Heavenly Bodies at the Met Cloisters, 2018

The exhibition Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination exploded onto the New York art and fashion scene when it appeared in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2018. The main exhibit (and its crowds of admirers) consumed the Medieval Galleries of the Met, but the monastic treasure trove at The Cloisters hosted a smaller, more one-to-one experience.

John Galliano for Dior

William Blake - artist of apocalypse

William Blake was a classic poet, a print artist of incredible technique, a painter of endless imagination, and a visionary beyond his time. Earlier this year Tate Britain exhibited a massive collection of his prolific work and we couldn't wait to feature it here on wonder | wander | world.

Detail of The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea, c. 1803-5

Urasawa Naoki: manga and Manben

wonder | wander | women really love artists with a lot of output. Somehow the work ethic is just as compelling and admirable to us as the work itself. So when we heard of a manga artist who put on a solo show in London with 400 original works, how could we resist? Urasawa Naoki, here we come!

Impressionism: light and water

Seeing paintings in the country where they were painted is pure magic. The French Impressionists especially were obsessed with the exact colours that reflected off their rivers and lakes and shimmered in the sky.

Regatta at Argenteuil, Claude Monet (1872)

Hilma af Klint | artist & mystic

Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future, the first major solo exhibition in the United States devoted to the artist, is on view October 12, 2018–April 23, 2019 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. It is an incredible visual representation of complex spiritual ideas - then and now. 

Hilma af Klint, Altarpiece, No. 1, Group X, Altarpieces,
1907 Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints Verk.
Photo: Albin Dahlström/ Moderna Museet

The title for the artist's most important body of work, Paintings for the Temple is significant. It suggests that the canvases require a specific architectural 'home' and that they are designed to help viewers transcend beyond mortal and earthy realms. 

Hilma af Klint does not make reference to any particular religion - she does not use the word church, synagogue, or mosque - but instead aspires to build a temple. A universal place of worship dedicated to seeking balance through the union of opposites. 

Frida Kahlo: jewellery a la mexicana

In a biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera, fellow artist Lucienne Bloch describes jewellery shopping with Frida as going through markets and thrift stores 'like a tornado...she'd find cheap costume jewellery and she'd make it look fantastic'. This is because Frida Kahlo had a powerful vision of her self in mind.

From Frida: Making Her Self Up,
Victoria and Albert exhibition catalogue

big sky: Georgia O'Keeffe at the Tate Modern

Like the Joseph Cornell retrospective, this turned out to be unexpectedly personal and affecting. Like any dedicated artist, I knew a little about Georgia O'Keeffe. I knew she lived a long time, painted flowers and skulls with great beauty and skill, lived in the American Southwest, and was a feminist icon. Mostly, though, I knew her as my mother's favourite artist.

My Front Yard, Summer 1941

Joseph Cornell: glow in the dark

A few weeks ago I took a close friend to the Joseph Cornell exhibition at the Royal Academy to celebrate my birthday. She knew of his work, and that he was my favourite artist. We took a few hours to get through everything - I couldn't help pointing out extra facts about my favourite works, and getting excited about hearing Cornell's own voice on the audio commentary. As we were leaving my friend said, 'You know, I can see why you like him. So many things in there reminded me of you.'

Royal Academy of Arts
Exhibition handout

open to possibilities

This June marks the first anniversary of wonder | wander | world. This past year we've written about our art, our projects and our inspirations.

We celebrate the occasion today with grateful appreciation for a fulfilling fun filled year of productive creativity. Thank you for coming along on this adventure as we are looking forward to future creations and collaborations.

Our egg salad recipe

Charles Lahti: Cebu Exhibit at 856 G Gallery

With half of ‪#‎wonderwanderwomen already back in the Philippines for the holidays, we opted to reblog the latest post written for Kate's Paperie and Charles Lahti Studio. 

Read all about it here - http://katespaperie188.blogspot.com/2014/12/charles-lahti-his-cebu-exhibit-at-856-g.html?view=sidebar

Congratulations Charles!