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Kara Walker's giant Sugar baby inspired me to choose candles as the material for my sculpture, because the properties of candles lead to it being used to form condensed sculptures layer by layer like stalactite.

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His style began developing more clearly during his time at Olivetti: bringing bold colors, form and styling to office equipment, he pushed the boundaries between industrial design and pop culture. Moving from his first functional and sober typewriters to the Valentine in 1969, an accessory that became a fashion statement in the Italian society, he gained fame and recognition as an innovative and disruptive product designernot afraid to break the schemes and go beyond functionality and form.

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Ettore Sottsass, architect and industrial designer, was born in the city of Innsbruck in 1917 and has been one of the most influential and important figures of the 20th century design scene.

Exposed to the world of architecture since a young age, as his father himself was an architect, he grew up in Turin where he graduated from the Polytechnic University in 1939 before serving in the military during World War II and spending years in a labor camp in Yugoslavia. After returning home, he worked in his father's studio renovating buildings that were destroyed during the war, before founding his own practice in Milan to focus on working with different means such as ceramic, painting and interior design.

In Milan, he immersed himself in the vibrant cultural landscape of the city, attending the literary salon that would allow him to meet with the illustrious architects and designers of him time, and married writer and translator Fernanda Pivano. She introduced him to the literary society of the city and to many writers and artists that would later influence his work beyond his initial approch to industrial design.

During his early years, he was first a member of the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus and later moved briefly to New York City to work with industrial design and Modernist George Nelson. He was then commissioned by entrepreneur Irving Richards a exhibition of ceramic works, a medium he had been pursuing since the beginning of his career and that was quickly launching him into international recognition for his originality and creativity.

His breakthrough came when Adriano Olivetti hired him as a design consultant in 1958 for Olivetti, the most important typewriter and computer manufacturer in Italy, renowned for its incredibly advanced design. For them, he developed the first Italian mainframe computer that won him the prestigious Compasso d'Oro prize in 1959, and a number of different typewriters, office equipment and furniture. His style began developing more clearly during his time at Olivetti: bringing bold colors, form and styling to office equipment, he pushed the boundaries between industrial design and pop culture. Moving from his first functional and sober typewriters to the Valentine in 1969, an accessory that became a fashion statement in the Italian society, he gained fame and recognition as an innovative and disruptive product designernot afraid to break the schemes and go beyond functionality and form.

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​Ettore Sottsass, renowned Italian architect and designer who brought bold colors and an innovative contemporary style to everyday items, creating iconic postmodern furniture. Explore a selection of iconic decorative objects he designed for Bitossi Ceramiche and Ceramica Gatti and the statement pieces that made the history of the Memphis Movement in Milan.

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got inspired both by Kara and euphorbias

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n western Europe, the bus stop is the most humble of building types, a meanly utilitarian structure that adds little or nothing to the roadside. But in the old Soviet empire, from the shores of the Black Sea to the Kazakh steppe, the norm is "wild going on savage", as Jonathan Meades writes in a beautiful new photobook featuring 159 bus stops, each illuminating "the Soviet empire's taste for the utterly fantastical".

Just as 18th-century English follies were often try-outs for new architectural styles, some of these roadside pavilions may have been experiments for bigger things. As such, they were opportunities for local sculptors, architects and builders to flex their creative muscles - and boy did they let rip.

Soviet Bus Stops, by Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig with a foreword by Meades, is brimming with pyramids and arches, domes and vaults, improbable structural feats that often appear to be held together with not much more than several coats of thickly daubed paint. From a rusting corrugated tin roof above a lonely bench in Armenia, to the heaving ceramic confections along the Abkhazian coast, every architectural style and aesthetic whim is explored, limited only by the designer's imagination and whatever materials they could lay their hands on.

The project began in 2002, when Herwig decided to cycle from London to Stockholm, to live with his girlfriend. "Taking a bike on Ryanair," he explains, "would have cost four times the price of a seat." As he set off, he gave himself a challenge: to photograph something interesting every hour of the way. A particular roadside feature began to catch his eye, and so began an obsessive quest. "It wasn't until I got into the Baltic countries," he says, "that they jumped out at me. Within the first 50km of Lithuania, I noticed these peculiar bus stops everywhere."

The first were open-fronted concrete boxes painted in pastel colours, with the look of a doll's house. They were often raised up on a plinth and accessed by a little set of steps, bringing a sense of occasion to the mundane activity of waiting for the bus. The further Herwig cycled, the wilder the bus stops became, with expressive cantilevered rooftops flaring above tapering concrete columns, rendered in pinks and ochres; or daring barrel vaults creating a series of porches on either side of the main shelter.

The following year, Herwig moved to Kazakhstan, again following his now wife, who works for the UN. The obsession continued. Based in Almaty for three years and working on a project about the Silk Road, he continued to look out for bus stops - and discovered a rich seam of regional variation. "Some were totally mad," he says. "It seemed like each had its own completely unique personality. It began to make me realise that, behind the iron curtain and the cliches about the Soviet Union that we grew up with in the west, there were millions of individuals daydreaming and pushing the limits of creativity."

Twelve years and more than 30,000km later, Herwig was able to choose his favourite bus stops from 14 former Soviet countries.It seems the "bus pavilions", as they were respectably known, provided a much needed outlet for creative energy, which was otherwise stifled. "It was practically impossible to express oneself," Armen Sardarov, a Belarusian architect who designed close to 100 bus stops in the Soviet era, says in the book. "It was a time of monotony in architecture."

The bus stop was one of the few building types that was blessed with a certain amount of autonomy from the centralised planning machine. Indeed, it was a government stipulation that they should be beautiful and reflect a local aesthetic.

Prof Konstantinas Jakovlevas-Mateckis, who was the head of road design in Lithuania in the late 1960s, recalls the sense of civic pride bus stops embodied: "We wanted the first well-ordained, landscaped highway to be the face of two cities - Vilnius and Kaunas. Building bus stops was a way to change the monotonous reality of Soviet times and architecture, and to emphasise the local."

Consequently, in Kyrgyzstan there are bus stops shaped like the region's high-crowned kalpak hats, as well as round tapering structures modelled on local yurts. Coloured concrete reliefs rule in the Ukraine, as do mosaics in Moldova, while in the forests of Estonia many bus stops are simple triangular pitched-roof structures, made of the timber that was to hand.

