny steel trees on the roof (Roxy Paine’s Maelstrom)?? The average tourist nowadays needs to be told where to go and what to see. We are all tragically suffering from ADD one hour visits to major museums that have much to offer, but unfortunately leave many with a “hook” exhibition that gets them in only to leave without really exploring permanent collections and forgotten wings. In all fairness, Loyrette stresses this disappointing fact and is proposing major changes for the most visited museum in the world. He wants to up the visitor numbers from an already impressive 8.5 million annual attendance record in 2008 to an expected 10 million annual visitor record by 2014. He also wants to offer free admission on Friday nights to anyone under the age of 26, comparable to the Guggenheim and MOMA’s free admission evenings every month. I, however, object to the fact that they are going to open a McDonald’s with a McCafé next to the Louvre in the following month – I think Paris has enough real cafés in the 1^st Arrondisment to satiate American tourists!

Monsieur Henri Loyrette

Vogel points out that “While there is a long and ingrained history of philanthropy in America, not so in France, where until recently it was assumed that the government was responsible for the country’s museums.” Loyrette is certainly reaching out now beyond the French government to places like the High Museum of Art in Atlanta that includes seven temporary exhibitions from the Louvre’s collection in exchange for a $6.4 million donation earmarked for the refurbishment of the Louvre’s 18th-century French furniture galleries – a deal Loyrette worked out in 2004. In addition, Loyrette also made a deal two years ago with Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to create the Louvre Abu Dhabi — a 260,000 square-foot museum designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel and expected to open in 2013 on Saadiyat Island, off the city’s coast. It is also from Abu Dhabi, where Loyrette is to receive funding to pay for a new $67 million wing to house the Louvre’s world-class collection of Islamic art.

Henri Loyrette is most certainly a good businessman and I think it is refreshing to make changes that allow for the Louvre to be more accessible. But how accessible is too accessible, and is the American angle to draw more visitors simply about making money? I like a good show as long as it isn’t spoiled by the mass influx of tourists blocking my view and I don’t think the French citizens will be all to happy about getting I.M. Pei to construct a larger pyramid to accommodate 10 million people.

Speaking of a good show and accessibility, the CHANEL fashion show in Paris this past week has received rave reviews! I came across pictures and a post link from the Sartorialist to the Garance Doré blog for the show. Everyone cannot get enough of CHANEL these days! Karl Lagerfeld is another good businessman who used American appeal to put on a spectacle. The stage was turned into a barn with hay and signature CHANEL “C’s” branded on burlap and wood. Lily Allen, although not American yet in the pop vernacular, put on a concert amidst models for the collection including a performance ménage a trois simulation in front of Lagerfeld (Please read and see the entire Garance post for reference). While I cannot resist the glamour of CHANEL and did not see the show myself, I wonder how long the show’s “wow factor” lasted. Branding today is not just about a traditional runway show or relying on a name alone. It seems ironic to me that Loyrette is focusing on American artists and philanthropy to improve the Louvre and Lagerfeld used a rock star approach (Don’t get me wrong, the man can do whatever he likes) to a runway show to up the fashion ante while America itself is going through one of the worst economic crisis in history. These formulas for success are becoming ADD in their own right. It’s about bigger and better, more and more and I hate that France is falling victim to the American model of consumer capitalism that places desire at the forefront of self-destruction. CHANEL does not need to be maxed out like the “LV’s” of Louis Vuitton! I like the CHANEL alphabet, but let’s make sure it stays in French, not English! Creating something fresh and new also calls for making new formulas.

Let’s see how the Kosuth installation in the Louvre and the post CHANEL craze this fashion week play out…

I was recently put in touch with Stephen Bass of Moshi Moshi Records, the UK label that represents indie favs such as Lykke Li and the very innovative Hot Chip. He shared his “5 easy pieces” (working title) project with me and asked me to make five small works inspired by my five favorite songs. Initially, it was hard for me to choose my five favorite songs because I have so many, so I just chose 5 of the many favorite songs that I have:

Clockwise from top left (pictured above)

I find it hard to say (Rebel) by Lauryn Hill

Black and Gold by Sam Sparro

Sovay by Andrew Bird

Love Hangover by Diana Ross

My Funny Valentine by Chet Baker

Lauryn Hill’s MTV live unplugged performance of I find it hard to Say (Rebel), is one of the most emotionally moving performances that makes me think of tough times. So for this watercolor I painted the destroyed wall and door opening to the bedroom of my first apartment in the city. It was one of those psycho roommate stories  that actually does happen. I went through a really difficult time trying to get settled and it was just like Lauryn belts: “I find it hard to say…that everything is alright.”

I think Sam Sparro is this generation’s funk, soul, and disco star. Black and Gold is such a sexy poetic song. I pictured endless chains so I added some charcoal to the watercolor for variations. Check out the acoustic version of this song on the album – it’s fantastic!

I don’t really know what Andrew Bird is singing about in Sovay, but I do know that it is one of the most lovely melodies I’ve ever heard. I pictured a flock of birds gliding so I made a simple watercolor of just that. Maybe it was the name, but “Bird” is a true artist – violin, whistle and all.

Love Hangover by Diana Ross – one word: Disco! Enough said. In this watercolor, I imagined a disco ball having a love hangover with a chandelier. Match made in my heaven.

Chet Baker’s rendition of My Funny Valentine is timeless. His sultry vocals are mesmorizing. Somehow these tacks I put up in the shape of a heart were the perfect visual for “my funny valentine.” I don’t even like Valentine’s Day, but if I could spend one with Chet Baker, I wouldn’t mind each day being Valentine’s Day.