Red Vines, Candy & Junk Become Celebrity Portraits In The Hands Of Jason Mecier.

above: Kim Kardashian made of Red Vines & Black Licorice twists

Los Angeles born, and now San Francisco-based, mosaic artist Jason Mecier creates portraits of famous personalities with assemblages crafted of candy, food, yarn, dried beans and just plain junk.

In his licorice mosaics, He artfully twists red and black licorice to create uncanny likenesses of some of today's most popular entertainers and images from popular culture.


above: detail of Kim Kardashian made of Red Vines and Black Licorice

In his "junk" portraits, the objects he uses to craft the images include things relevant to the celebrity or personality of his subject, such as the Campbell's soup cans and banana used to compose a portrait of artist Andy Warhol:



Red vines and black licorice:

Mo' Nique:

Michael C. Hall as Dexter:

Elizabeth Berkely in Showgirls:

Taylor Lautner:

Robert Englund as Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street:



Other Candy
Taylor Swift made with Good n' Plenty Candies:


Pam Anderson made of various hard candy and candy bars:

details:

Christina Aguilera made of candy:

The Olsen Twins made of candy:

The Spice Girls made of candy:


Some of his impressive "junk" portraits.

Mary Louise Parker (star of HBO's Weeds):

Conan O'Brien:

Tina Fey:

Chelsea Handler:

Donald Trump and detail:

Frida Kahlo and detail:

Singer Pink:

Kathy Najimy:

RuPaul:

President Obama:



To see more, visit Jason's website.

Double Dutch: The Photography & Videos Of Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin

above: Inez and Vindooh in a self-portrait for Lanvin, 2010

Fashion photographers, artists and directors, husband and wife Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin met at The Art Academy in Amsterdam in the mid 1980s. Working formally together since the early 1990s, they have now been together personally and professionally for almost two decades.



Some of the busiest and hardest working talent in the industry, they've photographed ad campaigns for just about every prestigious fashion and fragrance brand including Balmain, Roberto Cavalli, Chanel, Isabel Marant, Gianfranco Ferre, Moschino, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Calvin Klein, Gaultier, Dior, Viktor & Rolf, Miu Miu, Guiseppe Zanotti, Gucci, YSL, Lanvin, Chloe, Jimmy Choo, Nina Ricci - even Pirelli- and countless others.


above: their photo of Sophia Loren in the 2007 Pirelli calendar

In addition to their commercial advertising work, they've shot magazine covers and editorials for Vogue (Paris, Japan, China and more), GQ, W, V and many other publications. And they are fabulous with celebrity portraits. Videos and short films for fashion brands YSL, Balmain, Gucci and more are also part of their impressive repetoire.


above: a still from Balmain's Everglade (video shown further down in the post)

From sexy to sophisticated, pop art to surreal, here's a look at some of their diverse work from 2010 and 2011.

Advertising photography
Gucci:


Jean-Paul Gaultier:

Lanvin:

Jimmy Choo:


Dior:

Narcisco Rodriguez and Viktor & Rolf:

Roberto Cavalli:

Chloe:

Louis Vuitton:

Miu Miu:



Recent editorial photography:







Celebrity portraits for W Magazine, 2011
Jennifer Lawrence:

Michael Douglas:

Mila Kunis:

Colin Firth:


And most recently, they shot the April covers for next month's issues of Vogue Paris (featuring Gisele Bundchen) and for Vogue Nippon (Japan):

above images courtesy of models.com, the collective shift


Fashion collection videos and short films:
Balmain Collection video (Everglade) with Kate Moss for 2011. Music by Antony & the Illustrations by Jo Ratcliffe:

YSL Manifesto Video for 2010 :

One of their earliest videos was the 2001 Bjork Hidden Place video:


INEZ VAN LAMSWEERDE
Born: September 25, 1963, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Education: One year residency at PS1, Institute of Contemporary Art, New York, 1992 -1993
Rietveld Academy of the Arts, 1985 - 1990, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

VINOODH MATADIN
Born: September 29, 1961, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Education: Fashion Academy, 1981 - 1985, Amsterdam, The Netherlands



The pair is now represented by The Collective Shift.