Some of the most elaborate structures occur around Pitsunda on the Black Sea, where Khrushchev had his summer dacha. Along these coastal roads, voluptuous sea shells compete with the gaping mouths of gigantic fish, writhing concrete forms heavily encrusted with mosaic tiles, like Gaudí at the seaside. They are mostly the work of Georgian sculptor and architect Zurab Tsereteli, now a celebrated Moscow-based artist and president of the Russian Academy of Arts. "We had a committee, an architectural and construction council," he recalls. "I suggested that these bus stops shouldn't be about just a frame, glass and seating. People should get pleasure out of them. We decided they should be monumental art in space."

Artistic intentions often trumped practicalities. One of his designs was shaped like a concertina-like halo, a jagged sculptural ring hovering above the ground, like a portal ready to channel waiting bus travellers to another dimension. But it also leaves them exposed to the elements. "I cannot say why there is no roof," says Tsereteli. "It's their problem. I, as an artist, do everything artistically."

Soviet Bus Stops is published by Fuel later this month, price £19.95.

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Soviet superpower: why Russia has the world's most beautiful bus stops

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Architects may have felt creatively stifled in the old Soviet empire - but there was one place where their imaginations were encouraged to run riot: the bus stop. Photographer Christopher Herwig went on a 30,000km odyssey to capture their strange beauty

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Photographer Christopher Herwig has circled the former Soviet Union, exploring the most remote areas of Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine to find and photograph its unique bus stops. After the success of his first book Soviet Bus Stops, he decided to explore the subject matter again for his new follow-up collection Soviet Bus Stops Volume II. In this book Herwig focuses on Russia rather than its former Soviet counterparts, driving nearly 10,000 miles around the massive country finding its incredibly diverse transportation shelters.

These architectural forms are more deeply explored in a forward by architecture and culture critic Owen Hatherley, who details the government policies that have allowed the bus stops to remain. You can view more of the Jordan-based photographer's work on his website and Vimeo. (via Design You Trust)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!

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The Wild Architecture of Soviet-Era Bus Stops Photographed by Christopher Herwig

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Photographer Christopher Herwig has circled the former Soviet Union, exploring the most remote areas of Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine to find and photograph its unique bus stops. After the success of his first book Soviet Bus Stops, he decided to explore the subject matter again for his new follow-up

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On a long-distance bicycle trip from London to St. Petersburg in 2002, photographer Chris Herwig encountered something unexpected in the barren post-Soviet landscapes-artsy, unusual, and almost spaceship-like bus stops. The more he rode, the more he came across such unique transit structures.

As Herwig traveled through and later began living in post-Soviet states, he would keep an eye out for unusual bus stops. Having grown up in Canada, he says that the U.S.S.R. was always a mystery to him. Something dark and inexplicable. It fascinated him to find colorful, almost celebratory structures in a land that was once so rigidly governed.

"Wondering why they existed was one of the driving forces that had me fascinated with the bus stops," he says. "It was totally unexpected. Every time you'd see one you'd wonder, 'What was the plan here?' Or, 'What was the purpose?' Because everything in the Soviet Union seemed regimented, planned, and organized, while the bus stops didn't seem to have a centralized plan. In some places it was basic-the guys who were building the roads would get schoolkids to join in. It did embody the ideal of what communism was-people could contribute to the bus stops. People still paint them today, and the themes are often quite local."

Each design is unique and shaped by the community around it. Herwig shared an anecdote about a construction worker who'd wanted to incorporate local embroidery designs into the bus stop, much to the chagrin of his colleagues.

Herwig has done a considerable amount of research, even consulting artists who were commissioned to work on the bus stops. He has yet to discover why or how it was decided that the designs should be left to local authorities. Based on his research, it seems that the bus stops were often constructed by the workers building the roads, local artists, or even community members.

When asked what compelled him to devote 14 years to this project, Herwig says, "As a photographer you want something that you can get sucked into and enjoy. Quite honestly, it's some of the most fun work I've done, because you feel like an explorer-like you're actually discovering something."

On one particular trip to Armenia, Herwig had been driving for hours in a barren landscape when suddenly he saw a bus stop in the distance. "It was big, with heavy brutalist-style concrete, but at the same time really light, experimental, and fun-built to last," he says. "It was like a spaceship [had] landed in the middle of nowhere. It's finding them in settings like that that makes it feel really worthwhile. The architecture, landscape, and culture all come together. You're in these flat landscapes, and boom, you see a bus stop and it's like it's on a pedestal, like a fantastic art installation."

His future plans for the project? "I've got a burning itch to do one last epic road trip before all these bus stops are gone," he says. The trip would take him from the Black Sea to the Pacific to capture stops in Russia, currently not among the post-Soviet states he's photographed.

He hopes that the work will help people to see a greater world outside their home country.

"I hope people open up and realize that no matter what's going on politically on the other side of the world, there is a difference between what a country does and what the people inside it are doing. I hope it inspires people to travel and not always look for things that are the obvious. There are a lot of little architectural underdogs out there that should be celebrated."

This project was originally published in the Russian edition of National Geographic. It has also been published as a book by Fuel Design.

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On a long-distance bicycle trip from London to St. Petersburg in 2002, photographer Chris Herwig encountered something unexpected in the barren post-Soviet landscapes-artsy, unusual, and almost spaceship-like bus stops. The more he rode, the more he came across such unique transit structures. As Herwig traveled through and later began living in post-Soviet states, he would [...]

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His design still looks very modern at the time.
When I first look at his video , I was shocked by his performance,
incredible  and impossible.

His design is weird and magnificent, it is hard to forget.
And the different materials make them complex.

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I made my own Ndebele tribe style painting.
during the process I was thinking all the shapes, triangles and where should I fill in what color.

their paintings seems easy but after my experiment I found their shapes more bold and unusual. I wonder how did the do that .
And if I draw this style next time I will be more dauntless.

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The radical quilting give me a inspiration to make mine.
it's not simple as I see.

Compare mine and theirs I still can see a lot of different thing.
At the time I can feel the saying "the only rule is to work.'

It contains a lot, not only the skill and the history.

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BMW serii 7 Individual by Esther Mahlangu

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One of Africa's best-known artists has made an impassioned appeal for governments and communities across the continent to preserve their traditions and culture in the face of globalisation.

Esther Mahlangu, 85, said that she was worried young people in Africa were losing a sense of their roots.

"I am surprised that people are running away from their own culture. Our culture is good," she told the Guardian. "The importance of our culture is to know where they are coming from. The children, the grandchildren must know which roots they are coming from. If the young children don't learn from the elders, then everything will vanish."

Mahlangu's pioneering use of the crafts of her Ndebele people of south-eastern Africa has brought her huge success on the world's art markets, shown and sold from Australia to New York, and she continues to travel and exhibit widely. Her work has been seen by millions of people on British Airways planes, vodka bottles and billboards.

Musicians including Usher, Alicia Keys and John Legend as well as Oprah Winfrey are among collectors.

