When Untapped Cities asked me to create a world landmark graphic for the site’s relaunch, I was honored. It was a challenge to choose between the many incredible landmarks of all the cities covered by Untapped. The architectural landmarks that made the cut, from left to right, are below: (more…)
Re-enactment of the Battle of Ft. Salonga (courtesy of the Huntington Militia)
In the northern section of the Lazio region, lies the village of Bomarzo and its wondrous Parco dei Monstri. Accessible chiefly by car, the park is 60 miles north of Rome.
Parco dei Monstri was built between 1572-74 by Pier Francesco Orsini, known as Vicino Orsini. Orsini called the park his “boschetto” or little wood. It was most likely created by Pirro Ligorio, a prominent architect and garden designer who also designed the Villa D’Este in Tivoli, near Rome. Very little is known, however, about the sculptors themselves. The figures are carved from tufo, the volcanic rock that blankets this section of Lazio. A soft stone, tufo is easy to sculpt and rough-hewn in appearance. The scale is, well, monstrous and the figures loom in mute poses of victory, agony or imperious reverie. Now mossy and softened with age, many still bear traces of their original paint. Dragons snarl, Neptune reclines and nymphs beckon in this garden of unearthly sites. (more…)
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion by Welton Becket & Associates. Source: Getty Museum
Do we need anything more than the gorgeous J. Paul Getty Museum itself to illustrate the fact that Los Angeles is a a critical center for architecture? We didn’t, but for the skeptics, the museum is showcasing extra proof of it. Through mid-July, Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future will be on exhibition at the Getty Center Exhibitions Pavillion.
There is at least one work by the Brazilian twins Os Gemeos left in New York (not counting the splasherized ones in Williamsburg. Their collaboration at PS 11 with graffiti legend Futura still overlooks the playground a few blocks before the gallery madness of Chelsea takes over.
Image © Lori Zimmer, Art Nerd New York
With the release of the new The Great Gatsby movie, the Roaring ’20s are making a full-fledged comeback, even in the corner of America known as Portland, Oregon. Walking in the door of the vintage barbershop, The Modern Man, visitors will leave behind the hustle and bustle of the digital era and enter into another era. “My bet is that they will never have visited a shop like ours before and that’s what we want,” said The Modern Man founder Chris Espinoza. A time when flappers roamed the streets smoking cigarettes, jazz was king, and speakeasys were the place to be during the Prohibition Era. “This is where a kid becomes a man,” said barber Chase Danielle.
If you’re looking for cutting-edge work in photography and video art, the International Center of Photography (ICP) is the place to go. Their fourth Triennial, A Different Kind of Order, opened on Friday and it showcases work by some of the best and brightest contemporary artists. The curators, Kristen Lubben, Christopher Phillips, Carol Squiers, and Joanna Lehan, took digital modes of creation as a given and set out to create a show that would push the boundaries of photography to see how far it can go. (more…)
David Byrne Bike Rack “The Old Times Square” on 44th Street and 7th Aveue
This awesome bike rack wasn’t actually inspired by Betty Boop, but we like the alliteration of Betty Boop Bike Rack. It’s actually part of a series by artist David Byrne (from the Talking Heads) in partnership with the NYC Department of Transportation and Pace Gallery. As an avid cyclist, David was invited to join a city design competition for bike racks and later submitted his own designs which the city agreed to install.
Locals in Taraz, Kazakhstan, with whom the Artpologist Collective will collaborate.
An artist imagines and creates; an anthropologist studies cultures. In cities throughout America, Central Asia and now Kazakhstan, there will soon be hybrid, the “artpologist,” who uses visual representation to understand people and their cultures. Founded in 2007 by U.S.-based anthropologist Zhanara Nauruzbayeva and artists Daniel Gallegos (an Untapped contributor), Gaisha Madanova and Aminatou Echard, The Artpologist Collective aims to combine art and anthropology in social practice art that uses visual mediums to explore urban landscapes. After establishing successful projects in Central Asia and the U.S., Nauruzbayeva is returning to her hometown of Taraz, Kazakhstan. Through a new Kickstarter project, she and Gallegos hope to collaborate with Taraz-based art teacher Gulnara Kospakova and her students to rediscover their city and tell its story. In the long term, the collective aims to compare how people’s backgrounds mold urban spaces around the world. (more…)
It’s always exciting for us at Untapped to see the passionate work of residents get the spotlight. Michael Perlman, chair of the Rego-Forest Preservation Council, is one of those New Yorkers who has taken his fascination for urban quirks and history towards a greater mission–in his case, preservation. Last week, Michael’s work saving the diners of New York City was featured a piece by Eric Jaffe in The Atlantic Cities, chronicling his (often successful) quest to find buyers for iconic diners like the Moondance and Cheyenne diners. He’s also been trying to save the Empire Diner in Chelsea and the abandoned Lost Diner/Lunchbox Diner on West Street.
