The Ladybug About Keith Haring Art

When I saw the advert of the upcoming Keith Haring exhibit in Milan I couldn’t help thinking of my last (and first) Keith Haring exhibit. I was in New York in 2012 and I was staying in Brooklyn in a B&B. I found there the flyer of Keith Haring exhibition at Brooklyn Museum and I felt so happy and grateful to have the chance to see his art for the first time in New York! I enjoyed that exhibit so much that I could never forget it! It’s definitely in “my best memories ever” archive!

The good feelings came to my mind immediately and I wasn’t sure if going or not as I didn’t want to ruin my Brooklyn memories. I decided to have a look anyway and it was a great decision! The exhibit that I saw in 2012 was more focused on Keith Haring adverts and drawings in New York subway stations and even if I found a few here in Milan the exhibit was basically different.

110 of Keith Haring works were exposed, from public and private collections from all over the world. Some of them were shown in Italy for the very first time. The exhibition tries to create a link between Keith Haring works and their source of inspiration: from classical art to pre-Columbian art, from American Indian and Pacific masks to his favorite artists, such as Pollock and Klee.

His colorful pieces are a joy for the eye but very often pain and frustration for the world lie behind them. I have always loved his art and I was happy to discover that some of my favorite pieces of him were exposed there.

The exhibit will be in Milan at Palazzo Reale until 18^th of June 2017, so don’t miss your chance to discover (or re-discover, as it was my case!) this incredibly talented artist-activist. 

For the exhibit I wore ASOS black dungaree, Topshop palm shirt and an almost vintage leather jacket! I paired with Madame Cosette velvet ankle boots and Michael Kors Bucket bag.

The Ladybug explores Japan in a vintage kimono

Saturday afternoons that I love:  brunch, exhibit and movie with my best friends! I can’t really ask for more!

In preparation of our Deejay run we decided to feed our soul with art (but also with food!) and we dedicated our afternoon to see the beautiful exhibit dedicated to the Japanese artists Hokusai, Hiroshige and Utamaro at Palazzo Reale in Milan.

This journey through the art, nature and culture of Japan was full of amazing moments: the beautiful landscapes of Hokusai (especially the ones dedicated to bridges and to Mount Fuji) made me feel the need of traveling to this amazing country that I’m dying to see.  So did the nature drawn by Hiroshige and the beautiful Japanese women described by Utumaro.

The Great Wave of Kanagawa is definitely one of the most powerful pieces but it is hard to pick up your favorites among two hundreds “ukiyoe” prints that you can admire there.

As I was in a Japanese mood I thought it was the perfect day to wear my vintage kimono from Episode Vintage in Brussels paired with my new Frida tee by Vanna Vinci and mum jeans from Topshop.

I added my BFF heart chain from Black Heart Creatives , Superga shoes, Celine sunglasses and Michael Kors bucket bag.

If you want to visit the exhibit it will be in Milan until the 29^th of January, I am sure that you will love it too !

 

The Ladybug finds relief in Escher’s geometries

Milan is too hot to do anything these days. It is hard to go out running or walking and when I cannot reach the beach I need to find a way to reduce my pain caused by the awful heat.

The only way to do it is finding a nice place with air conditioning, like a museum! Thanks God there’s always a good exhibition to visit (there are a few actually!) then I called my friend to reach me for what became more than a simple visit, but a real interactive experience: the Escher exhibit at Palazzo Reale.

I have always loved this artist, especially how his art was involved in fashion and music industry (one of my favorite pieces ever is the so-called Escher dress by British designer Matthew Williamson for example!) but it was the first time that I visited an exhibit dedicated to his work.

More than 200 works were exposed in six different sections going from his roots to his love for Italy (especially Southern Italy!) and the discovery of geometric art in Spain. What I love more about his art is that it challenges the viewer and his ability to “read” his work, to find new images in images, to discover new paths from the visible paths. A large part of the exhibit was also dedicated to his huge influence on comics, advertising, music and films during the 20^th century…but I couldn’t see the Matthew Williamson dress!

You can visit the exhibit until the 22nd of January 2017.

I wore Topshop mom jeans, Please golden tee, Zara laced shoes and vintage 70’s bag from Foxy Brown Vintage. I added my new handmade turban from Heka Couture and handmade silver Nepalese double necklace. ..I was totally in my “Princess of Persia mood”!

The Ladybug on curls and contemporary art (at Boccioni exhibit!)

I finally learned to embrace my curls, I can say it loud and proud now! Many people ask me if this is my real hair or I made something to make them curly, well this is my real white-afro hair!

