Celebrity Life

By now, your bosses and colleagues have probably seen more of your abode than you would've ever expected to show them.

With many of us working from home these days, meetings held over video conferencing apps the likes of Zoom and Microsoft Teams have become the new normal. Inevitably, this means letting colleagues into our residences — albeit virtually — and having them catch glimpses of it via our backdrop. Depending on where your workspace is located, this view could range from a boring blank wall to windows or cluttered bookshelves.

Your makeshift office may not be the most glamorous, but there are several easy interior design tricks that you can employ to quickly jazz up the background of your Zoom calls.

Textiles and cushions

If your workstation of choice is the couch or bed, all it takes is a few snazzy throw pillows wrapped in eye-catching fabrics and prints to provide visual interest in the space behind you. Consider dressing your cushions in the Armani/Casa Exclusive Textiles by Rubelli collection, which is inspired by modern art — specifically works by Henri Matisse, Vasilij Kandinskij and Paul Klee.

It showcases striking colour blocks embellished with embroideries, ikat details and intertwined motifs. These are available in various patterns and shades ranging from pastel to neutral hues. More details here.

Houseplants and greenery

Adding houseplants to your home office will help the space look less spartan and bland. Smaller plants like cacti, succulents and spider plants can be displayed on shelves or tables, while larger ones such as philodendrons, snake plants and ZZ plant (Zanzibar Gem) can be placed on the floor to break the monotony of blank walls.

Online plant retailer Flora Houses offers a wide variety of houseplants that will thrive indoors and are generally low-maintenance. Its range includes Japanese fir, fiddle leaf fig and Bird of Paradise. The store provides free doorstep delivery with a minimum spend.

Artworks and paintings

Perhaps houseplants may seem like too much of a commitment, or you simply don't have green fingers. This is where paintings and art pieces make an easier alternative. You can simply hang a couple of them on the wall that constantly forms your video call backdrop.

An Andy Warhol or Basquiat will certainly impress your co-workers, but your art doesn't necessarily have to be expensive or by big name artists. Consider procuring artworks instead from indie galleries such as Odd One Out, which boasts an array of creations by local and international printmakers and illustrators. We can't take our eyes off the above acrylic painting by Micke Lindebergh, which is titled 'Small Yellow Flower Pot' and features colourful blooms accented by quirky squiggles and bright hues.

Statement ornaments and furniture

Inject a dose of quirk into your meeting setup by peppering your background with assorted decorative items and statement furniture pieces. These can be anything from figurines to colourful tiles and dramatic room dividers.

Our go-to is Lala Curio, which is a whimsical wonderland of objets d'art such as brass monkey sculptures, cloisonné birds, and, one of our favourites — an adorable trio of cranes adorned with rock crystal feathers and perched on crystal balls.

Wallpaper

Why settle for one specially curated work area, when you can turn your whole room into an Instagram-worthy space? Wallpaper is a bold and easy solution — if every wall in your room is clad in beautiful prints, you can essentially park yourself in any corner and still have an envy-inducing Zoom backdrop.

Designer wallpaper has seen a resurgence in recent years, and we're obsessed with Christian Lacroix's exquisite Oiseau Fleur vinyl wallpaper, which depicts vibrant botanical and bird motifs against a silk effect embossed base. It comes in two colourways of pink and grey.

(Main image: Brina Blum/ Unsplash; Featured image: Christian Lacroix)

The post Johnson Chang Exhibits Masterworks From His Personal Collection appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The collection, dubbed "Ultimate Steven Klein," consists of 24 unique polaroids featuring celebrities like Madonna, Prince and more. 

The post Polaroids from Steven Klein archive to go under the hammer at Phillips appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

The collection, dubbed "Ultimate Steven Klein," consists of 24 unique polaroids featuring celebrities like Madonna, Prince and more. 

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

The masterwork by the late Neo-Expressionist master will go under the hammer during the Phillips' Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art.

The post Basquiat’s ‘Portrait of A-One A.K.A King’ to fetch US$15 million at Phillips appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

The masterwork by the late Neo-Expressionist master will go under the hammer during the Phillips' Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

The famed two auction houses are set to host a collaborative sale in Hong Kong this November.

For the first time, Phillips and Poly Auction will be joining hands to offer collectors and art enthusiasts an opportunity to view collections that feature the very best of 20^th century and contemporary art.

Partnering with China’s leading auction house Poly is a monumental step for Phillips. “As Asia continues to rise as an important art market region, this mutually beneficial partnership will enable Phillips to establish a broader foothold across Greater China, whilst offering Poly our global reach and commitment to expanding our presence further in this important market,” explains Edward Dolman, CEO of Phillips. 

Relatively new on the auction scene since its opening of its Asian headquarters in Hong Kong in 2015, Phillips has already gained increasing presence and popularity on this side of the world. This joint venture with Poly will be Phillips’ ninth auction series in Hong Kong. Expected to follow suit from its previous eight auctions, the sales in November is estimated to see record breaking results as well. 

In the November auction, guests and collectors can expect to see paintings, sculptures and other forms of media represented by both internationally acclaimed artists in the Evening Sale and emerging talents for the Day Sale at JW Marriott, Hong Kong. 