Born in 1935 on a farm in Middelburg, a small town in the South African province of Mpumalanga, Mahlangu learned to paint at the age of 10, taught by her mother and grandmother.

Traditionally, Ndebele women painted colourful geometric patterns on the outside of their homes, often representing important events such as weddings.

Mahlangu began painting other objects and canvas, and used bright acrylic paints in place of muted, monochromatic traditional natural colours.

"She was the first person to reimagine Ndebele designs on different platforms. She has been painting now for 70 years and has had a major impact globally. Ninety-five per cent of her work is with international collectors," said Craig Mark, the director of the Melrose Gallery in Johannesburg, where Mahlangu has a rare solo show this month.

"For a long time she was seen in South Africa as a traditional Ndebele artist. It is only recently that she has been recognised here for her real importance as a global contemporary artist ... She is almost a global pop icon brand in her own right," Mark said.

After years working in provincial cultural museums in South Africa under the repressive and racist apartheid regime, Mahlangu's breakthrough came when her work was shown in Paris at the Pompidou Centre in 1989. Two years later she was commissioned to repaint a BMW car in Germany. Accolades and honours have piled up ever since. She has represented South Africa overseas as a cultural ambassador, and received commissions varying from the inside of the Market Theatre in Johannesburg to the interior décor for a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Art from across the African continent has enjoyed a surge of international interest in recent years, with works newly visible in art shows, featured in the specialist media and sought after by major institutions.

The boom has fuelled a wave of new institution. In Cape Town, on one of the world's most recognisable waterfronts, a vast new art museum, the biggest in Africa, opened in 2017. The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa has already been described as "Africa's Tate Modern". There are also new museums in Marrakech and Lagos.

But there is limited public funding for artists or the cultural sector from governments, and the Covid-19 pandemic has reduced support for artists still further.

Mahlangu returns frequently to her home in Mpumalanga where she has founded a school where girls and young women from the local community are taught to paint in the traditional way.

"I have taught them and I love to do that. But there should be more support for artists from governments. They need to promote African art and culture around the world. That would be a very good thing. That way it won't vanish," she said.

Mahlangu, who always appears in public in traditional Ndebele clothes and jewellery, said that she intended to carry on working and travelling despite her age.

"All the cities I visit, I love them all equally. I am going to carry on working and going around the world," she said.

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Renowned artist Esther Mahlangu urges Africans to hold on to their traditions

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One of Africa's best-known artists has made an impassioned appeal for governments and communities across the continent to preserve their traditions and culture in the face of globalisation. Esther Mahlangu, 85, said that she was worried young people in Africa were losing a sense of their roots.

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Find the latest shows, biography, and artworks for sale by Esther Mahlangu. One of South Africa's most renowned artists, Esther Mahlangu paints vibrant geome...

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Esther Mahlangu (born 11 November 1935) is a South African artist from the Ndebele nation. She is known for her bold large-scale contemporary paintings that reference her Ndebele heritage. Esther Mahlangu was conferred with an honorary doctorate (Philosophiae Doctor honoris causa) by the University of Johannesburg, 9 April 2018.

Esther Nikwambi Mahlangu was born on 11 November 1935 in a farm located outside of Middelburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa, and belongs to the South Ndebele people. Mahlangu began painting at 10 years of age, and was taught the skill of mural painting by her mother and grandmother, following a tradition of her native South Ndebele people for women and girls to paint the exterior of houses. It is in this cultural tradition where Mahlangu began her artistic journey. She had eight younger siblings, which was made up of six boys and three girls (including her). She and her husband had 3 sons. Later on, she lost her husband and two out of her three sons.

Mahlangu's art references patterns found in clothing and jewellery of the Ndebele people. The patterns she uses are typically very colourful and geometric. Her paintings are large in scale.

Mahlangu first gained international attention in 1989 at a European art exposition titled Magiciens de la terre (Magicians of the World). Later in 1991, she was commissioned by BMW to create an art car, as other BMW Art Car creators had done before (including Andy Warhol, David Hockney and Frank Stella). The car, a BMW 525i, was the first "African Art Car" and was painted with typical motifs of the Ndebele tribe. She was the first non-Western person and female to design one of these art cars. The car was later exhibited at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC in 1994. It was also exhibited at the British Museum, London in 2017.

Between 1980 and 1991 she was a resident at the Botshabelo open-air museum, which presents Ndebele culture to visitors.

Her designs were also reproduced in 1997 on the tails of British Airways planes and more recently the same technique was used by the artist to paint on the new Fiat 500 on the occasion of the exhibition "Why Africa?" (2007, Turin).

Mahlangu is one of the African artists whose art is often exhibited internationally. Her works are in major private collections including that of The Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC) of Jean Pigozzi and in many Western museums. Despite being an internationally recognized artist, Esther Mahalangu lives in her village in close contact with her culture.

Mahlangu follows a local tradition through which this particular type of painting technique is handed down in the family, communicated, learned and transmitted only by women (in the past). These paintings are closely connected with the ancient tradition of decorating the houses on the occasion of the rite of passage for boys. Between 18 and 20 years of age, the youth of the tribe go to "a school of circumcision", the ritual that confirm their passage to adulthood. To celebrate this event the women completely repaint the inside and the outside of their houses with a preparation of cow dung and natural pigments. Brightly coloured acrylic paints are also applied in designs outlined by black lines. Although seemingly simple, the geometric abstraction that is revealed by these paintings is underscored by the constant repetition and symmetry of such simple shapes that make the whole work quite complex.

The art of Esther Mahlangu highlights the tension between local and global, between the anchor and detachment. Despite continuing to use the same "artistic vocabulary" closely tied to her traditions, Mahlangu has applied the designs to various objects including canvas, sculpture, ceramics, automobiles and airplanes. She has also collaborated with various brands like BMW, Fiat, EYTYS, Melissa's, Beleverde, the British Museum and Rolls Royce.

Esther Mahlangu's 1991 BMW Artcar was on view at the British Museum as part of 'South Africa: the art of a nation', from 27 October 2016 - 27 February 2017. The new BMW Individual 7 series with unique internal wooden trims painted by her was exhibited at Frieze Art Fair 2016 with accompanying exhibition of work co-curated by BMW and 34FineArt. She recently completed a special edition premium Belvedere Vodka bottle design (50% of all profits to help fight HIV/AIDS in Africa). As an artist in residence, Mahlangu was commissioned in 2014 by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to create two large works of art.

