Saskias Popsicle

It has been over  a year…Next year in Berlin!

On the first floor, in Marlborough Chelsea, Artist Rashaad Newsome was presenting his collage series entitled “Herald.” Newsome creates “contemporary coats of arms from familiar images of luxury goods from glossy consumer magazines: sports gear, jewel-encrusted brooches, rings, watches, furs and yachts.” Meanwhile, TV personality and designer Robert Verdi in partnership with Yasmin & Jazmin was presenting his Y&J Multiplicity jewelry line at The Glasshouses on the 21st floor. “The line is handcrafted in sterling silver and gold by jewelers who create jewelry for the royalty.”

Heraldry, contextualized by Newsome, is “the art of blazoning armorial bearings, of settling the rights of persons to use certain bearings, of tracing and recording genealogies, of recording honors, and of deciding questions of precedence. The tag, a popular jewelry piece by Y&J, is “a piece or strip of strong material for attaching by one end to something as a mark or label.”

Elaborate collages are overflowing with certain consumer heraldry. Glossy goods had an opportunity to present themselves to luxury consumers and magazines. Sunglasses, headphones, earrings, shoes and fragrances all speak of what I do, what I want, where I live, what I love, and what my mother’s accent is. The tag piece makes for one degree of separation from Justin Bieber who also has one. I want to scream who I am and I want you to hear it. Art transforms into life as fast as the elevator ride.

A collage is “an assemblage or occurrence of diverse elements or fragments in unlikely or unexpected juxtaposition.” There is always the freedom of juxtaposition.

Rashaad Newsome on the right

Robert Verdi on the right

Photographed the demonstration in front of the Russian consulate this Saturday for Slon. The first 6 photos are from New York.