Category: Design
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Artist a Day: Adrienne Raquel
I love highlighting photographers on the blog and noticed that in prior year’s Artist a Day posts I focused on the work of Black male photographers, with the one exception being Ming Smith. I thought it was time to highlight current photographers who are forging new paths in fashion photography that radically define redefine how…
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Artist a Day (Design Edition): Cliff Vaughs
Last year I wrote a piece about a lowrider motorcycle exhibition called Viva Viclas at CAM Raleigh, and one of the things that struck me during the research for the piece was how Black and brown motorcyclists formed strong connections in the early years of motorcycle and chopper culture. I wonder what happened, because those…
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Family Ties: Fashion and Art Collide in the Work of Jack and Bill Whitten
I recently wrote a story about the work and writings of the late artist Jack Whitten for artnet, and in his book called “Notes From the Woodshed”, he shares an interesting recount of a fabric shopping experience with his brother Bill that had a profound impact on the artist. Jack Whitten dedicated one of his…
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Booths Without Borders at DesignerCon 2017
For pop culture enthusiasts, there’s an unlimited number of conventions where you can connect with your tribe. There are gamer cons, comic cons, anime cons, dragon cons, quilt cons and even a con that celebrates inclusion. I love spaces where art and kitsch collide and for the past 10 years, DesignerCon has become one of…
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A Culture Shock Art Gift Guide
Let’s be honest. It’s really my wish list…Champagne wishes on a beer budget. Cheers! ~ C Links to Featured Designers/Artists/Writers: Chloe´ Joe Purse Building Block Coin Dumpling, Bucket Bag Marni Blinky Wallet La Californienne Vintage Black Glamour Ricky Powell John McLaughlin, images from LACMA Ellsworth Kelly
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Bullets to Hashtags
In the absence of words there are just images. Here are some of the more thought provoking photographs that have helped me think about, process and grieve the tragedies of this week. Alton Sterling, Philandro Castile. “There is no contradiction between supporting law enforcement…and also saying there are problems, biases to be rooted out.” ~…
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SF MOMA in 3: Part 2
Now that we got the essentials out of the way in yesterday’s post, it’s time to see some art! As I previously warned, I don’t suggest you try to see everything in 1 day. There are 7 floors of art, so I suggest that you pick 3 and spend some quality time with the collections.…
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Why Are We Asking the Same Questions About Lemonade?
I promised myself I was not going to write about Lemonade, but here I am shaking my head. Why is everyone asking the same questions about Lemonade? Who is Becky? Did Jay really cheat? Is Beyoncé paying homage to Pipilotti Rist? Ok that 3rd one is pretty esoteric, but that’s what the art world is…
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Christian Louboutin and His Stylish Take on “the Gaze”
If you walk up to any makeup counter or shoe salesperson wanting to create the perfect nude lip or find a classic nude pump you will likely get one shade. What if that nude looks nothing like your skin tone? Why is the universally accepted nude distilled to a single ivory hue? If you’ve never even thought of…
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Artist a Day Challenge 2016-28: Shinique Smith
When I started Culture Shock Art in 2010, my goal was to explore street art and graffiti in Los Angeles, after I stumbled upon street artist JR’s work completely by accident. The process of discovery through investigating the origins of one of his murals led me to his 2010 TED talk after which I purchased one of his lithographs. That…
Colony Little, Culture Shock Art 