Mahlangu directs a school which teaches young girls not only painting but also the technique of painting designs on particular compositions of beads. The tradition is not a static entity. As the work of the same Mahlangu suggests, "tradition" is a mobile field, future-oriented and ready to incorporate diverse stimuli. In fact, although South Africa is now one of the African States which is able to facilitate and promote the work of their artists both nationally and internationally with the likes of the biennial event in Johannesburg, the work of Esther Mahlangu is even more courageous because she was born and grew up in political and social turmoil.

Esther Mahlangu has worked tirelessly exposing and developing her talent travelling around the world, and she is very passionate about sharing her knowledge with the younger generation so that she leaves a legacy that lives on for generations to come.

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Esther Mahlangu (born 11 November 1935) is a South African artist from the Ndebele nation. She is known for her bold large-scale contemporary paintings that reference her Ndebele heritage. Esther Mahlangu was conferred with an honorary doctorate (Philosophiae Doctor honoris causa ) by the University of Johannesburg, 9 April 2018.

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South African Artist Esther Mahlangu by Lillian Gray

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LEIGH BOWERY on THE CLOTHES SHOW 1988 (FULL)

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TOLEDO, OH - In terms of the fine art world, one of the first major hurdles for quilters was to be seen as artists, rather than (or at least in addition to) craftspeople. Now fiber art has come a long way from fringe practice to becoming part of the natural weft of the mainstream art world, but it is still perhaps rare to see shows of quilt works that are not solely themed around the medium as common thread. But at the Toledo Museum of Art, a new group show, Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change, recognizes that quilts are an art form that has always been concerned with identity, recognition, labor, communication, and human connection.

The show features some 30 works that run the gamut from historical and traditional quilting to ultra-contemporary and mixed media works, even pushing into virtual and non-fiber-based forms of quilting. Quilts have been famously adopted to tout modern causes, such as the AIDS Memorial Quilt (a selection from which is included in the show); it is perhaps less generally recognized that quilts have always offered a subversive avenue for self-expression to people who have been historically marginalized due to their gender, education, financial independence, and access to materials.The act of creating whole cloth from scraps and dregs is not just a matter of making ends meet, but a statement on the nature of what (and who) is discarded, as well as an empowering act of reclaiming that refuse in the name of something transformative and beautiful.

Bisa Butler, "The Storm, the Whirlwind, and the Earthquake" (2020) Cotton, silk, wool, and velvet quilted and appliqué, 50 x 88 x 2 inches (image courtesy Claire Oliver Gallery, New York)

This is seen throughout Radical Tradition, from the literal transformation of suit fabrics hoarded at Dachau into a stark remembrance piece by survivors of the concentration camp; to tribute works like Faith Ringgold's "Ben" (circa 1978), a soft sculpture that adorns the titular "unhoused man" in a narrative mélange of pins and patches. Likewise, "The Storm, the Whirlwind, and the Earthquake" (2019-20), by Bisa Butler, is a stunning quilted portrait of influential social reformer Frederick Douglas s. Although historically, the majority of quilting as a domestic art was done by women, contemporary participants in the show include men like Hank Willis Thomas, Aaron McIntosh, Anthony Sonnenberg, and Sanford Biggers. It also features a huge work by genderqueer artist LJ Roberts, whose massive, playful TransVan RV, with LiteBrite taillights and a radiant aura of stuffed rainbow yarn worms, dominates an entire wall and truly stands out, even in a show with so many dynamic ideas and participants.

Aaron McIntosh, small section from "Invasive Queer Kudzu" Project, 2015-2020, Social sculpture; vine: digital prints on cotton, screen-printed fabric, fabric markers, craft felt, thread, vinyl tubing, wire; inscribed stories from LGBTQIA2+ community participation and archival documents, Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist, Aaron McIntosh.\

There is, among many themes, an idea of invisible labor - something which fiber artists can readily understand, but those unacquainted with the back-bending work of hand- or machine-sewing perhaps cannot fully appreciate. This notion is illustrated impactfully by Terese Agnew, in "Portrait of a Textile Worker" (2005), which renders a large-scale image of sari-clad women at rows of sewing machine in detailed greyscale that is revealed, upon close approach, to be comprised of brand-name manufacturing labels like the ones that are found on basically every consumer item we wear.

Terese Agnew, "Portrait of a Textile Worker" (2002) clothing labels, thread, fabric backing. 94 1/2 x 109 3.4 in. Image Credit: Museum of Arts and Design, New York; purchase with funds provided by private donors, 2006 Photo: Peter DiAntoni

Though art has often been concerned with politics throughout the ages, Radical Tradition successfully underscores how through quilts, such agendas can be inserted into a quotidian and domestic setting, inviting us to wrap ourselves in these messages and really sleep on them (or under them) - and that is one of the most potentially radical things about them.

Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change continues at the Toledo Museum of Art through February 14, 2021. The exhibition was curated by Lauren Applebaum.

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As Radical Tradition affirms, the act of creating whole cloth from scraps is not just a matter of making ends meet, but an empowering act of reclamation.

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Louise use the materials to transfer the information of her mother,  it make me think of my grandpa. All the things in dotted lines are memories in my head and after my grandpa passed away.  all the drawings are the things related to him.

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Having moved from his native Australia to London in the early 80s, Leigh Bowery became one of the most notorious talents to emerge from London's alternative nightlife scene. He was a club-land legend, performance artist, fashion designer, singer (with the bands Raw Sewage, and Minty), and creator of some of the most mind-boggling looks of the 80s and 90s. He was also a life model for the painter Lucien Freud, whose large-scale nudes of Leigh now hang in the world's most prestigious galleries. Sadly, Leigh died from complications arising from AIDS at the end of 1994. He was only 33 years old.

But Leigh's influence still ives on -- in nightclubs, galleries, museums, theatres, books, documentaries and even a musical, Taboo, staged by Boy George in the early 00s. And Leigh's presence continues to be felt upon fashion runways, too. Designers including John Galliano, Rick Owens, Charles Jeffrey, Gareth Pugh, Maison Margiela, Walter Van Beirendonck and Alexander McQueen have all channelled Leigh's stunning creations throughout the past two decades.

Subsequent generations of clubbers, artists and performers have also absorbed Leigh's attitude, ideas, shock- tactics and visuals. These range from Michael Alig and the NYC Club Kids of the 90s, to image-conscious singer-songwriters like Lady Gaga or Christeene, not to mention the new wave of Instagram creatives, such as Salvia, similarly using their bodies and faces as canvases upon which to reimagine themselves again and again. With looks like these, it's easy to see why Leigh's influence is so enduring.

