Guts for Garters - Surreal Women

I've been aching to visit this gallery/ truly inspirational space/ gorgeously, wonderful shop for a while now, ever since I spied various musings out in the blogosphere. The brainchild of Rachel Chudley and Cassie Beadle, this eclectic space is filled to the brim with ingenious design and beautiful collectibles. You walk in and think 'where have you been all my life'.

The concept fuses art, fashion, furniture and design in conjunction with a current theme. Filled with old and new treasures from a variety of artists and designers. It’s like a living, breathing wonder emporium with beautiful design at every corner - in every form imaginable. And I can tell you, they have the best sourced vintage i have seen in a lo-o-ng time!


I popped in to see the second of the three 6-week 'Buying Exhibitions' - Surreal Women. Planned in line with the 75th anniversary of the movement, the concept explores the role of women within surrealism, looking to Claude Cahun as their muse. This current exhibit will end on Thursday, so hot foot it there quickly, if you haven't already. 

Not enough notice I hear you cry! Well, fear not fashion maidens, there is more to come. A third exhibition in September promises to tantalise once again. Check out their brilliant site for a little slither of info to stoke the intrigue...Oh and just to get you all excited, they are planning on a 3-month buying exhibition at the end of the year. You are guaranteed to walk away with some real gems, what they like to call 'collectables of the future'. I like. A lot.



 
























The ‘Cob Gallery’, 205 Royal College Street, Camden, NW1 0SG. Just a 5 min walk from Camden Town tube...get going!

Trend Alert - Surreal by name...

Surrealism is firmly on my radar as a future trend influence. There have been several key exhibitions around the world so far this year (including The Surreal House at the Barbican) and there are also two big Salvador Dali films in the making - currently stalled due to opposition from the Dali foundation. One film, simply titled ‘Dali’ is set to see Antonio Banderas in the lead role, with a second film ‘Dali and I’ due to star Al Pacino. Both films hopefully to be released in 2011. Surrealism has been a constant influence in fashion and there has been some great imagery within magazines recently. Then there was the release of Christopher Nolan’s Inception last month, with its multi-layered, surrealism-laced, dream plot. All I can say is watch this space…


Illustrations by Andrzej Klimowski for Another Magazine

The Surreal House Exhibition @ the Barbican

I decided to make the most of a rainy afternoon last week with a trip to The Surreal House at the Barbican. The exhibition combined works of old school masters such as Dali, Duchamp, Magritte and Cornell with contemporary figures such as Rebecca Horn and Rem Koolhaus. The space was imaginatively crafted with individual rooms and kooky little spaces that were inviting, yet sinister at the same time - although this atmosphere was lost slightly on the second floor. The combination of art, film, architecture and photography made for an insightful and thought provoking house tour with the film clips packing a real punch (was mesmerised by Buster Keaton in Steamboat Bill, Jr for 20 mins!). Highlights included Horn’s suspended, exploding piano, Joseph Cornell’s enchanting boxes with Andrei Tarkovsky’s film finale ‘The Sacrafice’ literally bringing the house down.


A couple of my sneaky snaps of lesser known exhibits...

Noble & Webster's 'Metal Fucking Rats'



The Surreal House runs until September 12th.