I can’t explain how my life changed since I finally accepted and loved my natural hair! I spent more than 25 years using straightening products because I wanted so much those classy straight hair instead of my lioness mane but I have finally fell in love with it (never too late!). I think it represents me so well and it really expresses my personality at the point that I cannot see myself with straight hair anymore!

You may wonder why I am so much into self-acceptance today and the reasons are: 1. I am always into self-acceptance and self-support; 2. I took this pictures just after a good haircut at my favorite hairdresser in Milan (the one who made me understand how great my hair was!) which explains why my curls are just curlier than usual!

The real goal of the post was to tell you about my visit at the Boccioni exhibit in Milan at Palazzo Reale (until the 10^th of July) but if I have to be honest, I expected a bit more from it. Too much space for Boccioni’s early works and so little room left for the futuristic artist that I love and appreciate! Still I think it is worth a visit for the second part of the exhibit and for the exhibit “2050” that could be visited with the same ticket until the 29^th of May, exposing 46 contemporary artists with 50 pieces interpreting the future of the planet. A great surprise and an amazing exhibit on contemporary art including one of my favorite artists, Louise Bourgeois.

I wore Zara pale pink spring coat, Topshop palm shirt and mom jeans (both from my last trip to Topshop in Edinburgh!), Nike 4 Other Stories white sneakers.

The Ladybug and the fabulous world of Alfons Mucha

Yesterday was the last day of one of the most interesting exhibits held in Milan lately: Alfons Mucha and the Art Nouveau atmospheres. Maybe his name is not very familiar but when you will see his work you will understand what I am talking about: the Czech artist is the father of Art Nouveau and his affiches and decorative panels were the expression of a new way of using art as a communicative language (for example for advertising).

More than 100 works are exposed in such an harmonious and powerful way that your path along the exhibit is a real amazing total involvement in Mucha’s art. From the wonderful iconic posters of the theatre actress Sarah Bernhardt to advertising posters, from the female representation to the oriental influences this exhibit is pure pleasure for all senses and a real proof of the best Art Nouveau works.

I was completely amazed by his art and I spent a lot of time lost in his golden panels and in his women images!

I wore Max & Co grey coat (another winter sales bargain!), Sandro sweatshirt (sales bargain again), Acne Studios jeans. I paired with Replay biker boots, Zara quilted bag and handmade yellow hat with bow by Madame S.

The Ladybug walks through the history of The Great Mother

When I came back to Milan after my summer holidays I saw an ad about one of the exhibits held in Palazzo Reale that I was very interested in. The exhibit was La Grande Madre (The Great Mother) and it was produced and created by the Fondazione Nicola Trussardi. I waited until the last day to visit it (as usual!) but I am happy that I managed to see it as it was one of the most interesting things I have seen in Milan lately.

It is a huge exhibit that retraces the iconography of motherhood in the art during the last two centuries through the work of more than a hundred international artists. As a result the exhibit also traces the history of women’s empowerment, gender struggles, sexual politics and clashes between tradition and emancipation.

It was also an occasion to admire artists as Lucio Fontana, Frida Kahlo, Man Ray, Salvador Dalí, Jeff Koons, Louise Bourgeois (I adored her installations), Robert Gober, Andy Warhol and Maurizio Cattelan, just to name a few.

I wore a casual outfit (Acne Studios jeans, Replay biker boots, Uniqlo cardi, Michael Kors bucket bag) with a vintage touch (my green handmade asymmetric hat by Stondo Firenze).

The Ladybug Rallies the Army of White Shirts (“La camicia bianca secondo me”, G. Ferré)

For how surprising as it may seem, I am not a huge fan of fashion exhibits: most times I leave them with a huge sense of disappointment. Maybe because the perfection I see within “style” is very hard to find nowadays, maybe I’m too nostalgic about an era that I will never live or I just feel that I could never wear these pieces in my life; whatever it is, I can’t explain it… But still, I go to fashion expos and mostly because I simply won’t begrudge the invitation in hopes of an exceptional case of true “fashion.” The exhibit held in Palazzo Reale, “ La camicia Bianca secondo me” (the White Shirt in my opinion), was a sort of anthology of the white shirts designed by Gianfranco Ferré, and this ladies and gentlemen, was one of those exceptional cases.

Ok; maybe I didn’t leave with this slight sense of nostalgic disappointment, but it was really worth a visit.

When you enter the wonderful Sala delle Cariatidi and see this twenty-seven white pieces standing like soldiers in the dark- illuminated with white lights you can immediately feel a sense of excitement for what you are going to see. And it is just the beginning: every piece tells a story of magic. It is really hard for me to explain with words what I saw and what I felt. As I read somewhere online “It is here that taffetas, crepe of China, organza, satin, tulle, cotton, silk come in succession in an emotional crescendo that leads to ecstasy.”

