Vogue Paris 2008 Calender

The January issue of Vogue Paris not only featured the lovely Charlotte Gainsbourg but also came with a fantastic calender. It lists a saint for every day, and the photos speak for themselves.

Notice that the June baby is upside-down.

You can see it all on this flickr set:

http://flickr.com/photos/zecalifairy/2067784571/

It's a sad and beautiful world - Leo Ferre

Bologna - Museo Morandi

The Morandi Museum in Bologna is one of my very favorite museums, and I try to visit every time I'm in the vicinity. It's very overlooked, even though it's in the city's main piazza, and therefore very quiet even on weekends. There is a reconstruction of his simple studio in one room, and an extensive collection of his still lives, landscapes, drawings, and etchings. his paintings are so understated and possess a certain "metaphysical light". and he never repeats himself.

i think the museum is free now (at least it was on the Sunday that I was there).
http://www.museomorandi.it

Florence - Museo Marino Marini

I've gone on a sort of museum spree while in Europe, even more than usual. One wonderful discovery has been the Museo Marino Marini in Florence, which happens to be a really cool building. The original structure is a beautifully austere Alberti church, with an added modern interior network of walkways and platforms of a sort, to provide many views of Marini's statues. I actually wasn't really familiar with his work before going to see it, now I have probably seen it from more angles than the original artist! In any case, he's an important Italian artist of the recent kind and the museum is entirely overlooked by many visitors to Florence. I was there on a saturday afternoon and it was deserted except for one other person.

Graffiti in Italy

spotted in venice...also seen but much more difficult to photograph (and you might not even notice them in the daylight): a series of rat silhouettes leading from Piazza San Marco to the train station. they are along the ground, painted one shade darker than the grey stone, so you will have to look carefully for them.

L'atelier d'Alberto Giocometti at the Centre Pompidou

I saw this show in Paris last week. so good. It includes his more famous pieces from the Museum of Modern Art (Paris) collection but also a selection of his works including lesser (or un-)know pieces like his very first painting. Also a lot of photos and other personal artifacts. The show is open until February 11th.

Photographs of Joseph Szabo

Joseph Szabo's website: http://www.photosofteenagers.com/

This photo was used on the cover of a Dinosaur Jr. album (thanks to a reader for letting me know).