Jan von Holleben

So here I begin a friends posting series... I met Jan von Holleben here in Berlin through an Australian friend Patricia, who lives in London (whom I will post about next), and he's a very talented young photographer who makes playful, gorgeous, whimsical, heart-warming work for the inner child in all of us. I finally bought his book Dreams of Flying 2 last Christmas. Delightful!

If you live in Berlin come to C/O this Friday night (27th March) for his opening there Liebesorte, of pics of where people have sex, made for the new AIDS campaigns!

Saul Leiter

I see he's been blogged about many times but I have to mention him too - I was looking again at the book I have of Saul Leiter's Early Colour works from the 1940s-50s, and this American self-taught photographer's work absolutely delights me every time I look at it... 'stolen' moments, observed moments, subtle, elusive, beautiful... a kind of voyeur's eyes, perfectly composed vignettes of daily life. You can tell his is a curious, intensely observant, sensitive eye.

Cecilia Östebo

I learned of this talented young Swedish photographer Cecilia Östebo from blogland links, and I love her work's simplicity, playfulness, unpretentiousness, humanity, mystery and whimsy... Just take a look!

Cache Coeur

As my bicycle needed to be taken for repairs today, this meant that instead of whizzing past all the good things, I got the chance to walk slowly past some of them... and so I visited a shop I like to pop into now and then when I get the urge to fossick for treasure amongst a gorgeous collection of vintage clothing: Cache Coeur here in Berlin (Prenzlauerberg). There are no pics on the webpage but the shop needs to be visited... and it's been substantially organised since my last visit, so it's now much easier to see the owner's collection!

Mathilde Rosier

I met this gorgeous French artist, Mathilde Rosier, at her opening last week at the Institut Français, where I will show next month. I became enchanted by her universe of animals and dream-like apparitions. She is a multi-talented woman, crossing between painting, installations, video and musical performance work.

http://www.iris-kadel.de/biography_english.php?id=81

Congratulations Lionel

I found out a couple of days ago that my sculptor friend Lionel Bawden back in Sydney, who makes miraculous things out of coloured pencils, recently won the prestigious Wynne prize, announced at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. BRAVO Lionel!!

http://misociety.com.au/?p=4933 (this link has the winning work in it)
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/whats_on?eventid=2904

Other kindred spirits...

It's been head down lately sewing for my upcoming exhibition, but I thought I'd quickly post about couple of other kindred spirits whose work I discovered in Paris on a recent visit in the bookshop at Palais de Tokyo...

One is the Finnish artist Anu Tuominen whose work "Earth I" (2005) I have in postcard form above my desk - the piece is made from collected socks and mittens, like the pictured works (from top) "Under the Great Sky, at the Foot of the Wide Blue" and "Hammock".
http://www.art-u-room.com/exhibition_eng/08-04forester_2.html
http://www.anhava.com/?http://www.anhava.com/exhibitions/tuominen/index.html
http://www.kiasma.fi/site/pop/pop.php?tid=48&lang=en&mo=

The other is artist Lucie Duval of Quebec, whose work graced the cover of an art magazine featuring women artists, and when I saw the image of the garments made of gloves my eyes lit up in glee!