Martinez Lierah: an amalgamation of thoughts

Paris, the centre of the creative world. A city renowned for its artistic scene and defined by many as the cradle of fashion. Its style already has a structure, which many are unwilling or discouraged to break. Yet some do, and a new wave of fashion designers is emerging to refresh and renovate a semi-stagnant fashion scene. The fashion label Martinez Lierah is a prime example of this, with an architectural mishmash of sharp cuts and straight lines.

The label was founded by Arturo Martinez [Spain] and Daniel Lierah [Mexico]. They both graduated from the IFM [Institut Francais de la Mode] in 2009, then collaborated with Sergio Rossi and Louis Vuitton to design a shoe line, and in 2010 launched their own label Martinez Lierah. The mixture of these fundamentally Latin cultures juxtaposed to an elegant and subtle Parisian background led the designers to the creation of their first collection: Experimental Fusion Autumn/winter 11-12.

This women’s wear ready-to-wear collection is inspired by Anish Kapoor’s distorting art and Mesoamerican culture and ideology. It’s based on the idea that the absence of something is sometimes more noticeable than its presence, meaning that a garment’s details are unconventionally rearranged and redefined according to the designers’ vision. Loose silhouettes distract from the shoulders, whereas skintight arms and legs minimise the limbs, directing the viewer’s attention onto the architectural shapes growing from the torso area.

In a careful balance between fluidity and structure, Martinez Lierah deliver a revamped approach to the female silhouette, daring to expose and highlight new shapes, forms, and details. One to watch and to encourage, drop them an email if you are in town. We are sure they would be pleased to show you their collection.

While in Paris, delight in the details of White Line Hotels edit Hotel des Academies et des Arts, the perfect base for any exploration of the city.

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Contributing writer: Fier Management

Images courtesy Martinez Lierah

AS IT IS AND NOT AS IT SHOULD BE: Nick Devereux at Bugada & Cargnel

There are a few different camps in art. Among them there are those that think that art is a means by which to communicate the things around us in an idealized form. They believe in beauty and find no fault in fantasy. On an extreme other end are those who think that art has a social duty. They believe that art is a mirror held up to society and that an artwork must comment on the reality of the context in which it finds itself. To some extent, one could say the same about the world of journalism. There are certainly those who believe in journalism’s social duty and there are those who certainly believe in something perhaps other than beauty, but nonetheless find no fault in a bit of fantasy. Luckily for us, if not for the cause of journalistic integrity, a bit of fantasy makes a great story, and great stories can inspire great art.

As part of his current exhibition of Bugada & Cargnel, Nick Devereux is showing a series of drawings done on mass produced prints of paintings collectively known as Crying Boys that revive a 25 year old tale from Britain’s tabloid The Sun. In 1985 The Sun reported that Yorkshire firefighters frequently found Crying Boys undamaged amongst the ruins of burned down houses. Several articles and a couple months later, the paper had incited such mass hysteria over the curse of the Crying Boys as to lead to organized burnings of the paintings. Shortly thereafter the reason for the prints survival was discovered – it was nothing more cursed than a flame retardant varnish – but by then the paintings were already recognizable and tied to the legend The Sun had created.

Seeing recognition as an obstacle that can curb the potential of an image, Devereux has sanded away the boys’ heads and replaced them with drawings of paper sculptures he made. The technique, used throughout the exhibition over images that are recognizable in one way or another, is startling effective. After Devereux’s interventions, as they are now is fascinatingly emotive. As for as they should be? Who can remember, or maybe they should always have been like this.

The exhibition is up at Bugada & Cargnel until July 23, Tuesday to Saturday, 2 pm to 7 pm. Looking for somewhere were “how it is” is “how it should always be”? Look no further than Hotel des Academies et des Arts, the place in Paris as chosen by the crew at White Line Hotels.

Images courtesy Bugada & Cargnel

Travelling Art Finds a Home in Paris

If the nineties were the age of the White Cube, and the noughts were the decade of the alternative art space, it seems to me that this next decade will be the age of the travelling art setups. Across the US and Britain these travelling spaces move from state to state and city to city, carrying with them some of the world’s greatest (not to mention expensive) art. “America Now and Here” kicked off with an 18-wheeler wrapped in a Barbara Kruger piece as the exhibition space. These travelling exhibitions are no dinky arts and crafts mobiles. “America Here and Now” includes among its artists Chuck Close, Jasper Johns, Edward Albee, Laurie Anderson, Kiki Smith and Philip Glass. A mix of 150 musicians, poets, artists, actors, playwrights and directors are taking part.

But, as globalization goes, it’s almost impossible to say who first came up with this trend. The Mobile Art Pavilion is a clever take on the international pavilions of the Venice Biennale. Only slightly more stationary, but definitely more international, the M.A.P. was designed by London star architect Zaha Hadid. Since it’s creation in 2008 it has travelled across the globe from New York to Tokyo and Hong Kong. Supposedly it’s now found a permanent home in Paris, but is anything really stationary anymore?

The spaceship like exterior of the structure has an unexpected web-like interior, creating plenty of possibilities for dividing the space in future exhibitions. It’s found a home outside the Institut du Monde Arabe and is currently showcasing models, paintings and projections of recent work produced by Zaha Hadid Architects.

The Institute de Monde Arabe can be found on the Left Bank, not at all far from the Hotel des Academies et des Arts, as picked out by the crew at White Line Hotels. This intimate hotel offers what the big ones can’t – personalized service and true Parisian charm.

Insiders Rive Gauche – Competition

Enchanting Plants in Paris

If you were walking past La Galerie Végétale, you might pause before walking in, unsure if it was a shop, gallery or design studio. Don’t hesitate! Enter a lush world fusing the industrial and natural.

Inspired by nature and the preciousness of the materials that make up organic products, La Galerie Végétale is the kind of place that you could pick up arranged bouquet, or a fantastic assortment of ordinary and exotic potted plants, as well as their accoutrements, but it’s also a gallery that is constantly changing, reinvented at the owner’s whim. Run by Michel Lebroton and Solveig Kuffer, the tremendous space was formerly a woodworking studio. It’s now been divided into a workshop and gallery, each side guiding the other.

La Galerie Végétale is deeply invested in organic and recycled materials, encouraging fair trade internationally, as well as traditional artistic techniques, a quality you’ll see reflected in the product carried in the shop. Take, for example, the Bholu creations peeking out from behind plants throughout the store. The imaginative creations are handmade by women artists in India, inspired by the drawings of children.

Practice your French on La Galerie Végétale’s website: www.lagalerievegetale.com

Photographs courtesy of Jillian Leiboff

Hotel des Academies et des Arts, Paris

If you’re searching for a little whimsical magic in Paris, look no further than White Line Hotels edit Hotel des Academies et des Arts. Jérôme Mesnager’s white figures acrobatically climb the walls, even the outside of the hotel, further enchanting an already magical city.

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Category: Paris

Contributing writer: Alicia Reuter