1985: Drip-ster
This was one of many looks Leigh paraded at his legendary club night, Taboo. The combination of Copydex dripped all over his head, like ink-on-a-boiled-egg, with graphic make-up, plus self-made finery which accentuated his burly physique, all exemplified his ethos for Taboo: "Dress as though your life depends on it or don't bother." Taboo swiftly gained notoriety for its debauched and gleefully-trashy atmosphere; the era's most wildly-attired clubbers, fashion victims, gender-benders, drag queens, artists, designers and pop stars all clamoured to get in. Even i-D got in on the madness -- Leigh was the cover star for 1987's The Plain English Issue.

Surprisingly, though, Taboo's host-with-the-most wasn't precious about his appearance while at work. By the end of a typical night there, Leigh would be drunkenly rolling around on the dancefloor, clutching a bottle of poppers, his make-up smeared and his clothes either crumpled or long-since discarded. Taboo lasted just over a year, closing down after a tabloid newspaper article exposed the club's sex and drug-fuelled antics. Despite its brief lifespan, it's still cited as one of London's most decadent and influential club nights ever.

1988: Fabric faces, going places
By the late 80's. Leigh's outlandish looks were attracting attention way beyond the London club scene. He appeared in an ad for Pepe Jeans, and more infamously, a 1988 episode of BBC1's The Clothes Show, leaving millions of viewers gobsmacked by his appearance and antics. Filmed at Harrods, in front of gawping shoppers and bewildered tourists, Leigh sashayed and twirled around the chintzy in-store cafe like he owned the place, to a soundtrack of Divine's camp HI-NRG classic " Walk Like A Man." He was interviewed by the programme's presenter (and former i-D Editor) Caryn Franklin, discussing his latest heavily-sequinned and "fabric face" creations with customary eloquence and tongue-in-cheek humour.

1988: Exhibitionistic
Aside from TV appearances, Leigh was also creating a buzz in the art world. In 1988, the Anthony d'Offay gallery in central London offered him his very own show, in which he would exhibit himself as a living work of art. Visitors to the well-attended five-day event could watch Leigh for hours on end through a one-way mirror, which divided the gallery space in two. Leigh could see his own reflection, but was unable to see or hear the audience. Within this isolating installation, he wore a selection of his most distinctive looks each day. The natural exhibitionist passed the time posing, preening, stretching, napping, draping himself upon a chaise longue or doing the occasional little dance. Leigh's spontaneous daily 'performance' was accompanied by a specially-recorded low-volume soundtrack of random traffic noises, beeps, bleeps and splutters, while the aroma of banana essence periodically wafted through the exhibition space to further heighten the WTF factor. His triumphant gallery debut was a witty-yet-eerie exploration of narcissism, exhibitionism and voyeurism, some 20 years before selfies and social media normalised such traits.

1990: Normcore yet more
Leigh is widely heralded for the extremity of his performative looks. But his 'casual' daytime appearance was, in some ways, even more bizarre. Whether shopping in his local Sainsbury's, in Stepney, East London, or holidaying with friends in Cornwall (this pic shows him on a Cornish beach with a massive jellyfish), he would usually wear dad-like crimplene slacks, or shapeless grey shorts, combined with a similarly normcore beige anorak. So far, so boring? Well, no. Leigh would subvert this everyday attire with a very cheap and obvious-looking wig perched atop his head. He would also appear unusually tall - due to him sporting a secret pair of stilettoes hidden inside seemingly-humdrum trainers. The overall effect deliberately evoked that of a creepy serial killer, or a dodgy perv lurking at the school gates. Leigh no doubt relished the unease his faux-drab style caused to passers-by, as he tottered about the East End streets on his cunningly disguised high heels!

1991: Shape shifter
In the early 90s, Leigh increasingly experimented with shape, proportion and distortion - transforming himself into an even more sculptural, sometimes nightmarish, character than ever before. He also developed new methods to partially or totally conceal his face. This brilliantly-absurd look - including a 'pregnant' bump, knee-length skirt and humongous footwear formed from fabric-covered foam - manages to be simultaneously cartoony, while demonstrating Leigh's considerable skill as a craftsman. The giant powder puff-style headpiece, which years later would inspire similar designs from Alexander McQueen and Maison Margiela, was first fashioned by Leigh from layers of fluffy tulle, with a subtly concealed zip at the back.

1993: Born to shock
You definitely won't find this look at Primark! Here's Leigh 'wearing' his wife, Nicola, strapped naked into a sling and positioned upside down with her face in his crotch. Why? This is the basis for Leigh's controversial 'Birthing' performance, which he, er, delivered on various occasions in London and at New York's Wigstock festival in 1993. Backstage, Nicola was strapped into place and totally concealed under one of Leigh's roomy frocks. On stage, Leigh suddenly groaned and moaned mid-song, as though going into labour, then lay down and 'gave birth' to Nicola, who emerged red and sweaty from between his legs. The birth was 'accessorised' with a fake umbilical cord made from a string of sausages, bitten apart by Leigh. Two decades later, Rick Owens replicated the woman-in-a-sling concept for his SS16 collection, acknowledging to the New York Times that in doing so he had "knocked off" Leigh.

1994: PVC-U later
Here's another of Leigh's dressed-to-thrill looks, honed into shape with foam and encased in shiny PVC, from a series of wearable constructions that he worked on with his talented costumier friend, Lee Benjamin. The resulting lopsided-legged, dominatrix-like apparition proved terrifying to many. Not least to the local minicab drivers who would routinely transport Leigh from his gaudily decorated council flat to nightclubs and events. Squishing his cumbersome self across the car's back seat wasn't the only practical difficulty Leigh faced when going out, though. Many of his looks, such as this one, were not only hot and heavy to wear but so physically constricting he often couldn't even have a piss during a hectic night of boozing and dancing! In keeping with the old adage, 'You have to suffer for your art', Leigh no doubt felt such discomfort was a price worth paying in exchange for absolute self-expression.

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Having moved from his native Australia to London in the early 80s, Leigh Bowery became one of the most notorious talents to emerge from London's alternative nightlife scene. He was a club-land legend, performance artist, fashion designer, singer (with the bands Raw Sewage, and Minty), and creator of some of the most mind-boggling looks of the 80s and 90s.

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Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 - 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery was known for his flamboyant and outlandish costumes and makeup as well as his (sometimes controversial) performances.

Based in London for much of his adult life, he was a significant model and muse for the English painter Lucian Freud. Bowery's friend and fellow performer Boy George said he saw Bowery's outrageous performances a number of times, and that it "never ceased to impress or revolt".

