Rex Ray: Contemporary Art And Design

Ever since I saw one of the below images, I've kept it on my mind. So today is all about Rex Ray. A San Francisco based artist and designer. The images themselves are extraordinarily powerful. A heightened fusion of art mixed with a decorative attitude. Amazing colors. Exotic patterns. Sometimes even butting up against each other, or overlaid. I really love this confrontational aspect of them. At times they feel modernist, at times totemic. But always contemporary in an unique way. Throw moments of Miro and Matisse influence in there as well. I almost forgot. I think they're amazing. But what I also really love about this artist and designer is that he is in fact both. He's managed to straddle that line between high art and usable design which I think is always a tricky move. His work has been exhibited in major art museums. But he has also done product design work in conjunction with companies like Apple, and album art for David Bowie. And as I'm further showing below an assortment of rugs, placemats, and wall tiles for various manufacturers. It's really quite a diversity of art and design applications.

Thomas-Michael

rexray.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray.

rexray.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray.

rexray.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray.

rexray.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray.

rugsandcarpets.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray. This is an example of one of his rug designs. Really love this.

modern-twist.eu

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray. This one is a placemat design. It could be so many things, couldn't it.

modwalls.com

Contemporary Art And Design, Rex Ray. And finally some subway tiles for the wall. I love information inspired design.

Jackson Pollock

Independent
Freedom Of Expression
Rebellious
Expansive
'All-Over'
Native American(Early Influence)
Self-Referential(It's About The 'Idea' Of Painting)

And if any of the above qualities sound familiar, don't be surprised by what day it is today. He managed to touch the world of high art and the public at large. All at the same time. And all while he was alive. I suppose you could say he was a brand within himself. The last image is intentionally in the incorrect orientation. I'm not positive that it hasn't been done yet, but I don't think it has. So if not, it's my veiled plea to the museums of the world to display a Pollock on the floor.

Thomas-Michael

artchive.com

American Art, Jackson Pollock, Number 1A, Detail, 1948, The Museum Of Modern Art, New York. There are an infinite number of beautiful details in Pollock, but look closely at this one and you can see his hand print on it.

artgallery.yale.edu

American Art, Jackson Pollock, Number 14, Gray, 1948, The Katharine Ordway Collection.

nymag.com

American Art, Jackson Pollock, Number 4, Gray And Red, 1948, The Guggenheim Museum.

npg.si.edu

American Art, Jackson Pollock, Photographer Hans Namuth, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

dougplummer.com

American Art, Jackson Pollock. Always amazing to see the scale.

papermode.trendland.net

American Art, Jackson Pollock, 1951 Vogue Editorial. In true American style, he was a fixture of culture in his own time. Here seen in a Vogue editorial.

Scalleja

American Art, Jackson Pollock. Would be nice to see one displayed on the floor, wouldn't it.

Home Interior Design: Using Art Abstractly

I want to get into some other things. A destination and some fashion I think. But given that there was art on the blog for the first time yesterday, it only makes sense to look at some examples of art being used in interior design today. Ideas for your home or apartment. I chose these based on rather basic criteria being essentially large, medium, and small. And for this post I'm sticking with a canonical notion of art which is only inclusive of paintings or a framed picture. I'll have to do another post on art which is not art. So, by using art abstractly I mean that the images below aren't otherwise cluttered. In fact they are relatively abstract interior designs. Even minimal in some cases. But the art as an abstract element within those compositions always manages to hold the space together in a very powerful way. It's the first thing your eye sees. You see everything else in the room in reference to it.

Thomas-Michael

zainteriora.net
dw.dk

Using Art In Home Interior Design. This is obviously very big and powerful. It gives a tremendous amount of gravity to the space, which would otherwise seem floating, anonymous, and ordinary I think.

nabuzz.com

Using Art In Home Interior Design. This one is more subtle. It's offset to the right. It feels like an inhabitant of this empty space which would otherwise feel void.

architecturaldigest.com
charlesfaudree.com

Using Art In Home Interior Design. Medium now. But this one is so powerful. Maybe it's the scale of the paint strokes that makes it somehow feel bigger than it is. Or like it wants to visually expand out of the frame. It also kind of feels like it's watching or looking out over the room somehow.

bddw.com

Using Art In Home Interior Design. This example I really love. I like it so much because the canvas is essentially blank, yet it's highly present and active.

everythingleb.blogspot.com
maisonad.com

Using Art In Home Interior Design. And lastly this one I also love. As it demonstrates so perfectly how even a small and very abstract piece can make an entire space pivot around it. It's like a perspectival vanishing point within this bed frame. Your eye can't help but end up at it.

Contemporary Painting: Elizabeth Schuppe

We haven't talked about art at all yet. But it's only been two months. There's a lot left to get into.

'Rather than creating a recognizable object, I use the elements of painting itself to allow the story to unfold. There is no plan in my painting, yet there is process. I let a color, a line, a shadow dictate what comes next. My best works are the ones that just happen, when I allow myself to be surprised.'
-Elizabeth Schuppe

It's a beautiful description of the creative act. And one I think you can see suspended in the paintings below. I had bumped into these a few days ago, and couldn't stop looking and thinking about them over the weekend. I love the colors. They feel very contemporary, don't they. The latent presence of the act of making. The different ways the paint is applied which gives them a kind of implicit motion texture. How they each seem like a world onto themselves. And how they remind me of de Kooning, Pollock, and Rothko all at once. Even I see Miro in one.