Notable Contemporary Artworks Auctioned by Phillips 

[gallery ids="209745,209746,209747,209749,209748"]

Notable Contemporary Artworks Auctioned by Poly Auction 

[gallery ids="209753,209752,209754,209751,209750"]

The post Phillips and Poly Auction to Present an Unprecedented Contemporary Art Sale appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Following Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong and Japan, KAWS: Holiday travels to out of this world for its fifth stop.

American artist KAWS has teamed up with AllRightsReserved to present The KAWS: HOLIDAY SPACE to celebrate Companion's 20th anniversary. "I decided to work on a project with @ARR.AllRightsReserved where we would send one of my sculptures 41.5 kilometers (136,296 feet) up into the stratosphere." KAWS stated in his Instagram post.

 

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A post shared by @kaws on Aug 16, 2020 at 6:56pm PDT

The whole space journey took about eight hours, including preparation for lift-off, departure to landing, and was recorded with a 360-degree panoramic video camera. “So many projects have been cancelled this year. I wanted to create one that could be experienced safely from home,” KAWS mentioned in a press release. “Because this year marks 20 years since I created Companion, I tried to find a way around all the restrictions and do something special. I felt so confined the past few months that creating a project like this has really given me a chance to escape.”

 

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A post shared by @kaws on Aug 16, 2020 at 7:09pm PDT

The newest 11.5-inch figurines (available in gold, silver, and black), will be available to purchase for HK$2,980 exclusively AllRightsReserved starting on August 17 at 10 p.m. EST. Be sure to mark your calendar.

The post Here’s How to Get Your Hands on ‘KAWS: Holiday Space’ Companion Figurine appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Yayoi Kusama, one of the world’s top selling female artists and most popular exhibitors made famous by her polka dot motifs, can rightly be called the matriarch of Pop Art.

Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan, Yayoi Kusama was the youngest of four children in a wealthy but troubled family. Her father was a womaniser, her mother was cold and distant.

As a young child, Kusama was sent to learn Nihongo, or traditional Japanese painting, and surviving sketches from that time show clearly a talent well beyond her years. Kusama already knew that she wanted to be an artist, but found the traditional master-pupil regimen stifling. But her mother wouldn’t entertain the idea, instead telling Kusama that she was destined to be a dutiful wife to a wealthy husband. The mother frequently confiscated Kusama’s inks and canvases, which probably contributed to her obsessive creative drive.

[caption id="attachment_209248" align="alignnone" width="1078"] Kusama kicks back in a serpentine setting.[/caption]

Kusama’s burning desire to paint continued, and in the late 1940s and early 1950s she looked abroad, impressed by the new generation of American painters. She greatly admired Georgia O’Keeffe, with whom she corresponded for advice. O’Keeffe, who was more than 40 years Kusama’s senior, warned her that artists in America had “a hard time making a living”. Still, she advised Kusama to move to the United States and show her work to as many people as she could.

In her mid-20s, Kusama left to seek fame and freedom in New York, where she lived from 1958 to 1975. She would later acknowledge that “America was really the country that raised me”. Kusama has said that without her art she would have committed suicide a long time ago. Her “Infinity Net” dot paintings, which first won her critical acclaim in New York, originate from visual hallucinations that she claims have haunted her since childhood and became the overwhelming power in her life.

"One day I was looking at the red flower patterns of the tablecloth on a table, and when I looked up I saw the same pattern covering the ceiling, the windows and the walls, and finally all over the room, my body and the universe. I felt as if I had begun to self-obliterate, to revolve in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space.”

[caption id="attachment_209251" align="alignnone" width="957"] A dot room, which started off stark white. Exhibition attendees were given booklets of different sized and coloured dot stamps to place wherever they liked.[/caption]

In 1977, two years after returning from overseas, she booked into a psychiatric asylum in Tokyo where she has lived on a voluntary basis ever since. However, she maintains a large and very productive studio across the road from the institution and describes her work as “art medicine”.

She views her recent paintings as diary entries. Whenever she is overcome with a nightmarish hallucination, Kusama sits down at a canvas and begins to document the vision, completing the work in one sitting. These are always completed on the same size canvas and create a visual log of her obsessive thoughts. Despite their bright colours, the works have titles such as The Far End of my Sorrow and All About Joy, reflecting a troubled soul.

Kusama’s output is prolific. According to Christie's, she was the world’s highest-selling living female artist with her Infinity Net paintings being the most sought-after. Her touring retrospective, Infinite Obsession, attracted the largest global audience of 2015.

[caption id="attachment_209249" align="alignnone" width="960"] Kusama's Infinity pumpkins.[/caption]

She is business-savvy and prolific Kusama’s CV reads like a roll call of creative industries; she founded an erotic newspaper entitled Kusama’s Orgy, has published eight novels, several books of poetry, designed a bus and has produced films – including one with British musician Peter Gabriel.

During her time in US and back in Japan, Kusama has never identified as belonging to any artistic movement, always describing her style simply as “Kusama art” despite her connections to major avant-garde artists. Still, Kusama often tells of how she craved fame when she arrived in New York. As a woman forging a career in a country that harboured post-war resentment towards Japan, it took dogged determination to get the attention she craved.

Sources: Christies, BBC, New York Times

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