The Ladybug gets color-blocked at Roy Lichtenstein exhibit

Roy Lichtenstein “Multiple Visions” was possibly one of the most interesting exhibits that I have visited in Milan this year so far. The exhibition took place this last spring/summer at the Mudec Museum and exposed around 100 prints, sculptures and tapestries from the king of the pop art, including also videos and photographs from many American and European private collections and museums. I also loved the decorations and the entire set-up: color-block printed walls, striped and polka-dotted floors, a blossoming of pop colors (and very Instagram-friendly!) in perfect harmony with the exposed art! It is not a coincidence that I took so many pictures, also outside the exhibit area, in the hall of the museum that is one of my favorite spaces in Milan for its modern architecture.

The pop art movement was born in the 60s and its first objective was to find a language that could be used against the abstract expressionism. The most famous pop art artists were the same Roy Lichtenstein and of course, Andy Warhol. Like him, Lichtenstein used daily objects in its art, as a representation of the economic opulence of the era; he often used advertising language to attack mass consumerism but he was also the first to use comic strips as a new artistic way to communicate. Comic strips were very simple, clear and easy way to communicate and he made them a real form of art. It is still a mistake to consider it as the only or main form of art that he used: during the exhibit it is possible to admire his multiple ways of expressions and to know more about this incredible artist.

For the visit I wore one of my favorite combos from Madame Ilary: a turban-culottes combination made with a golden sparkling Syrian fabric that I bought in Amman last spring. Such a shame that I didn’t have enough space in my luggage to buy more! I paired with a simple black tee from Asos and a pair of sparkling shoes from a Lazzari old collection. My golden necklaces are from & Other Stories and Afrohemien; my golden hoop earrings are from Genny Pi.

The Ladybug, a black wall, a white door and Kandiskij’s Russian inspiration

Last weekend I was hanging around with a friend of mine: we had a lovely lunch in one of my favorite places in Milan, the restaurant Orto,  we had a long chat in their lovely garden (it’s not properly a garden but you are surrounded by plants and it feels like a garden!) and the weather was so good that we took a long walk after lunch.

We walked to the Mudec museum and we decided to step in to see the Kandinskij exhibit even if both of us had already seen the beautiful exhibit dedicated to the artist four years at Palazzo Reale. Maybe it was the fact that we adored that past exhibit but we didn’t enjoy the visit very much.

 

The exhibit was dedicated to the story of its so-called “genius period”, leading to the birth of abstraction. Most of the works come from Russian museums such as the Hermitage and “they trace the development of Kandinskij’s visual imagery, deeply rooted in Russian tradition, and of his inescapable path towards abstraction”. It is also a journey across the Russian visual sources from which he took most of his inspiration.

The thing is that the exhibit is quite small with few interesting pieces from the artist, not even comparable with the one held in Palazzo Reale in 2013.

Anyway, it was also a good day to take some pictures so here they are!

Even if the weather was good it was still a bit chilly, that’s why I wore my flowery Barbour (a limited edition that I found in an outlet years ago!) on my Victorian style frill shirt from Alexa Chung’s Archive second collection for M&S. I added black skinny jeans from Acne Studios and comfy shoes for the long walk (Nike white sneakers at & Other Stories).

Last touches: Sine Modus headband, Cavalli & Nastri 70’s vintage bag and vintage silver earrings!

The Ladybug’s big dream: Basquiat exhibit in Milan

Six years ago one of the biggest European exhibits on Jean-Michel Basquiat opened in Paris, at the Museum of Modern Art. I was seriously thinking of getting a ticket to Paris just to see it but although my huge love and admiration for this incredible American artist, I never managed to see his art live. The first time that I saw a few of his paintings I was at Miart in Milan in 2013 but that’s nothing compared to the huge exhibit started at Mudec Museum this October and showing more than 100 works (from private collections) of the short but intense career of this amazing artist who died in 1988 at 27.

He has been defined a writer, a graffiti artist, the symbol of the new African diaspora and a son of the African slavery but what I have always loved of Jean-Michel Basquiat powerful art is the way he put together his African roots and the energy of NYC suburbs. These two sides of his art are a huge part of this beautiful exhibit that will be in Milan until the end of February 2017 and I am thinking of going back to see it again before it ends.

The exhibit also shows his art as a bridge between different cultures and it is probably one of the biggest occasions to see Basquiat’s art in Europe or at least in Italy and I must say that it is absolutely worth the visit.

