More Contemporary Artists Interpret The Iconic Playboy Bunny in Playboy Redux II.

above: detail from Vincent Cacciotti's reinterpretation of the Playboy Bunny

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the world famous Playboy Club and the Playboy Bunny, artists reinterpreted the sexy icon in Playboy Redux II, an exhibit featuring the work of over 20 of today's contemporary artists.


above: Hugh with his Playboy Bunnies at the Chicago Playboy Club in 1960.

Known at that time for her satin bunny suit, cotton tail and rabbit ears, the Playboy Bunny served cocktails and glamour in equal doses. Many luminaries once worked as Bunnies, including Deborah Harry, Gloria Steinem and Lauren Hutton.


above: the original Playboy Bunnies

For Playboy Redux: Contemporary Artists Interpret the Iconic Playboy Bunny, artists were asked to create a new look for the Bunny, a veritable makeover to create the Bunny of the future. The selected artists presented a number of new takes on this iconic image, and works in different mediums including photography, painting, sculpture, drawing and video.



The group show, The "Playboy Redux" exhibition was originally shown at The Warhol Museum in March-June, 2010. Copro Gallery is now exhibiting many of these works along with new ones in "Playboy Redux ll". This project is part of Playboy's year-long 50th Anniversary celebration of the Playboy Club and Playboy Bunny. The exhibit is curated by Aaron Baker, Ned West and Copro Gallery.


above: Frank Kozik's reinterpretation of the Playboy Bunny

Graffiti artists, lowbrow artists, cartoonists, photographers, illustrators and sculptors participated including Frank Kozik, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Tara McPherson and Shag to name only a few.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Tara McPherson:

TIN:

Tim Biskup:

Shag:

Another interpretation by Shag:


Gary Baseman:

Brian Viveros:

Jennybird Alacantra:

Vincent Cacciotti:

Hiroki Otsuka:

William Wray:

Jeremy Fish:

Erik Alos:

Travis Lampe:

Dave Nestler:

Bob Doucette:

Jeremiah Ketner:

Luke Chueh:

Juan Muniz:

Mark "atmos" Pilon:


You can see some more here and still more here.

PLAYBOY, BUNNY and Rabbit Head Design are all marks of Playboy, ©2010 Playboy

The Seventh Artist Edition Yo-Yo Is Illustrated By Travis Lampe

The seventh in an on-going series of Artist Edition Yo-Yos, this latest hardwood yo-yo features original artwork by Chicago artist, Travis Lampe.

The unadorned yo-yos themselves are a work of art. Made in the United States and turned from a single piece of Hard Rock Maple, they are made in the traditional fashion of yo-yos from the 1920s. While most modern yo-yos are made of high-impact plastic or aircraft-grade aluminum, these wooden yo-yos are meant to evoke a simpler time in American history. The yo-yo is the second-oldest toy in the world and still one of the most popular; it’s with this heritage in mind that these wooden yo-yos were chosen.

Other Yo-yos in the series featured the work of, amongst others, Brian Morris:

and Jeremiah Ketner:


This Artist Edition Yo-Yo will be $15 each, limited to 30 pieces worldwide, and will never be manufactured again. One side is laser-engraved with original art by the selected artist, while the other side is engraved with the artist’s signature and the Steve Brown Gallery logo.



The goal of this series, as expressed by Steve Brown Gallery, is to provide people with a work of art that is meant to be part of their everyday life. It is their hope that this yo-yo provides you with simple pleasure for years to come.



Yo-yos manufactured and engraved by Arizona-based YoYo Factory.


You can find other Travis Lampe originals for sale here.

Benjamin Lacombe's Beautifully Illustrated Pop-Up Book, Once Upon A Time.

above: spread from Little Red Riding Hood, illustration by Benjamin Lacombe

Il Était Une Fois (Once Upon A Time), is a beautiful pop-up book which features eight classic fairy tales; Alice In Wonderland, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, Peter Pan, Little Red Riding Hood, Madame Butterfly and Thumbelina rendered in splendid 3D illustrations/paintings by the handsome and talented french illustrator Benjamin Lacombe with paper pop-up construction design by Jose Pons.


above: detail from Madame Butterfly illustration by Benjamin Lacombe

The book was first published November 2009 in France by Seuil Jeunesse, then recently published in Spain by Edelvives and soon to be published in Italy. The book is not available in English- at least not yet.

Below is a spectacularly produced promotional video (truly as beautful as the book itself) for the book by Romain Berthou and Laurent Covet from B&C Wall , a Paris collective of directors, character designers and CG animators.



The cover and some images from the book:









Here are some of his background illustrations or the book before the mechanics and 3D pop up parts were added.

Sleeping Beauty:

Alice in Wonderland:


About the artist (from his site):

Benjamin was born in Paris in 1982.
In 2001, he attended the ƒcole Nationale SupŽrieure des Arts DŽcoratifs of Paris (ENSAD) where he pursued his artistic education. In addition to his studies, he worked as an advertising and animated movie artist before completing his first comic series at the age of 19, along with a few other illustrated books.

His final project "Cherry and Olive", which he has both written and illustrated, became his first children’s book and was published by Les ƒditions du Seuil in March 2006. The following year, it was released by Walker Books (USA) and nominated one of the top 10 children’s books for the year 2007 in the U.S.A. by the prestigious weekly news magazine Time.

