Kali Ciesemier

Sam Friedman’s abstract lines

Brooklyn Illustrator Sam Friedman has the most graceful line quality. In whatever form it takes, from abstract line to bold cursive, it’s this beautiful line quality that is clearly the embodiment of his work. In Friedman’s work, this line is often built up in dense, colorful layers to create the most intense abstract fields, guaranteed make your eyes spin. Punctuated with bold shapes and imagery, with a distinct graffiti influence, Freidman makes it pretty clear that the boundaries for his technique are endless. Read more

Prospect Park Zoo, Brooklyn

Very much neglected in the shadow of its siblings — the famous giant in the Bronx and the high profile zoo in Central Park — Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Zoo deserves much more credit than it gets. Sure, it’s small. But that just means you can see everything in a spare hour while taking a stroll in the park. And it only costs $6. I also really like that the snack bar and gift shop consist of a handful of vending machines ready to sell you a weird microwave pizza or a stuffed Meerkat. Read more

Done with New York

I’m going to catch a lot of flack for this, but I’ve got to say that I’m pretty fed up with New York City. Space and time constraints, prohibitively high rents, and the sheer density of the city crush the creative and generative spirit of even some of the most imaginative people I know, turning even idealistic artists into cut-throat opportunists and cynical sociopaths. Read more

Sixth Pommery Exhibition Sons & Lumieres

How much better can it get than little dollops of contemporary art interspersed throughout the breathtaking setting of Champagne Pommery’s Domaine in Reims, France. The most interesting part here is that this is an ongoing tradition at Champagne Pommery, going all the way back to the 19th century ‘when Madame Pommery commissioned sculptor Gustav Navlet to carve four bas reliefs for the estate and later had the famous cabinet maker and glass artist Emile Gallé create a solid oak Pommery barrel that holds up to 19,816 gallons (100,000 bottles). This barrel was displayed at the 1904 Worlds’ Fair in St. Louis’. The upcoming Sixth Pommery Exhibition, Sons & Lumieres, will be curated by French artist Bertrand Lavier and will include ‘everyday objects often set in difficult spaces’. Read more

Ben O’Brien

Color heaven! Perusing UK illustrator Ben O’Brien’s portfolio feels a lot like wandering the aisles of a giant candy store. I could buy one of everything in sight. Read more

Art Decks

I love it! With the CD now being eclipsed by the MP3, I find myself feeling even more nostalgic for the simple charm of the cassette. Australian artists Andrew Smart and Jared Schmidt create ‘large scale hand-made wooden cassette tapes, routed, sanded, bogged, primed, and painted with a high quality paint finish’. Aha! The perfect way to memorialize my old mix tapes. Read more