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Dog is in the detail
Kit Kemp adds an eclectic mix of ‘dog-art’ to the Crosby Street Hotel.
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Dog is in the detail
Afternoon tea is not the only touch of quintessential Britannia peppering the Crosby Street Hotel, the first New York establishment by Firmdale, the London-based boutique hotel chain run by husband-and-wife team Tim and Kit Kemp.
You can trust Kit Kemp, the creative mind behind the hotel’s signature design aesthetic, to bring the sort of quirk and eclecticism many of us would associate with ‘Old Blighty’. Kit loves juxtaposing fabrics and textures, bold florals, bright colours and stripes, even patchwork, to create spaces that feel warm, intimate and unique (the 86 bedrooms and suites all have been individually designed). This is no hotel for those looking for minimalism, but are instead searching for a hint of flamboyance. Attention to detail and high service standards are also part of the experience.
Yet, our favourite reminder about its English heritage are the specially-commissioned Jack Russell oil paintings by Francois Bard taking over the drawing room, another wink to classic Victoriana. This kooky ‘dog theme’ runs through the hotel’s art collection, with a series of dog collages by Peter Clark and the life-size papier-mâché dog sculptures by artist Justine Smith.
And of course, dogs are welcome guests. The hotel is located in a quiet cobblestone street in the heart of SoHo, perfect for four-legged morning strolls. Too good to be true.
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All images courtesy of Firmade Hotels
For more information about the hotel click here
Community
On the road
by Samantha Gurrie
Theron Humphrey and his coonhound copilot, Maddie, are road-tripping across America again, this time to capture adoption stories on photo and film for his new project, Why We Rescue.
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Take Your Dog To Work Day — Friday, 21st June — Instagram Competition
Every day is Take Your Dog To Work Day here at Four&Sons. Our four-legged friends are practically on the payroll, and we’re not alone. TYDTWDay has been going strong for 15 years, with employees around the world making room in their cubicles for their canine colleagues to encourage pet adoption. If your dog braves rush hour to share your working day, we want evidence.
Upload pictures of your dog working hard—or hardly working—to win an Old School Stripe Collar from Best in Park. To participate, Instagram using #fourandsonsTYDTWD. The lucky winner will be announced on Monday 24th June 2013.
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Portlandia
Portland is the Williamsburg of the West coast. And Portlandia, the cult comedy series starring SNL’s Fred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein, brings the irony with side-splitting sketches about the city’s offbeat denizens (hirsute mixologists) and boho environs (feminist bookstores). Season 3 just wrapped, but you can get the Portlandia trinity at the iTunes Summer Sale this week. Need instant gratification? Watch this sketch from Season 2 about a couple of cuckoo pet parents at the dog park. There’s always one…
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Welcome to my world!
Artist and musician Daniel Johnston is nothing short of a cult icon. He counts Beck, Kurt Cobain and the Flaming Lips as fans. His songs about unrequited love will tug at your heart strings. And his idiosyncratic drawings offer a glimpse at the quiet genius within. In the midst of a European tour, Johnston squeezed in an exhibition at Collection de l’Art Brut in Switzerland, which will feature familiar characters like Jeremiah the frog, Joe the boxer and Casper the ghost. Until 30 June 2013.
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Community
Free run
by João Bento
Julia Schlosser, a Los Angeles-based artist, art historian and educator, belongs to a new category of artists looking at domestic animals in a non-sentimental way. In her photographic series Roam, Schlosser digs deep in an LA off-leash dog park.
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Tim Walker has shot for Vogue and Vanity Fair, but the fashion photographer has also been known to dabble in British Surrealism. In the 26 photographs exhibited at the UK’s Bowes Museum, ball gowns impart an alien luminescence, beds teeter on tree tops and flying saucers lead a fox hunt. Walker’s work is at once spellbinding and spine-tingling. Until 13 September 2013.
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My Dog Tulip
We all fret and fuss over our pets, but J.R. Ackerley takes his consternation to the next level. In My Dog Tulip, an animated short film adapted from the British writer’s 1956 memoir, Ackerley wonders if his German shepherd has a headache and worries that her clock is ticking to have puppies. It’s a bittersweet tale about a man and the four-legged love of his life. Voices by Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave and Isabella Rossellini.
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Between Worlds
Between Worlds’ animal-like children offer both a recognisable form and one of rarity and intrigue. These mysterious creatures by celebrated Australian photomedia artist Polixeni Papapetrou, photographed in natural and man-crafted settings, are concurrently beautiful and unsettling to the eye. The Centre of Contemporary Photography in Melbourne presents a survey show of Papapetrou’s work until 14 July 2103.
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It’s a Pug Life
Brooklynite Courtney Andujar is on a mission to document every pug in New York. But instead of snapping pictures to post on her blog, the graphic designer records the details of her encounters with the little squashed-faced canines of the big city in the form of a quick sketch. Her Tumblr features cartoons of pugs in all sorts of situations from sniffing bottoms to buying booze to riding in a stroller. Courtney says of her motivation: “There are so many pugs here, and they all have so much personality and style… I think every pug is worthy of a comic and try to document every pug I see.”
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Art&Culture
Off the Leash
by Emma Guthrie
Cartoonist Rupert Fawcett is an old hat in the genre, his trademark wit and warmth prevalent across the board. We spoke to Fawcett about his latest project, Off the Leash.
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