MCAP + Black Docs - Blue Jeans - Red Scarf

Taken outside the opening of the Marrickville Art Prize 2012 tonight. OK maybe that ribbed scarf is more Indian Red or Rust but lets face it, whatever red it may be, it sets off the the blacks of the Doc Martin boots, long sleeve Tee and blue jeans perfectly, and I love the leather shoulder bag too.
"I recently graduated from architecture at UNSW."
Art meets design and style at yet another art opening! More style shots and a full post of the MCAP 2012 opening coming; but if you can't wait you can see the show yourself.
MCAP, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Pidcock Street, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW. 30 August 16 September 2012. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm

And...

MCAP'12: The rest of the best!

ESP Gallery (228 Illawarra Road Marrickville)

8 - 23 September

Launch, Saturday 8 September, 4-6pm  

Gallery Hours: Thurs-Fri 3-6pm, Sat-Sun 11am-4pm

Thanks to my Sponsor, http://www.fujifilm.com.au/

tenmoregirls - glory box - the art of the wearable object.

It's a curious thing this business of wearable art - objects of art that function - the decorative blending with the practical (or maybe not so practical) and the world of high art. And if it was not for having a few friends who were well versed in the three dimensional arts at the very beginning of my art career I think my uneasiness; my fear (!) of understanding the three dimensional art object would probably still be quite strong. I had again, the similar good fortune at a later point in time - a time when two dimensional quality; or is that the one dimensional quality of 'surface' ruled my own world absolutely, to have met someone who believed very much in the world and the art of craft; to again enable me to see beauty in creativity that I had sometimes previously been unable to acknowledge..

This is a beautiful show of art, craft and design with widely varied interpretations on the 'glory box' theme. Although I loved Radka Passianova's '...a dream of fear....,' Daggers in Silver Steel and Ebony; finding those at the bottom of  a glory box is both a beautiful and frighting proposition! there are all manner of imagined glory box pieces and many of them are certainly luxurious and affordable art.

The pictures start with five of the artists portraits, some of the work and then some equally styling attendees. 'glory box' August 27 - September 8th; Salerno Gallery, 70 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Web links at the bottom of the page.

And I have my own piece of  'wearable' Luxury now too thanks to Fujifilm Australia who are very kindly sponsoring Street Fashion Sydney with thier fabulous X-Pro 1 camera and lenses. The 'glory box' opening is my first SFS post using the new camera which a lot of people seemed to notice is quite artfully stylish itself! Thank you Fujifilm Australia.

http://tenmoregirls.com/
http://www.salernogallery.com/
http://www.fujifilm.com.au/

Apple & Eve - On-line Fashion Retail in Adelaide.

I met Kyla recently at the ROC Eye Wear Launch in Sydney; basically I was mesmerised by her Cheetah pattern jump suit and striped wedges. As it turned out Kyla is from Adelaide and has a new on-line fashion store called Apple and Eve. Happily I found out that Kyla packed a few items from the A&E store and we decided to do a little photo shoot and interview to celebrate the A&E store.

Street Fashion Sydney : How is it that I came to meet you at the very cool ROC Eye Wear Launch in Sydney?

Kyla: Dani from ROC Eyeware invited me along as I am a stockist of their amazing eyeware label. So, what better excuse to organise a trip to Sydney! I wore my much-loved Finders Keepers cheetah print jumpsuit which caught the attention of many. You loved my outfit, and wanted to know more..

 SFS: Indeed I did want to know more, so you are selling ROC through Apple and Eve (A&E), very cool. Can you tell me a little about the outfit you were wearing at the launch party, it was really fabulous and everyone seemed to be noticing it.

K: It is a BRAND NEW piece I have in store from Finders Keepers Spring/Summer 2012 range, RRP at $109. It is sexy, yet fun, and I thought it would be the perfect outfit for the funky surroundings of the ROC Eyeware season launch at The Grounds in Alexandria.

SFS: So this is one of the labels you are selling on A&E, can you give me some background on Finders Keepers?

K: YES, it sure is. Finders Keepers is an Adelaide label, so it is very close to my heart. FK’s style fits into the current market somewhere between casual and formal, providing affordable and versatile, on trend edgy designer pieces. You can find out more by visiting www.appleandeve.com.au/designers/finderskeepers/

SFS: So Finders Keepers is a South Australian label, what about the other labels, do you have any other local labels you are excited about?