As I am not good enough with words to describe these wonderful creations, I thought that sharing some of my pictures might help!

The white shirt is maybe the most representative piece in Gianfranco Ferré’s fashion career. The sophisticated white shirt quickly became his personal signature in fashion design: in every collection he created one or more pieces that, even representing the fil rouge that linked his work with the Italian sartorial tradition, expressed the exciting challenge of breaking the rules, exaggerating the details in quite an architectural way (Ferré was indeed an architect and he was dubbed “the architect of fashion”).

On the sides were all of the materials from the archive of the Fondazione Ferré, including original sketches, projects and phptographs from the runaways and fashion magazines.

For the occasion I wore a vintage white shirt from Vintage Divas Store in Ljubljana, Replay grey jeans, Topshop animal print coat, Tosca Blu ankle boots and my small Balenciaga bag. I added a handmade black headpiece by Madame Ilary from my turban collection.

The Ladybug (the Woman and the Sun) Vs. Van Gogh (The Man and the Earth)

About a month ago I visited one of the most crowded exhibits ever held at Palazzo Reale in Milano, the Van Gogh expo “L’uomo e la terra” (The Man and the Earth). The exhibit focuses on the importance of the simple life, the life of the farmers, of the villagers and the attachment to the earth (intended as mother of life) in Van Gogh’s art. This wasn’t the best Van Gogh expo, I must admit. Especially because this part of his artistic career is very often underestimated and not particularly famous, except for some pieces like The Postman.

To be perfectly honest, I was a bit disappointed… maybe because it was quite small (compared to the Marc Chagall exhibit for example) or simply because it wasn’t my favorite of Van Gogh’s artistic eras!

But it was a wonderful sunny day, maybe the first real spring forward day, and I was in wonderful company so I decided to take some pictures around Palazzo Reale and just enjoy the blessings of the day!

I wore a Please burgundy sweater, Acne Studios black jeans, Max and Co coat, Replay biker boots. My folk clutch is from La Maison Momonì, sunglasses are Céline. I added a lovely brooch from Hidden Forest Market in Verona and vintage red leather gloves from Sofia Vintage in Como.

The Ladybug is Spellbound at Marc Chagall’s Expo in Milan

It may be a coincidence, but all of the expos that I see at the beginning of the year at Palazzo Reale in Milan become my favorite expo of the year!

I can’t say if this one will be the best of 2015, but those to come have a high bar of expectation.  So, if you missed it, trust me, you missed something special.

As usual, I went during the final days (but not the last one… this time!). The expo started in September last year and I still had to wait almost an hour and a half to get in but: a) one hour and a half was nothing compared to those who waited almost three hours; and b) it was totally worth the long queue!

I can’t explain the charm of this painter, who is still one of my favorites of all times. His colors and his representation of love (The Birthday and The Walk were my favorite of the expo!) give joy to the soul and quiet the mind.

The expo was very rich with a lot of paintings representing different stages in the life of the artist and different historical moments: the way his work changed passing from one room to another was awesome. The curating and design of the expo was amazing! Many of his most important pieces were there (more than what I remember seeing at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg), and even his costumes and sketches for the theatre were exposed.

I hope that the next expos held at Palazzo Reale will worth the visit (and the queue!) …again!

(Turban with brooch: Shabby Chic with a night view of the Duomo!)

The Ladybug Still Believes Seeing is Believing: Klimt’s Expo at Palazzo Reale, Milan

One of the last things that I did before going on holiday this summer was a visit to the Klimt’s expo at Palazzo Reale in Milan. On the last day, of course!

Believe it or not, I wasn’t very excited about it. Not because I’m not a fan of Klimt… I mean it’s nothing like that – when I was at university I was one of these girls with Feltrinelli’s Van Gogh and Klimt posters on the walls (The Kiss, of course!), but my excitement was diminished because of the reviews I’d personally received- they just weren’t promising. And I must say, they were confirmed.

Maybe because it was the last day and the museum was full of people making it almost impossible to have a proper look, but the truth is: there wasn’t much to look at. Very few Klimt’s paintings, some reproductions and a lot of minor artists, equaled one disappointing expo.

But overall, it was a nice day and I had a lovely walk in a “Zara summer sales” outfit! Aptly named because I bought the shirt and the skort a few days prior at Zara during the sales. I just added this lovely pair of Topshop golden glitter flats with ankle strap (also acquired on sale via their online shop… they were 9 euros, so I guess it was a bargain- especially since I simply love them!) and a vintage handbag from Humana Vintage in Milan.

Coral lipstick from Marc by Marc Jacobs makeup at Sephora.