Christmas: one of my favourite times of the year! When life slows down almost for everyone and you get to spend time with your family and loved ones. This is true for peeps that – like me – are professional nomads and permanent expats.
Therefore Christmas for me rhymes just with one thing: home. Sicily.
That been said, I find it nice to say “I missed you/love you/think of you” with a cute little X-mas present, without being too material or consumeristic (and you can check this post by Jenny Mustard for more ethical inspiration).
For the festive season 2016, I have put together a *wish list* of gifts that are art-inspired, related to or art itself. The selection is broad and includes fashion items, prints as well as ideas for the little ones. The beauty of being an independent art blogger is that I get to cherry-pick what I want, as I don’t get paid for this type of posts. Also – and most importantly – there is something for every budget, as a present does not need to be expensive to be awesome!
I hope you will find something in my Gift Guide for your loved ones – or for yourself! 🙂
Poster made up of 36 detachable postcard (700 × 1000 mm). – £ 5, available from Hauser & Wirth shop here.
Custom made print from a big artist at a small price? Tate has the solution, with the option to have it also framed. Perfect gift: check! – £ 25 (unframed). Available at the Tate shop.
The shape of a surfboard is a sculpture. This is your opportunity to have a piece of art on your hands or in your house. Plus: let’s face it! Christmas is one hell of a holiday for peeps on this side of the world to migrate to (even temporarily!) warmer countries, chasing waves. If you do that, do it in style!
SURFBOARD – SUP – SURFKITE: “Eat Shit, Howl at me” design by Nychos is part of the Rabbit Eye Movement 10 year anniversary collection. The collaborative prints can be customized across any board style available within the IDIOT model range (Custom sizes / Custom construction and materials / Custom shapes /Two versions are available, total black or total white). A limited number of board will be realized, to remain unique. – Prince on request at idiotcustomboards@gmail.com. More info here.
ArtReview is one of the world’s leading international contemporary art magazines (founded in 1949) and arguably one of the most interesting magazines on the market. One year “Full Paper” subscription (and it includes the online one) in Switzerland costs £46 (versus £39 in the UK). Basically a bargain. You can subscribe now here.
Fashion seems to be obsessed right now with anything that has initials on it. LK Bennet has launched a new collaboration with artist Boyarde and you can personalise your bag with of pop-art inspired, leather alphabet stickers. – £ 19 available here.
Informed by Martin’s iconic geometric compositions, COS has created a limited-edition capsule collection for women and men inspired by the artist’s work. “Despite Martin’s restrained compositional vocabulary, she created endless variations and reinterpretations that retained an expressive, meditative and evocative power”. Tracey Bashkoff, Senior Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NYC. – Pieces from £ 55 to £ 125, easily shoppable here, for boyz and girlz.
Exhibition Agnes Martin runs through January 11, 2017
A versatile tote bag as well as a hipster backpack: basically the must-have carry-all for artsy peeps with infinite agendas! CHF 190 and available here. Qwstions?
One of my personal favs, the timeline gives a useful road-map to the major movements and important artists of twentieth century art. – £ 10 available at Tate shop.
Inspired by the metaphysical encounter between living French street artist MIST and legendary late painter Piet Mondrian, you can have this original handmade screen print (50 x 50 cm, edition of 100) for CHF 220. Sold by Zurich street art gallery Kolly – you can order online here.
Mona Hatoum, T42, £ 4’320 (Edition of 100), available at White Cube online shop.
I have read this book and, honestly, it reads more like a novel that an autobiography: über-curator Hans Ulrich Obrist enchants you from artsy anecdotes from his teenage time to the present. Highly educational and at risk of binge-reading. – ca. £ 10 from Amazon.
Good omen for the year end and new year ahead from one of the most sensational of the YBA artists. This gem is a work on paper: gouache to be precise of small dimensions (63.5 x 63.5 cm) – price on request at Lehmann Maupin. You can contact the gallery here.
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari, founders of magazine Toilet Paper, created a tableware line for MoMA. The work Lipstick Mirror is available for $57 at the MoMA online shop.
“Painted Truths” is a voyage in the practice of a great American artist. Highly recommended for the ones who are planning to visit her major retrospective “Alice Neel: Collector of Souls” in Den Haag. I certainly am, as she is one of my favourite female artists. – EUR 55. Shop here.
For the little ones, aka the capitalistic art traders and collectors of tomorrow! – £9.99 at Tate online shop.
For a bright graffiti touch on your walls! If you click fast enough you can still grab this Martin Whatson’s limited edition print on the Happy Gallery website. – EUR 2’200 shoppable here.
For your bae, art deco-inspired. Cause Saint Laurent is always a good idea. – CHF 718 available here.
Want to spend your money differently? You can sponsor a child for as little as CHF/EUR 40 monthly and cover the cost of a child going to school. This includes the required books, 2 pairs of uniforms, 2 pairs of shoes and additional learning material like paper and pens. CBSM is an non-profit Swiss charity operating in the rural village of Kimilili, Kenya, and making it possible for hundreds of local children to go to school: because they built one. You can get involved in many ways and sleep tight at night knowing that 100% of what you donate goes to the child or to the cause. You can start making a good deed here.
You can find currencies-conversion-help here.
Have fun and don’t forget to join me on
Yours truly,
Carmela
artemporary 