Since then, Benjamin has written and illustrated numerous books. He has notably worked with Albin Michel, Barefoot Books (USA), Edelvives (Spain), Hemingway Korea (Korea), Milan, MaxMilo, Sarbacane, Soleil, Walker Books (USA) and of course Le Seuil Jeunesse, the publishing house which has issued most of his books.

Benjamin exhibits his work on a regular basis. Among others, it has been displayed in the following art galleries: Ad Hoc Art (New York),L’art de rien (Paris), Dorothy Circus (Rome), Maruzen (Tokyo), etc...

Benjamin lives and works in Paris with his dog Virgile, often found hiding among the pages of his books.

Benjamin Lacombe

Mutual Adornment: Natalie Shau's Art & Lydia Courteille's Jewels

Lydia Courteille is an extraordinary jeweler. She develops several collections every month along with many one of a kind items. Her work incorporates high karat golds and gemstones into various subjects as flora, fauna and such gothic staples as crosses, skulls, snakes, bones and bats. She has become so well-known as a trend-setter, that international stylists from jewelry, fashion and accessories arenas never miss a chance to visit the boutique, particularly during fashion week in Paris.

While many of her pieces have the same symbolism we've seen plenty in the last decade; the ubiquitous tattoo staples like roses, dragons, crosses, daggers and wings, all her pieces have an unparalelled attention to detail and enviable craftsmanship. To call her pieces 'complicated' or 'ornate' would be an understatement.

But it's not only her 'bijoux extraordinaire' that caught my attention. It was the visual menu on her website that really made her worth writing about over such other popular trendy jewelers like Delfina Delettrez.


above: the main menu page of Lydia Courteille's website

The site navigation is represented by various paintings upon which select examples of Lydia's jewels are placed. There are nine paintings for the nine collections. Once clicked upon, the painting disappears and the individual pieces appear with descriptions and arrows to proceed.

Each collection is represented by a different illustration or painting that is a perfect match for her pieces; feminine but gothic, ethereal but grounded in nature.


above: painting for and pieces from the "To Cassandra" collection

So, who created the artwork? A young Lithuania based artist named Natalie Shau whose work is at once both frightening and yet enchanting. A perfect compliment to Lydia's pieces.

To share with you the labors of both these prolific artists, below are each of Natalie's illustrations for Lydia's collections along with some of Lydia's large varied collection of rings, earrings, bracelets, cuffs and pins.





























The Jeweler

above: a portrait of the jeweler, by the artist.

She has everything of a mischievous heroine in a boudoir, with a doll’s face and her hair, cut with a cheeky fringe; Lydia Courteille is a Parisian fairy tale reknown for her cabinet of curiosities where she pulls the strings, 100% dreamlike. The address is petite, but unique for it’s 19th century vitrines, where a baroque sentiment is guarantied, set against velvety midnight blue and it’s number: 231, almost the Faubourg but already Saint Honoré. Here, you meet the stylish, the fanciful and the feminine literary figures with their vamp-jeweled fingers such as Christine Orban and Nathalie Rheims; women with spirit for these conversational jewels. It is here; in this Orphean decoration that Lydia Courteille cultivates her dreams, like in a greenhouse. An incredible carnival of vintage jewellery, gleaned through the lifetime of a passionate antiquarian, fond of the extraordinary, who decides, one day, to create what she was relentlessly searching for.

Turquoise, opal, jade, coral, ivory – every vitrine has its color, its theme. Her creations are like stories to be read. There is the imaginary of a terrifying bestiary worthy of Jérome Bosch paintings, from which she diverts the diabolical for the beauty of their forms: snakes, bats, wasps, frogs or monkeys adorned with diamonds are on familiar terms with gargantuesque stones, cut to amaze, so much so that the volumes express themselves largely on one’s hand. Each piece of jewelry is unique and all the big names of the ‘Place’ neighboring don’t hesitate to inspire themselves from them, for their “no limit” imagination.
--From the article by Louise Chancenet for the magazine 'Please!'



LYDIA COURTEILLE
231, rue Saint Honoré
75001 PARIS
00 33 1 42 61 11 71

LEFT BANK BOUTIQUE
Vintage jewellery
33, rue Mazarine
75006 PARIS
+ 33 1 43 25 05 72

www.lydiacourteille.com

The Artist
About Natalie Shau (in her own words):
"I am 23 years old Vilnius (Lithuania) based artist. I work mainly in digital media and my pieces are mix between photo manipulation, 3D elements and digital painting/drawing. I enjoy creating surreal and strange creatures, fragile and powerful at the same time. My style was influenced a lot by religious imagery, fairytales illustrations and many classical and modern painters.



However, I am still searching for perfect expression that could totally convey my inner world and visions. I constantly keep working on my own portfolio, but also enjoy creating illustrations for music bands, fashion designers and writers. I already had a chance to work with some big music labels like Island Def Jam (Kerli), Sony BMG (Monica Naranjo), Nuclear Blast (The Duskfall) , Century Media (Lacuna Coil, PoisonBlack, The Agonist) ,Trisol (Samsas Traum), Diquela (Ojos De Brujo) and some smaller ones."



Her complete portfolio is really beautiful , please see it!
http://natalieshau.carbonmade.com/