For the exhibit I wore a beige Please sweater, Topshop boyfriend jeans and Max&Co navy coat. I also wore my new clogs from Archivio Vintage and my new Bonne Maison colored socks with my Cavalli e Nastri vintage 70’s handbag.

The Ladybug’s new experiments at Miró exhibit

Since the opening of the new Mudec Museum in Milan I must say that I have seen there some of my favorite art exhibits, including “The Force of Matter” dedicated to Juan Miró. Over 100 works of the artists dating from 1931 to 1981 (with the contribution of the Fundació Juan Miró in Barcelona) are exposed chronologically to reconstruct his art trajectory. His pieces are one of the highest contributions to modern art and his constant experimentation with forms and colors has as a result a captivating, joyful and colorful art that I love. The exhibit is very well curated and I enjoyed the visit a lot. I especially loved his simplification of forms (which reminds me a lot of a kind of primitive art) and his incredible mastery of colors.

For the visit (and a brunch out with a friend in a lovely summery day) I decided to wear my new oversized striped tee from & Other Stories and skinny jeans from Acne Studios. I added silver flats with buckles from Max&Co (a piece from this past winter sales but perfect for spring and summer days!), Michael Kors bucket bag and a pair of Dior vintage frames.

The Ladybug is “a Barbie girl in a Barbie world”!

When I heard that Barbie was coming to town for a very special exhibit at Mudec I was not really impressed: I thought it was something for kids and I didn’t feel particularly interested in the event. After a couple of weeks I started getting feedbacks from friends and colleagues who went to the event and totally enjoyed it. They then used the magic world that convinced me immediately: there are a lot of “vintage Barbies”…

That’s when I decided to go and have a look before it ended in mid-March.

I was completely stunned by the event and, even if there were a lot of kids, I realized that I felt like a kid myself because in the middle of the vintage Barbies, of the iconic rare dolls and of the multicultural Barbies, there were pieces of my past exposed there: my old dolls from when I was a child, my Barbie’s car, swimming pool and house! I felt so emotional that I wanted to cry! And it wasn’t just me as I could hear many of my peers visiting the exhibit saying to their kids: “Look! Mummy had that Barbie car!” or “Aww this was auntie’s favorite Barbie many years ago!”.

That’s when I became aware of some facts relating to Barbie: first of all, it is not just a doll. In 56 years she “has interpreted the aesthetic and cultural transformations of society for more than half a century; but – unlike the other myths of contemporaneity, worn out by the passing of time – this doll has had the privilege of being timeless and has crossed distant eras and lands, representing some 50 different nationalities, and bolstering her identity as a mirror for the global imagination” (from Mudec presentation of the event).

The exhibit tells this story in many different ways, presenting the chronological order of dolls (I was totally amazed by the ones from the late 50’s of course!) from the end of the 50’s to nowadays. But there is more than that: the dolls are presented by designers dressing the doll, by fashion trends, by nationality (I loved Asian and African Barbies) or even by job. A huge part is also dedicated to the celebrities who gave their image to Barbie: from Audrey Hepburn to Marilyn Monroe to Carmen Miranda, just to name a few.

The exhibit will be now in Rome until the end of October, in case you want to try the experience!

The Ladybug listens to Gauguin’s Tales from Paradise

Yet another great exhibition in Milan! This time it was in one of my new favorite venues in town, the Mudec (Museo delle Culture) where, until the 21^st of February you could visit the exhibit “Gauguin. Tales from Paradise”.

The exhibit collected 70 art pieces (not only paintings) coming from many different museums and private collections and focused on one of the reasons why I have been loving Gauguin since I was a student: the inspiration coming from different geographic areas that influenced the painter’s production, from French region of Bretagne to Egypt, from Peru to Cambodia and during the most mature period of his art, Polynesia. This constant link with the place, the art, the culture and everything characteristic of the specific area he was in contact with, influenced his work.

Polynesian paintings are a pure joy for the heart and the eye: I literally couldn’t move away from many of them, especially “Words of the Devil” and “Woman with a Flower”.

For the event (and considering the freezing weather) I wore Sportmax black coat, Acne Studios jeans, Dixie black sweater. I added two pieces that I love: a pair of leopard printed ankle boots that I bought last year from Zara on sale (for about 30 euros!) and my black handmade turban from Madame Ilary with a pink vintage hatpin from my friend Tricia Leonard Vintage in Munich. Bag is Miu Miu.