Bowery was born and raised in Sunshine, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. From an early age, he studied music, played piano, and went on to study fashion and design at RMIT for a year. He moved to London in 1980: 'I was so itchy to see new things and to see the world, that I just left', he said in 1987. There he became part of the New Romantic club scene. He worked in a clothing shop and appeared in commercials for Pepe jeans. He soon became an influential and lively figure in the underground clubs of London and New York, as well as in art and fashion circles. He attracted attention by wearing wildly outlandish and creative outfits that he made himself. He became friends and roommates with Guy Barnes (known as "Trojan") and David Walls. Bowery created costumes for them to wear, and the trio became known in the clubs as the Three Kings. In 2005 The National Portrait Gallery of Australia acquired a portrait of Bowery in his infamous fur coat by photographer David Gwinnutt. In 2007 The National Portrait Gallery, London purchased the David Gwinnutt portrait of Leigh Bowery and Trojan (Guy Barnes) which also appears in the Violette Editions book.

He was known as a club promoter, and created the club called Taboo, which began as an underground party, and then opened as a club in 1985. Taboo soon became "the place to be" with long queues for those waiting to get in. Drugs, particularly ecstasy, became a part of the dancing scene for the attendees. The club was known for defying sexual convention, for embracing " polysexualism", for creating a wild atmosphere and for playing unexpected song selections.

As a fashion designer, Bowery had several shows exhibiting his collections in London, New York and Tokyo. He has influenced several designers and artists, and was known for wildly creative costumes, makeup, wigs and headgear, all of which combined to be striking and often kitschy.

He also designed costumes for the Michael Clark Dance Company. When that company performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1987, Bowery won a Bessie Award for his work on No Fire Escape in Hell.

As a performance artist he enjoyed creating the costumes, and often shocking audiences. He first appeared at the Anthony D'Offay Gallery in London in 1988. In a signature performance, he would appear on stage in outlandish drag or other costume, looking huge. He would sing and dance about. Then suddenly, much to the audience's surprise, he would drop onto his back and simulate giving birth to a petite and naked young woman, who was his friend, assistant and later wife Nicola Bateman. She had been hidden for the first part of the performance by being strapped to Leigh's belly with her face in his crotch. Then she would slip out of her harness and appear to pop out of Bowery's belly along with a lot of stage blood and links of sausages, while Bowery wailed. Bowery would then bite off the umbilical cord and the two would take a bow. Boy George said he saw it a number of times, and that it "never ceased to impress or revolt".

Lucian Freud's model

In London in 1988, Bowery met the noted painter Lucian Freud in his club Taboo. They were introduced by a friend they had in common, the artist Cerith Wyn Evans. Freud had seen Bowery perform at Anthony d'Offay Gallery, in London. In Bowery's first public appearance in the context of fine art, Bowery posed behind a one-way mirror in the gallery dressed in the flamboyant costumes he was known for.

Bowery used his body and manipulation of his flesh to create personas. This involved almost masochistically taping his torso and piercing his cheeks with pins in order to hold masks, as well as wearing outlandish makeup. Freud said, "the way he edits his body is amazingly aware and amazingly abandoned". In return, Bowery said of Freud: "I love the psychological aspect of his work - in fact, I sometimes felt as if I had been undergoing psychoanalysis with him ... His work is full of tension. Like me, he is interested in the underbelly of things". Bowery posed for a number of large full-length paintings that are considered among Freud's best work. The paintings tend to exaggerate Bowery's 6-foot 3inch, and 17 stone physique to monumental proportions. The paintings had a strong impact as part of Freud's exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1994. Freud said he found him "perfectly beautiful", and commented, "His wonderfully buoyant bulk was an instrument I felt I could use, especially those extraordinary dancer's legs". Freud noted that Leigh by nature was a shy and gentle man, and his flamboyant persona was in part a form of self-defence.

Jonathan Jones, writing for The Guardian describes Freud's portrait, Leigh Bowery (seated):

Bowery is a character out of Renaissance art - perhaps Silenus, the companion of Dionysus. His flesh is a magnificent ruin, at once damaged and riotously alive. Who knew skin was so particoloured? To count the hues of even one of his feet is impossible: purple, grey, yellow, brown, the paint creamy, calloused, bulging. In a velvet chair tilted down towards us on the raked stage of the wooden studio floor, his mass looms up and dwarfs us. Walk close your eyes are probably the height of his penis. Bowery's violet-domed, wrinkly tube hangs between thighs marked with sinister spots or cuts his knees are massive. Bowery is a painted monument who quietly contemplates his existence inside this flesh.

In 1993, Bowery formed the Romo/art-pop band Minty with friend knitwear designer Richard Torry, Nicola Bateman, and Matthew Glammore.

In November 1994, Minty began a two-week-long show at London's Freedom Cafe, including audience member Alexander McQueen, but it was too much for Westminster City Council, who closed down the show after only one night. This was to be Bowery's last performance. The show was documented by photographer A.M. Hanson with imagery subsequently published in books about Bowery and McQueen. Minty was a financial loss and represented a low point in Bowery's colourful career. After his death, the band continued under the leadership of Bateman and Glammore up until the release of album Open Wide. This 1997 album was released on Candy Records and featured the singles "Useless Man" and "That's Nice". A spin-off band called The Offset later formed including artist Donald Urquhart.

In 2020, Open Wide was re-issued by Candy Records in association with The state51 Conspiracy, while "Useless Man" received a remix by Boy George and a new promo video directed by Torry and Glammore.

Although Bowery was known to be and always described himself as gay, he married his long-time female companion Nicola Bateman on 13 May 1994 in Tower Hamlets, London, in "a personal art performance". Although he had been HIV positive for six years, very few of those who knew him guessed that; he typically explained his public absence by saying he had gone to Papua New Guinea. His wife did not know that Bowery had the virus until he was admitted to hospital. He died seven months after his marriage, on New Year's Eve 1994 (the date has been disputed by his father, who says he actually died in the early hours of New Year's Day, 1995), from an AIDS-related illness at the Middlesex Hospital, Westminster, London, five weeks after his admission. Lucian Freud paid for Bowery's body to be repatriated to Australia.

Boy George was the creative force, the lyricist and performer in the musical , which was loosely based on Bowery's club. The musical was produced in 2002 on the West End in London, and then opened on Broadway. As a performer, Boy George played a character named "Leigh Bowery".

In an interview conducted by Mark Ronson for Interview Magazine Boy George said that Bowery would sometimes speak with a posh English accent, and one didn't always know if he was sincere or mocking: He seemed to be "in character" at all times. Bowery decorated his flat in a style that was similar to the way he dressed, with -themed wallpaper, mirrors and a large piano. He was a ringleader of misbehaviour, and with his club, he created a place where there were no rules. In the clubs at the peak of his fame, he would distort his body in various ways so that he would appear deformed, or pregnant or with breasts. Bowery once said, "Flesh is my most favourite fabric".