K: All the upcoming Adelaide labels are the ones that excite me the most, as they are the closest to home. However, my favourite, of course, is my own..alyk. I came up with the name ALYK as it is my name spelt backwards. Created and launched in November 2009, Alyk is aimed at the savvy individual who isn’t afraid to get a little ‘sexy’. Our motto: “back is the new front”, creating pieces that feature amazing open backs, whilst keeping the front of the garments stylish and elegant store.appleandeve.com.au/category/alyk

SFS: “Back is the new front” I love that! On-line retail is really taking off, I don't think a few years ago anyone really saw just how big it was going to go and its still just beginning! From our conversation during the shoot you were talking about the personal nature of A&E; can you tell Street Fashion Sydney's readers a little more about your retail philosophy?
K: I think the way to set yourself apart from the rest in the on-line boutique fashion industry, is by providing your customers with an exceptional level of customer service. For example, ease of use throughout the entire website, same-day delivery and personalising each order with a handwritten letter to the customer really shows we care :-)

SFS: Yes I think it is really important to keep things personal, have that special relationship with customers just as we are used to in 'bricks and mortar' boutiques.
K: Providing this level of customer service really makes the customer feel as though they are walking into our physical shop and flicking through the racks of coat hangers to find that special piece. Then to the counter and to have a good old chat to the sales clerk, and then straight out the door like a breeze. All whilst never actually leaving your house.
SFS: I am looking forward to seeing the other labels that A&E stocks & hopefully seeing you back in Sydney with some more great South Australian fashion in you travel bag.
K: Don’t worry, I will definitely be back! Sydney is a beautiful place, it provides me with so much inspiration. I always come back to Adelaide with new ideas and more labels to show off on the website! It was a pleasure to spend the day shooting with you, I will tee up some more garments for my next visit :-)

SFS: Thanks so much for your time, it was great fun getting together in the studio and shooting these pieces from Finders Keepers with you. 

Shop with Kyla at  http://appleandeve.com.au/

The Luxury of Art - And Handbags Too..

I had a pretty full and wonderful day yesterday, starting out early in my in grey Fedora and navy blue blazer I headed off into the city for my first ever luxury handbag sale; a quick wander through Sydney's main retail district - the Pitt Street Mall - just to see how Fashion retailers were trading... Took in the current Louis Vuitton windows at the LV Maison store on George St - then managed a couple of group art shows in the Kings Cross Darlinghurst area.

I loved seeing the windows at Louis Vuitton and my grey Fedora really goes off to them for having the style and courage to show the beautiful commissioned art by Yayoi Kusama without putting any 'product' in the window whatsoever - just Art, fantastic. Non-Objective art at that too! Well at least the windows with the large scale organic spots installation pieces though I loved the stylised flowers with eyeballs just as much, well nearly as much. And that was a nice break from from the intensity of the Reebonz luxury handbag sale I had just come from at the Hilton hotel. I have never been to one of these sales before and it was certainly an eye opener - but more on that later in the week in a separate post.

So after wandering around the city and seeing but not photographing a few nice Street Styles... Well I did ask one person but they said No. I headed over to Potts Point for the James Dorahy Project Space (JDPS) for the Six Years Of Projects 2006-2012 (Part 2).  The JDPS has to be one of my favourite intimate art spaces in Sydney, and not just for the feeling of the space and the quality of the art James shows there, I love looking out the curved corner window of the Art Deco building the gallery is housed in and watching the locals wandering along Macleay Street in their Potts Point finery; its like a different world over there.

The JDPS was not the only group show on that afternoon; my friend and Six to Eight art blogger Fleur Macdonald, who has two pieces up at the Potts Point show alerted me the opening of the group show at King Street Gallery on William - with oysters natural, just a few blocks away; so off I shot, mostly expecting the oysters to be long gone.  A change of space and a change of scale-of-art awaited me along with a continuing flow of oysters natural - I could taste the sea and indulge in the aroma of still fresh oil paint while taking in a selection of (fairly) large scale art works. Two excellent shows well worth taking the time to visit, snaps of Joanna Logue's landscape diptych and John Edwards, self portrait below (I think I would paint like John if I had stuck at it); and my 'artists opening' portrait of Richard Briggs from the 'Six Years' show, who's pen on paper drawings completely charmed me. If only every Saturday in Sydney could be just like this.

Of course art (or a nice handbag) is not really a luxury, and like most things in life, there is something for everyone, something nice, and certainly at a price you can probably afford.

http://www.jamesdorahy.com.au/
http://www.kingstreetgallery.com.au/

Book Street Fashion Sydney to cover your next event.

