3 minute read
INSIDE
from WelSpotted
Hashtag Color Fantasy Trend
Retail Innovation
LUXURY APPAREL
Socialmedia Destination
AMPERSAND
FOR MORE, GO TO: WELSPOTTED.COM
Artist Ken Kelleher creates fantastical sculptures in digital world public spaces. “Sculpture, for me, is an inquiry into the deep mysterious nature of things.” Image courtesy of the artist.
ON THE COVER Nick Cave, Hustle Coat, 2021. Bronze, found textiles, and found metal objects, 59 × 41 × 16 in. (149.9 × 104.1 × 40.6 cm). Presented on Wallwork (designed in collaboration with Bob Faust), 2022. Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. © Nick Cave.
DON’TDELETEART
Censorship makes our blood boil, so we stand up and applaud Don’t Delete Art, a not-for-profit project that aims to draw attention to the damage done when social media companies censor art and to work towards greater protection of artistic expression across platforms. DDA is very much in the news today, because Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) has announced it is revisiting its policy on art censorship—a move that was no doubt spurred by DDA and the #freethenipple campaign. This particular body part has been blurred or blacked out on women/females on social media with alarming regularity, yet not covered on men/males, much to the outrage of many, including artists whose social media accounts have been suspended or removed entirely as “punishment.” And lest you assume this is an issue only for XXX imaging or porn posts, consider the fact that some of the most beloved and well-known paintings that hang on museum walls also have been needlessly censored in this manner. DDA is a collaboration between artist-activists, art collectors, and human rights organizations brought together by the National Coalition Against Censorship in March 2020. Founding members (and artists) Savannah Spirit and Spencer Tunick have been joined by arts writer Emma Shapiro, who, we hear, has a book in the works, documenting the infuriating and almost comically puritanical restrictions placed on artists today. So #mouthagape, we stand with you!
SAM’SSWEATERS
Sam Barsky—oh, Sam Barksy!—how do we love you? Let us count the ways in knits and purls. This IG sensation (with 218K followers) is known for knitting sweaters that depict scenery and landmarks from around the globe. Photographed in his masterpieces, often in front of the site of interest and with his adoring wife Deborah at his side, Sam has been knitting since 1999. He says it takes him about a month to create each sweater and that he doesn’t use patterns, charts or graphs. Sadly for his fans, Sam also does not sell the sweaters (don’t even ask, we’ve begged). That said, he does sell irresistible reproductions on adult and doll-sized t-shirts via his website. And for a pay-as-you-wish sum, Sam also creates custom videos, in which he will sing happy birthday to a loved one or friend while wearing his own birthday sweater. Sam says his purpose is to spread joy. #OMG we couldn’t agree more.
Streetscapes By Jj The Awful
AJ The Awful, a.k.a., AJ Riccio, is an artist and designer, who wears a few different design hats, but has become widely known for her RIDICULOUSLY detailed black-and-white pen-and-ink illustrations that amplify ordinary streetscapes into fine-art snapshots of urban living. Based in Astoria, Queens, AJ includes all kinds of locales in her work: new establishments, old haunts, a combo of well-known and off-the-beaten path places. Her annual printed calendar has become so popular that the community gift shops and home stores who stock it tell us that customers start asking for it before Thanksgiving. It’s become somewhat of a “who will AJ feature this year?” guessing game—until the wait is over and a flip through the pages reveals such images as the Neptune Diner (David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve hung out here during the filming of The Hunger) or the Powhatan Democratic Club (incorporated 1900). Fans say that AJ’s work inspires them to look at their beloved neighborhood with new perspective, and for that we proclaim #attentionmustbepaid.
OGEE! #OMG!
Is she, or isn’t she? And for that matter, what about him or them? Contour kits seem to be sweeping the beauty/wellness world, offering a just-back-from-vacation glow or the slept-for-10-hours skin-of-a-newborn lewk. For the uninitiated, these makeup sticks create enhanced or slimmed down facial features, like sharper cheekbones, using shadow and light. Around our editorial office, especially at deadline, glamor tends to take a backseat to grammar, but more than a few of our team members say they won’t leave the house without a contour stick (or three) in hand. Our fave? The OGEE collection, certified organic, cruelty-free, not tested on animals, gluten-free, all natural, and GMO-free. Oh, and made in the U.S.A. It’s effortless and gives you that “no make-up” makeup look that seems so fresh and NOW. We look good, we feel good, so we say “OGEE! #OMG!”
NEXT!
The other side of #OMG, like, the, #meh side. Madonna bashing re: her face work. Madonna can do whatever she wants.