Thomas-Michael

elizabethschuppe.com

Contemporary Painting, Elizabeth Schuppe, Untitled IV, Acrylic On Canvas, 44"x48", 2008. If you've been following the blog at all, you know I like everything white. This is really soft, tonal, and beautiful.

elizabethschuppe.com

Contemporary Painting, Elizabeth Schuppe, Softly In The Grass, Acrylic On Canvas, 2005. This is the one which reminds me of Miro. It's very mysterious I think.

elizabethschuppe.com

Contemporary Painting, Elizabeth Schuppe, Hard Hearted, Acrylic On Canvas, 44"x46", 2009. I love the mixture of painting and drawing in this one. The drawing at times seems to act like a cage through which the painting is seen. It also has so much velocity and seems to be rotating around the center. Though is still an all over.

elizabethschuppe.com

Contemporary Painting, Elizabeth Schuppe, Pearls On Five, Acrylic On Canvas, 65"x70", 2009. And lastly, this one is really beautiful. Makes me think abstract impressionist. Not sure that's an used term. But it's what comes to mind.

Affordable(Yet Chic) Home Interior Basics

You can put all of these together, or just get and do one. And they are all affordable. They address a lot of the most typical issues people express and ask me about all the time. Particularly with regard to apartments on the small side.

1. I need a big table that I can host a dinner on.
2. I need a big table that I can work on.
Use the same table for both.
3. I want a chair that's comfortable but not frumpy or ugly.
4. I need something for the floor.
5. What do you suggest for an inexpensive yet cool coffee table?
6. What can I do with my bedroom to make it more interesting?
7. What should I do with that blank wall?
Ideas below.

Thomas-Michael




A large table for a dinner or as a work surface.

roomandboard.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Room And Board, Pratt Dining Table, Desk, Large Work Table, 72" X 36", Price ~ $680 USD. This is a great and inexpensive table. It's clean, modern, and will work with anything you've already got. It's also thin and not too heavy looking. So it won't feel like it's clogging up a small apartment. I'm including my four favorite surfacing options. You can put your laptop on it and lay everything out to work, or clean it up and serve a dinner on it. Perfectly functional.

A large table for a dinner or as a work surface.

roomandboard.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Room And Board, Pratt Dining Table, Desk, Large Work Table, 72" X 36", Price ~ $680 USD. This is a great and inexpensive table. It's clean, modern, and will work with anything you've already got. It's also thin and not too heavy looking. So it won't feel like it's clogging up a small apartment. I'm including my four favorite surfacing options. You can put your laptop on it and lay everything out to work, or clean it up and serve a dinner on it. Perfectly functional.

A large table for a dinner or as a work surface.

roomandboard.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Room And Board, Pratt Dining Table, Desk, Large Work Table, 72" X 36", Price ~ $680 USD. This is a great and inexpensive table. It's clean, modern, and will work with anything you've already got. It's also thin and not too heavy looking. So it won't feel like it's clogging up a small apartment. I'm including my four favorite surfacing options. You can put your laptop on it and lay everything out to work, or clean it up and serve a dinner on it. Perfectly functional.

A large table for a dinner or as a work surface.

roomandboard.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Room And Board, Pratt Dining Table, Desk, Large Work Table, 72" X 36", Price ~ $680 USD. This is a great and inexpensive table. It's clean, modern, and will work with anything you've already got. It's also thin and not too heavy looking. So it won't feel like it's clogging up a small apartment. I'm including my four favorite surfacing options. You can put your laptop on it and lay everything out to work, or clean it up and serve a dinner on it. Perfectly functional.

A comfortable chair.

crateandbarrel.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Crate And Barrel, Oasis Slipcover Swivel Chair, Price = $1400 USD. This is the most expensive item in the post, but it's worth it. And honestly, you could easily end up spending a lot more on this type of chair. It's clean in design. I love the thin side arms. Elegant, chic, and comfortable. It's not under designed. It's not over designed. It will work with anything you already have. And. You can slip the cover off and wash it. How perfect.

On the floor.

westelm.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, West Elm, Jute Boucle Rug, 9' X 12', Price = $400 USD. This is an easy, simple answer for any large area of ugly floor. It's neutral, natural, and textural. It's modern with modern furniture, classic with classic furniture. Like everything else, it will work with almost anything you have. And it's only $400 USD.

Coffee table.

elleinterior.se

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Coffee Table, Wood And Books, Price = Wood And Books. Do I really need to say anything. Stack up some books and throw a great piece of wood on top of them. Love it. In fact, if you look around this image, there are a couple of great and affordable things going on.

In the bedroom.

www.style-files.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Simple Chic Canopy Bed, Price = Fabric. All you need here is some nice sheer fabric and you're in business. Drape it loosely, looks great.

And on the wall.

www.pursuingprague.blogspot.com
www.elizabethannedesigns.com

Affordable Yet Chic Home Interior Design Basics, Wall Decor, Book Pages, Price = Books. Really simple, cleaver, and almost no cost. Grab a book and start ripping.