Kent Johnson, Sydney, Australia.

0433 796 863

kent@artcommunication.com.au

www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au

www.fashionphotographysydney.blogspot.com/

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SNO 85 - Factory 49 - Abstract Art Baby!

The 85 after SNO stands for the number of shows; SNO being good minimalists don't have names they have numbers for the shows instead. I quite like that as it makes it easy to keep track of how long it is is since the last show I attended, photographed at, and how many I have missed! Not many lately. And although Factory 49 also shows work in a similar style and some of the same artists; the 49 is the street number of the gallery space and always stays the same - though this could become confusing if they decide to move and keep the same name - mind you King Street Gallery seem to have been able to work around that little problem quite well for more than a few years..

First up is the SNO show; I had been wanting to make a portrait of Suzie Idiens for a while now and this time I managed to get one of Suzie in front of her artwork 'Blue Slot 2012', (MDF, polyurethane, 60 x 54 x 6.5).  I was thinking that having made Suzie's portrait I had photographed the only exhibiting artist in attendance at SNO 85; not so. I had been talking with sound artist Gary Bradbury; who incidentally had performed live at my own show at SNO two years earlier - I knew he had the sound piece running in the front gallery space but it just didn't click, no pun intended that I should photograph him too. So this is what happens when you get a little too fixed in your ways; you think visual-art artist-portrait a little too often and you forget that the sound artist who is making art you cannot see is standing right there talking to you and can also be documented at the shows opening. My apologies to you Gary, this will not happen again; and by way of trying to make up for my omission I did make an 'autograph portrait' of the freehand ballpoint pen description of 'Mouth Tracks' which I very much suspect was jotted onto the wall by Gary himself;  pictured below, I quite like it.

Dutch artist  Henriëtte van 't Hoog 's coloured , light-reflecting back-to-the-wall 'Cubes' were/are absolutely fascinating and had me thinking of some great ideas for my fashion photography. Well yes I do draw some of my inspiration from looking at art, of course! And then there was a mild pang of jealousy but far more admiration for Karen Schifano's - 'I'll take you there', I do love a good road line. I wish I had thought of adding my own to the ones that are already there. What a great way to draw, the possibilities truly are endless.

SNO 85

Factory 49 Annual Group Show 2012

And so onto the Fab group show at Factory 49 which included the installation piece 'barely breathing, 2012' by Caroline Phillips whom I also managed to photograph for my collection of Artists at their openings. Thank you Caroline; love your installation piece and I love the pink and mauve. As group shows go, there are far too many artists to single any out - you just must go and see for yourself. Both galleries being quite close to one another in Marrickville should make it an easy trip to see both SNO and Factory 49 in the one afternoon..

Thanks to everyone at SNO & Factory 49 for another two beautiful art shows.
http://www.sno.org.au/
SNO on Facebook

http://factory49.blogspot.com.au/
Factory 49 on Facebook

ROC Sunglasses SS 12/13 + Leopard Print Mayhem!

As any dedicated follower of Street Fashion Sydney (SFS) will know by now, its not exactly the product or launch that attracts the cameras gaze, its the people and what they wear. After all; that's what 'Street Fashion' is all about isn't it? And so it was at last nights ROC eye wear's SS 12/13 launch party where style was in super abundance, thick-on-the-ground, 'The Grounds of Alexandria' to be precise; so much so that I think this may be one of the most image intense posts SFS has made to date. And looking back, maybe I have been asleep, maybe I have been missing something but.. But but but, only two posts ago SFS certainly made a big deal about leopard print, well here it was, leopard print here, leopard print there, that's three posts in a row; really it does make you wonder why Myer went all the way to Africa to shoot Jen & Jess with a couple of fab furry African cubs; they could have saved a small fortune; crashed the ROC Launch Party (maybe with me as the photographer) and landed all the beautiful animal print they needed for the shoot - exotic or what!

If you look closely at the pictures you will also see, not only ROC sunnies in some of the shots you will also spot some of the posters from the campaign featuring the lovely Ollie Henderson from Chic and celebrity model Laura Bingle too. So here it is all the style, all the sunnies, shoes and leopard print thats fit to publish, and bonus brownie points if you can spot the fashion fabulous Glynis Traill-Nash in a shot as well. Let me know how you go, and until then, keep ROCing!

Special thanks to,

http://www.roceyewear.com.au/

http://www.bonelpr.com.au/

and everyone who was kind enough to allow me to take their portrait. Love you all!