Bowery influenced other artists and designers including Meadham Kirchhoff, Alexander McQueen, Lucian Freud, Vivienne Westwood, Boy George, Antony and the Johnsons, Lady Gaga, John Galliano, Scissor Sisters, David LaChapelle, Lady Bunny, Acid Betty, Shea Couleé, plus numerous Nu-Rave bands and nightclubs in London and New York City.

Bowery was the main inspiration for the Tranimal drag movement, which emphasized an animalistic and post-modern take on drag.

The look of the character Vulva in the third episode of British TV comedy series was inspired by Leigh Bowery.

In Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy series 2 episode 2, Noel is advised to give his fantasy block a physical/visual form. He describes it as ...rotund but kind of stylish, like a Leigh Bowery creation. Bowery had been an influence on Fielding's outlandish costume characters.

Bowery was the subject of a contemporary dance, physical theatre and circus show in August 2018 at the Edinburgh fringe festival, put on by Australian choreographer Andy Howitt.

Leigh Bowery Verwandlungskünstler, editor Angela Stief, published by Piet Meyer Verlag, Vienna, (2015); ISBN 978-3-90579-931-6

Leigh Bowery Looks, by Leigh Bowery, Fergus Greer, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd; New Ed edition (2005); ISBN 0-500-28566-7

Leigh Bowery Looks by Leigh Bowery, Fergus Greer, published by Violette Editions (2006); ISBN 1-900-82827-8

Leigh Bowery, Violette Editions, London, (1998), ISBN 978-1-90082-804-8

All tracks are written by Minty.

All singles also included multiple remixes of the lead tracks.

Compilation album

The Offset Presents Minty - It's A Game - Part I (Poppy Records, POPPYCD6, 1997)

Hail the New Puritan (1985-6), Charles Atlas

Generations of Love (1990), Baillie Walsh for Boy George

Unfinished Sympathy (1991), Art Director for Massive Attack single

Teach (1992), Charles Atlas

A Smashing Night Out (1994), Matthew Glamorre

Death in Vegas (1994), Mark Hasler

Performance at Fort Asperen (1994)

Flour (single screen version) (1995), Angus Cook

U2: Popmart - Live from Mexico City (1997), Dancer during 'Lemon Mix'

Read Only Memory (estratto) (1998), John Maybury

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Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 - 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery was known for his flamboyant and outlandish costumes and makeup as well as his (sometimes controversial) performances. Based in London for much of his adult life, he was a significant model and muse for the English painter Lucian Freud.

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Susan Dackerman(2016)Corita Kent and the language of pop,Harvard Art Museums 

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After reading the JAPANESE DESIGN MOTIFS,  I chose the goblet  as my initial element create a new design .

but I'm not very satisfied about the effect. It is too serious.
so I tried watercolor, but it looks still not the type I like.

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Encyclopaedic and global, the V&A’s Ceramics collections are unrivalled anywhere in the world.

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Search Results | V&A Explore the Collections

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caught this by accident, but it reminds me of Einstein

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澳大利亚东北部，一个尖角直直指向新几内亚岛，那里就是昆士兰州的约克角（Cape York），人迹罕至，土壤贫瘠，它是地球上最后的荒野，也是无数野生动物退守的家园。

但就在最近，这个地方吸引了许多关注的目光，因为绝迹世间81年的袋狼（ Thylacinus cynocephalis ）可能在此出现。

人人都知道袋鼠、袋熊，但是袋狼是什么？它曾是澳大利亚大陆上的顶级捕食者，全世界最大的有袋类食肉动物。

1936年7月10日，澳大利亚塔斯马尼亚政府部门提出了针对袋狼的行政保护令，这大概是史上最尴尬的一个保护令，因为1933年之后，人们就再也没有在野外发现过袋狼了，而这道保护令下达后的第59天，这个物种最后一个成员死于圈养其的动物园中。

这最后一头袋狼是雌性，被后世人称呼为"本杰明"，她是1933年从野外捕获的，继而被送到了霍巴特的博马里斯动物园。这一动物园在1935~1936年期间存在非常严重的人员管理问题，这导致大量动物得不到应有和仔细的照顾。

就在1936年9月初，霍巴特经历了罕见的极端天气，白天气温飙升到38度，夜间却跌至零下1度。由于袋狼饲养员的疏忽，本该开放的兽舍大门被关闭了，这最后一头袋狼无法回到它的兽舍，而持续暴露在开放的金属笼子内。9月7日夜里，她无人陪伴，饱受折磨，最后在漫漫长夜里无声无息地死去。她的死标志着袋狼这个物种的绝灭，同时也宣告了一个行走在地球2500万年的家族的彻底终结。

在袋狼灭绝后的多年里，人们不止一次地看到了它的幻影，但每次追寻都以失望告终。

或许这次会不一样？两次目击，分别来自一名昆士兰国家公园管理处的老雇员和一名常在昆士兰北部露营的向导。他们都看到了一种"长得有点像狗的动物"。澳大利亚詹姆斯·库克大学的比尔·劳伦斯（Bill Laurence）教授说，根据两位目击者的描述，这些动物的眼睛颜色、大小、身形、行为都极其接近袋狼。

于是，就在这个四月，库克大学的科学家们决定在约克角开始一场袋狼大搜索。库克大学的另一位研究者桑德拉·阿贝尔（Sandra Abell）博士准备在那里设置至少50个相机陷阱，陷阱里的传感器在动物接近时会自动感应，拍下照片。

这次，人类能再见到袋狼吗？

初识，从"狗头负鼠"再到"犬首袋狼"

欧洲人第一次见到袋狼是在1642年，荷兰航海家阿贝尔·塔斯曼在登陆塔斯马尼亚岛后描述了这种奇怪的动物脚印。第一次明确的记录是特尔卡斯托（D'Entrecasteaux）领导的探险队中的博物学家雅克·拉比亚迪埃（Jacques Labillardière）于1792年5月13日在其日记当中记录的。但是，一直到1805年，塔斯马尼亚的代理总督威廉·帕特森（William Paterson）才在悉尼公报上刊登了详细的描述。

第一次针对袋狼的详细科学描述则是1808年由乔治·哈里斯（George Harris）完成的，但是受限于当时的科学分类体系认识，他将其归入了北美洲的土著有袋类--负鼠属（ Didelphis），并根据其独特的似犬头部形态，将其命名为"狗头负鼠"（ Didelphis cynocephala ）。

