ERIC PARNES

For 24Design, Eric Parnes is going to produce a limited edition of t-shirts inspired by his neon series, which explores the dichotomy between Western brands and culture and the Eastern world.

The increasing effect of commercialism and its global resonance has produced a forced dialogue between the East and the West. This cultural discourse stages a unique relationship between the ancient and the contemporary.

Born in the West with immediate family roots in Iran, my vision reflects one’s internal struggle to define identity and can be traced to early childhood experience. As a conceptual artist, the catharsis of creation has compelled me to examine and portray the perceived differences and similarities of the world I was born in as well as the echoes of the eras of my forefathers, allowing me to concentrate on crafting a series of works that revise and explore one’s understanding of ‘The Orient.’

The term Orientalism has been commonly described as the Occidental West’s long time attempt to depict the Middle East. Fantasy-driven concepts and themes, often idealized or romanticized, provided for a continuous melding of these cultures, producing imagery that continues to affect our perception today.Reaching far beyond the borders of the United States and the Middle East, my art assesses the modern, the mystic, and the visceral reality of a Neo-Orientalist.

Today the delineations between the East and West are increasingly blurred, with the cardinal points both exporting and interpreting their respective societies. As an artist seeking to define Neo-Orientalism, my work continues to explore this intriguing correlation and contribute to the intersection of culture and modern identity.

www.eric-parnes.com

TIZIANA LARDIERI

Interested in graphic design, photography and book art, Tiziana Lardieri will present in the frames of 24 Design a handcrafted book investigating our visual perception of colours in relation to London’s urban spaces.

Tiziana is a graphic designer living and working in London who has a particular interest in everything to do with book design, layout, typography, paper and colours. As an artist she is always willing to learn and experience and explore other disciplines within the graphic design field. Tiziana is very passionate about design and is always fascinated by how it can be related in so many ways to a large variety of fields and disciplines. Photography is also one of Her greatest passions and it provides Tiziana with the freedom to express reflectively what is around her.

London in Colours – handcrafted book

London in Colours is a personal project produced exclusively for 24Design and is based on Tiziana’s perception of colour in association with London’s urban spaces. Her aim is to document London by exploring its different characteristics, using colors as the main language with which to represent them.

www.tizianalardieri.com

ANTON S.KANDINSKY

For 24Design, Anton Kandinsky has created a series of skateboards drawing on the powerful imagery at the core of his artistic work.

Art has to have two attributes: be provocative and possess strong visual symbol. If there is no provocation the social environment refers to art as a thing, an attribute of life. Art with strong visual symbolism always stands out. It overpowers its competitors in the same way that the alpha male dominates a wolf pack. In general art is a religion. Without faith in art it doesn’t exist. Without faith the collector doesn’t buy art. Everything is based on faith!
Anton S. Kandinsky

Born in Ukraine (1960), Kandinsky lives and works in New York. A graduate of St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts (a private student of Y. Moiseyenko) and the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts. In2004, inNew York, Kandinsky founded a movement called Gemism, which refers to artist’s application of realistic images of luminescent gemstones on his canvases. The gemstones are intermingled with flags, ideograms, political figures and celebrities along with symbolism fromChina, the formerSoviet Unionand American pop culture. Yet this is not straight Pop, nor is it Chinese art or some pastiche of Soviet-era propaganda. Gemism is a tip of the cap to all three.

Kandinsky’s art projects are: Geopolitical Gemism, Meditation of Weapons, I don’t want to be a Russian Artist, China-ism, The Great Grenade Wall, To be, or not to be
Followed by special projects:
Guns and Roses Chinese Democracy CD Album, Deluxe Edition, 2008
Cover of the booklet of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, conference dedicated to diplomacy and economics,Paris, November of 2009
Painting for Marc Ecko’s Multitask Showroom at theTrumpBuilding,Fifth Avenue,New York, 2010

Anton’s works are in many prestigious art collections including, among others, the Victor Pinchuk Collection (Kiev,Ukraine) and The Collection of Rick Perry, Governor of Texas (Austin,Texas).

KEVIN WAYNE

Kevin Wayne has created for 24Design a series of toys transformed through the artist’s hands into bizarre, fantastic creatures and combinations.

Born inGillingham,United Kingdom, Kevin Wayne’s recent work explores ideas of cruelty and alienation.Waynecustomizes and transforms existing objects which he often finds in second hand charity shops. He seeks out old toys and ornaments, things which would have once provided their owners with a sense of comfort, and attempts to modify them into images that may be disturbing for some, and perhaps amuse others. Usually bizarre and grotesque, the creatures we are presented with are either victims or abusers.Waynehas attempted to imbue his creations with a degree of realism, so as to crank up our sense of pathos. Perhaps this artwork offers a reprieve (even if unsettling) from humdrum everyday life by challenging common notions of aesthetics and propriety.

CLAYTON CAMPBELL

For 24Design, Clayton Campbell has created a unique limited edition of his series of photographs “Belonging and Not Belonging” presented in a signed and numbered digital photo frame.

‘My most recent series of photographs is entitled “Belonging and Not Belonging” (Interloping). They are fictional, narrative tableau that insert people from diverse social economic and cultural backgrounds into various environments which they temporarily navigate but ultimately find alien and uncomfortable, and which serve to highlight their visible differences. It is something all of hale felt at one time or another.
Continue Reading →

ZARA ARSENYAN

For 24Design, Zara Arsenyan has created a limited edition of unique pieces of jewellery inspired by Her fascination for the Art Nouveau aesthetic.

Zara Arsenyan was born in Armenia and is based in Barcelona. Her two passions are visual arts and the theatre. Zara designs fabrics and theatre costumes. Fascinated by Art Nouveau the artist started designing unique and beautiful jewellery made of elements of antique furniture and jewellery.

The beginning of the fascination

‘My story with jewellery began in Barcelona, Art Nouveau city, the city I know. Once while visiting a small flea market I noticed in a pile of old jewellery some elements from the beginning of the last century. I took it in my hands and realised that we have lost our predecessors idea of aesthetics, and along with it, the possibility to create unique objects. The only thing that counts now is time spent on creating something, but what we lose in the same time is an individual approach.’

Zara’s unique technique

‘My fascination with Art Nouveau began a long time ago and as soon as I had chance to make my dreams come true, I started searching for anything associated with this style. Everything I use in my creation is authentic. I try to ensure all elements are antique, even neck-chains, although it’s not always successful and some are exceptionally bought in contemporary shops. The most common question concerning my jewellery is what kind of metals are they made of? To be honest I have no idea. I don’t want to focus on the materials – the idea is to give the second life to something that is beautiful but already discarded, despite being precious. Probably some elements are silver and gold elements or even gems, but I wish not to put a stress on this aspect. To me the essence of their existence is the most valuable aspect’.

Appreciating Art Nouveau

‘I try to live like a river… to flow and take what life brings. After leaving Armenia in 1993 I wasn’t able to predict what was going to happen, so I decided simply to live! In the same way by chance it happened that I came to Barcelona. Fascinated by Art Nouveau I adore everything that is somehow related to this time, its spirit, line, aesthetics, look. When

I first saw elements of antique jewellery, I discovered I can create my own Art Nouveau!’