The Craft VIII

1. Olle Olsson Hagalund Målaren och Änglarna
2. Yohji Yamamoto Fall/Winter 2005

The craft of naive art. Nourished by an extreme sense for balanced imperfections and hidden, impish details. Yohji Yamamoto's graffiti coats appear as being painted by the dreamlike gesture of Olle Olsson Hagalund. In this sense, two masters and their creations evoke an implicit brotherhood between Sweden and Japan.
/HORST

Svensk Surrealism

1. Sven Jonson
2. Erik Olson
3. Sven Jonson

Layered landscapes that attract, direct and pull the beholder's view. Compressed within small formats, the works unfold multiple dimensions, stories and details where lines meet and colour zones overlap.
/HORST

Between Prostitutes

1. David Salle vs. Acne Fall/Winter 2012
2. David Salle vs. Lanvin Fall/Winter 2012
3. David Salle vs. A.F. Vandevorst Fall/Winter 2012

Since I moved to the red light district, the artworks of David Salle felt rather appropriate. The compositions shown reflect a current state of mind. Striptease and runway presentations synchronized in split screen manner. Things happen simultaneously.
/HORST

Fin

Artworks & Portrait Victor Antonio

The most genius, mesmerizing and capricious beings often leave us too early, too soon. I am happy to have met this wonderful person and being virtually connected through late night talks, the exchange of surrealist poems and visionary thoughts.
/HORST

A Short History Of Stripes In Popular Culture III

1. Véronique Branquinho Spring/Summer 2004
2. João Figueiredo Sensual Hollow
3. Frida Kahlo The Broken Column

The masochistic atripe: A darker and more vague addition to our series based on the idea of anatomic fragmentation. Here, the stripe becomes a subtle reference to self-abandonment.
/HORST

Post Paris IV

A false encyclopaedic guide to the prêt-à-porter collections for Spring/Summer 2012.
Fourth chapter: Balenciaga

1. Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2012
2. Mandarin Duck
3. Mark Rothko

Sharp, angular shapes detached from the female body. Yet their components create a technoid symbiosis built on natural references. I really enjoyed my latest visit to the zoo.
/HORST

Post Paris I

A false encyclopaedic guide to the prêt-à-porter collections for Spring/Summer 2012.
First chapter: Haider Ackermann

1. Haider Ackermann Spring/Summer 2012
2. Gerhard Richter
3. Anthony Cragg

Within the post-processing of Paris Fashion Week two aspects appear: the collections in itself and my associated experiences and visual memories. Consequently, the following reviews will only reveal one minor part of the truth. Just like a Haider Ackermann veil dress.
/HORST

Nudist Camp IV

1. Paul X Johnson
2. Paul Delvaux
3. Man Ray

When reality doesn't offer what voices have been promosing, it is time to escape to the Nudist Camp. A place where former legends strip bare and hide in dark birch forrests. And they never return.
/HORST

Nudist Camp III

1. Norbert Bisky
2. Winston Chmielinski
3. Hervé Caillon

Today, I am doing what humankind has done for decades and centuries. Naturalism, nudism, exhibitionism. In contrary to the works shown above, my own examination of the subject is of narcissistic nature only.
/HORST

Nachtkerzenplanze

1. Tim Hamilton Redux Fall/Winter 2011
2. Gustave Courbet Sill life with apples and peaches (1872)

It's interesting to see one's personal taste evolving with age. The minimalism of modern times requests the decorative exuberance of historical realism. Let them eat fruit!
/HORST

Image credits David Schulze

Death

1. Vanitas still life & Givenchy Spring/Summer 2011
2. Hedi Slimane still life & Comme des Garçons Spring/Summer 2011

I've never understood the fascination for it. I am afraid of death. Who can take this fear away? Or is this even possible? Men in leopard skirt shorts might be a consolatory beginning.
/HORST

Flowers & Dolls

Artworks Maureen Mullarkey
Backdroop Irving Penn

While enjoying a glass of red wine, I let myself feel touched. A red dress. And a corset. Tightened by a bulky arm that is decorated with a tribal tattoo. The time has come for you to lipsync for your life.
/HORST

Table Cloth Fight

Tsumori Chisato Fall/Winter 2011 vs. Henri Matisse Spanish Still Life, 1911

Is that a Matisse on her skirt?
/HORST

Complication & Abstraction

Artworks Joan Miró

Chaos and its antithesis. A few and a million strokes. Either I am confused. Or enlighted. But I am slowly finding access to the genius of waiting room art. What reminds me to book a dentist appointment.
/HORST

Other Landscapes

Artworks David Schnell

Global warming and geoengineering. Today left me with doubt and fear. Glaciers are melting. And with them knowledge and culture will be eliminated. Please re-evaluate your actions. Right now. Not in ten years, not in thirty.
/HORST