Niemeyer - Architecture Is Invention

Niterói Contemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro, by Niemeyer

" I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing, sensual curves. The curves that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on the body of the beloved woman. Curves  make up the entire Universe, the curved Universe of Einstein." 

I was close to tears, when I heard the news few days ago. Oscar Niemeyer has died aged 104. He was best known as the designer of Brasília, the futuristic capital city of Brazil. He was actually much more than this. 

Niemeyer designed more than five hundred buildings across the world and had the intention of reforming society through his buildings. 

However,  the diehard communist with the heart of a romantic, knew that his buildings did not help to improve social justice: 

Far from the model city Niemeyer had envisioned, Brasilia today is in many ways the epitome of inequality. The rich live in villas in the Brazilian capital while the  poor live in distant satellite towns; 

The Communist Party building that he designed in Paris was once rent for a Prada fashion show, a  company known for providing expensive bags and wallets. 

Nevertheless, he was a visionary who fought for social justice and freedom during his entire life. 

Thank you Niemeyer for being such an extraordinary person. Brazil will miss you. 

The Portuguese Guitar

Still talking about the 100% Design. There were some Portuguese exhibitors displaying amazing products. Malabar, for example, engaged renamed artists and highly talented artisans to produce Portuguese guitars. The result is elegant instruments, decorated with hand painted tiles or other traditional crafts. An instrument or a work of art? I feel like playing some Fado! 

Marilyn at the Salvatore

When Marilyn sang “Happy Birthday Mr. President” to JFK in 1962,  she was wearing shoes designed by Salvatore Ferragamo. 

The iconic status  had 30 other identically shaped pairs. She wore them in movies, parties and everywhere else she went. 

Now the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum pays homage to Marilyn Monroe with a major exhibition dedicated to her. 

The exhibition connects Marilyn's femininity to fine art. 

Pictures of the her are exposed next to famous art works, as for example, her image with tendrils of hair blowing on a breezy beach beside Botticelli’s famous “The Birth of Venus” from 1484.

You might think it is an audacity to compare the actress to such paintings but after seeing the blond muse with her curvy and half naked-body beside an 18th-century chalk drawing of a sensual nude, I have the feeling, it is not an overstatement.  

It treats Marilyn as an eternal beauty, differently from other exhibitions, where she used to appear merely as a movie star.

“Marilyn” at the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo (until 28.01.2013) Florence, Italy. 

Flights of Fancy

The Tatton Park is one of my favourite places in Cheshire. The landscaped gardens are stunning and walking through the deer park is breathtaking.

In the third edition of the Tatton Park Biennial (May12-Sep30), the theme chosen is flight. Twenty artists created large-scale outdoor installations. The one in the picture is Olivier Grossetete's magical bridge, which is held aloft by huge helium balloons. 

My imagination takes off when I look at this work.