Last week during Frieze London , Prada presented its third edition of Prada Mode — a traveling private club with a focus on contemporary culture that provides members a unique art experience along with music, dining and conversation — with the theme of Collective Intimacy in the heart of London at the 180 The Strand as a collaboration with The Vinyl Factory and The Showroom . In a space installed by installation artist Theaster Gates, the fashion house presented a series of exhibitions, performances and events across the span of a few days.
This included panel discussions with names like designers Grace Wales Bonner & Dozie Kanu, live performances by Samuel Ross, Bumi Thomas, poet Inua Ellams and a closing party with live performances by Jojo About and DJ sets by Zezi Ifore & James Messiah.
The event was the house’s second staging of Prada Mode this year following their set up at Art Basel Hong Kong in March.
The excitement in the air as Frieze comes to London is palpable and everyone is looking to get involved. Conserve your energy and make the most of the good vibes: for a super condensed shot of fashion and art related events, Dover Street Market is the place to be.
Serving as the wheatgrass in the cultural smoothie that Frieze has become, Dover Street Market’s locus of activities offers everything we thought we needed, and a whole lot more. The series is launching in store tomorrow and you may want to bring your camping gear – there’s a lot to get through.
Luncheon magazine at Dover Street Market
Highlights include Isabella Burley’s joyful new book, ‘Sisters’ by Jim Britt, which features the brace-clad duo who starred in the AW88 CDG campaign; Charles Jeffrey’s zine launch; Simone Rocha x A Magazine launch; Luncheon magazine’s installation with Rottingdean Bazaar; Loewe’s celebration of classical literature; and much more.
Isabella Burley, UK book launch: ‘Sisters’ by Jim Britt
For the Luncheon installation, Rottingdean Bazaar are re-decorating the Luncheon ‘Kiosk’ which sits the DSM and will be offering some custom playful product with every copy of the magazine – ‘spoontacles.’ These are, as they sound, spoons made into glasses… expect to see London’s most fashion forward coveting the maverick brand’s latest invention in the season ahead.
Luncheon magazine at Dover Street Market
Spoontacles or no spoontacles, you’ll find there’s plenty to dive into at Dover Street Market tomorrow. See you in the queue.
It is not often that you arrive to an exhibition where the artist has not yet seen the final work, but such was the case for pioneering South African painter Esther Mahlangu, who made the very special trip from her home to Frieze London to see the fruits of her latest collaboration with BMW.
Mahlungu’s first project with the car manufacturer was in 1991 when she followed in the footsteps of male artists like Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein to create an Art Car for the brand, the first female and non-Western artist to take part this car came to define an important moment for female artists.
Credit: BMW
Twenty-five years later her signature traditional Ndebele paintings of bold primary hues and stark black lines have been used to transform the interior of a new 7 Series, and Mahlangu seemed more than impressed with the final result as the BMW team revealed the finished piece inside their Frieze lounge area in London.
Credit: Strainu
Speaking to Twin about the differences between her large-scale creation in 1991 and the updated subtle approach she has taken in 2016, it was the size of the work that changed her approach. “In 1991 [the project] was huge, enormous as it was exterior.” Mahlangu said. “With the interior I had to be more subtle, to do the construction and think about the process. Usually when I create something, everything is in my head.”
“The biggest difference though is that 1991 was just an art object, where as this one is a useable functional object,” explained Mahlangu, as we watched the car go up for silent auction following its unveiling. With bidding beginning at £120,000, this collector’s item is the pinnacle in functional art, praising new technology whilst celebrating the traditional techniques in Esther’s work.
Credit: BMW
An emblem of serenity, Mahlangu’s presence at the bustling fair was more than humbling. Now aged 81 and adorned in a sea of beaded accessories, bright swathes of fabric and silver necklaces, she is as iconic as her work, upholding the traditions of South Ndebele people of Mpumalanga in South Africa through both her art and her clothing.
Beginning her artistic career aged ten, Mahlangu was taught the Ndebele painting techniques by her grandmother and mother, who used the same techniques to paint the walls of houses. Her methods have not altered since she was first taught, even for projects such as this.
Credit: BMW
“I only work with chicken feathers,” she explained. “So in the [1991 project] I would bind at least five chicken feathers together to make a brush, whereas with this one I used a singular chicken feather to make the thin line, so you have to have much more control over the thin line than the thicker line.”
The traditions of painting were only carried out by women in South Africa, and have diminished since females have left to travel or take employment elsewhere. This has made Mahlangu’s work all the more important.
“As long as I am able to move I will paint because my fear is that the culture will die out and that is a reality,” she said. “I’ve been working with different brands like Belvedere and did the [Etys] shoes. When people ask why I prefer to work with all of the different brands, I say when they bring me something to do I can’t say no because when I die someday, somebody will own something of mine.”
The BMW Individual 7 Series by Esther Mahlangu is available to bid on now.
You can also see her 1991 design in the upcoming exhibition ‘South Africa: The Art Of A Nation’ at The British Museum which runs from 27 October 2016 – 26 February 2017
To coincide with Frieze London, one of the world’s leading contemporary art fairs, the ICA has announced a week-long free programme of live events to take place at The Old Selfridges Hotel this October. With Isabel Lewis, Korakrit Arunanondchai, NTS Radio, Siobhan Davies Dance and Rhizome all involved in the project, expect a host of performance, music, art, dance and discussion each day.
Launching the programme on Tuesday and Wednesday, Brooklyn-based dance artist and curator Isabel Lewis, will host a series of ‘occasions’ in partnership with Frieze Projects and Liverpool Biennial, which conjure the ancient Greek symposium where philosophizing, drinking and the erotic were inseparable. On Thursday evening, New York-based artist Korakrit Arunanondchai, who will also be participating in the ICA exhibition ‘Beware Wet Paint’ (24 September – 16 November 2014) will present an evening performance. On Friday night, the focus will be music with a live event presented in collaboration with ICA’s Associate Artists, NTS Radio. Saturday will see Siobhan Davies Dance present the live movement installation Table of Contents.
ICA Off-Site: The Old Selfridges Hotel, Tuesday 14 – Saturday 18 October 2014 at 1 Orchard Street, London, W1H 6JS
Next week it’s time for the annual international art fair, Frieze London. The contemporary art fair takes place every October in London’s Regent’s Park.
In addition to being able to see and buy art by over 1,000 of the world’s leading artists, visitors can experience Frieze Projects, the fair’s unique and critically acclaimed programme of artist commissions and Frieze Talks, a prestigious programme of debates, panel discussions and keynote lectures.
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