随着人们对于澳洲本土有袋类的研究，人们了解到澳洲有袋类完全不同于北美、南美的有袋类，这导致了针对澳洲有袋类进行的重新科学分类。1810年，解剖学家杰弗莱·圣-希莱尔（Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire）把袋狼归入了他1796年建立的袋鼬属（ Dasyurus），并且将袋狼的种名修订为 cynocephalus。一直到1824年，覃明克（Temminck）才为袋狼建立了独立的属--袋狼属（ Thylacinus），模式种为犬首袋狼（ Thylacinus cynocephalus ）。袋狼属的学名由两个希腊语词汇组成，为Thylakos和kynos，前者含义是"袋子"，后者含义是"犬"，综合的含义就是指袋狼看起来就类似一只有育儿袋的犬。种名的含义是"犬一样的头部"。

袋狼家族最早可以追溯到晚渐新世，现代袋狼属最早的成员则出现于早中新世，此后袋狼属成员逐渐扩散到了整个澳大利亚，并且在晚更新世的冰期利用陆桥向北入侵到了新几内亚，同时向南扩散到了塔斯马尼亚岛。

早年的袋狼分类研究受限于贫瘠的化石材料，研究是比较局促的。早年的学者根据牙齿上的诸多细节特征认为袋狼在演化上与南美洲已经灭绝的另外一类肉食有袋类--袋犬类存在密切联系。但在后期研究中，特别是针对足部骨骼的研究证明袋狼与袋鼬类的关系更为密切，这一研究结论后被广泛接受。

受限于化石材料不足的现实，袋狼类的起源和演化问题仍然处于争议当中，或许这也可以从侧面证明袋狼类的演化可能要比我们以往认为的更加复杂。一些学者支持袋狼类属于袋鼬目（ Dasyuromorphia ）的基干成员，并认为袋獾是其现生近亲。但是，2009年1月发表在《基因组研究》的研究结果显示袋食蚁兽可能比袋獾更接近袋鼬类的基干成员，而且和袋狼的关系更密切。

袋狼长得像狗，名中带"狼"，其实与真正的狼区别很大。 犬首袋狼头骨区别于其他化石袋狼的特征之一就是犬齿和前臼齿之间的齿隙增加，就是这导致了其吻部拉长，这让其头骨在形态上看起来更类似犬科而非袋鼬，但这种相似只是趋同演化的结果，即谱系关系非常遥远的群体存在机能上类似结构的演化。它们在头骨和牙齿上仍然存在着非常明显的区别。

其中尤以牙齿上的区别是最为显著的。袋狼的牙齿数目一共为46颗，而不同于典型真兽类的44颗。袋狼每侧上颌就拥有4对门齿，典型真兽类则应是每侧上颌3对门齿。有趣的是，袋狼的门齿并不像犬类一样是上下交错咬合的，而是上门齿要罩住下门齿。它们的下犬齿在咬合时也并不突出放置到上颌犬齿前方，而是放置在门齿和犬齿之间腭面强烈凹陷的一个凹槽里。另外一个区别就是，袋狼颊齿是每侧前臼齿3颗、臼齿4颗，典型真兽则相反，每侧是4颗前臼齿和3颗臼齿。

在犬科当中，负责切割肉类的是裂齿，即第4上前臼齿和第1下臼齿。，第1、2上臼齿和第2、3下臼齿则主要负责咀嚼和碾压功能。这种牙齿的功能区分让犬科更集中力量于一处用于切割肉类或者咬碎骨骼，而我们更熟悉的猫科动物则舍弃了全部咀嚼能力，其第1上臼齿退化为残迹，下第1臼齿负责咀嚼碾压的部分完全退化，只保存了切割功能。这也是为什么狼和家犬可以啃咬并嚼碎骨骼，而猫科动物则并不会这样做的原因。

但同样高度肉食的袋狼则是另外一种情况，袋狼的裂齿并不包括上前臼齿，而是全部由臼齿构成。袋狼的的上臼齿和下臼齿在形态上非常类似犬科的裂齿结构，但并没有出现猫科、犬科那样某颗完全特化负责切割或者咀嚼的结构，而且所有裂齿都保持了相当一致的形态，主要差别只是轻微的尺寸差别。从功能性来说，即全部裂齿都同时保持了碾压和切割能力。

袋狼的这种牙齿结构在演化中除了切割功能逐渐发达外，其他结构的变化不大。这让人比较迷惑，因为这似乎并不符合效能原则，袋狼在咬合时，力量显然更为分散，而不似犬科可以集中力量于一点。但这一结构特征显然也没影响袋狼的生存，这样的牙齿结构或许表明袋狼在进食时可以把皮肉、小块的骨骼一股脑的嚼碎并吞掉，但处理的速度可能不很快。这样或许能提高它们对于中小型猎物的利用效率，但是因为需要反复咀嚼进食，其进食时间或许就会被延长了。这样一种进食方式不仅可能会限制袋狼的主要狩猎对象种类、进食模式，也隐约提供了一些研究袋狼的狩猎模式和其成功率研究的线索。

还看得到它的容颜，却难以知晓它的行为

由于在博物馆当中有保存非常好的袋狼的干尸、皮毛、填充标本，还有大量的文字描述、黑白照片和圈养个体影像资料，我们可以非常准确地了解袋狼的形态。整体来看，袋狼类似一只拥有平直躯干、细长僵直尾巴的短头型犬类，尤其是头部更显示出一些类似犬类的外貌特征。

成年袋狼的身长大约100~130厘米，尾长50~65厘米，肩高大约60厘米，体重约20~30公斤。其两性差别并不明显，仅表现为在平均体型上雄性要大于雌性。袋狼前后足均为四趾，前肢缺乏拇指，爪子不能缩回。耻骨高度退化，仅表示为软骨。其雄性个体有一类似育儿袋的阴囊袋，可以在穿越灌木等复杂环境或者争斗时，将阴囊缩回提供保护，雌性有一个开口朝后的育儿袋，乳房为两对。

袋狼的主要繁殖季节是冬季和春季，但全年均可进行繁殖。人工饲养唯一一次成功繁殖是1899年发生在墨尔本动物园，野外袋狼的寿命大约为5~7年，人工饲养寿命最长可达9年。袋狼全身包括尾部披有柔软密集的短毛，皮毛颜色从土灰黄色、灰黄色到明亮的棕黄色不同，从背部开始到尾部拥有13~21条黑色条纹，大腿上的一条条纹明显长于其它条纹。这些条纹的颜色深浅存在深浅变化，体色、条纹的变化通常被认为是不同年龄阶段变化的结果，老年动物的体色倾向暗淡、纹理褪色。这些条纹让目睹者想起了亚洲的虎，这也是袋狼的大众化名：塔斯马尼亚虎（Tasmanian Tiger）的由来。

根据文字记录，袋狼喜欢干燥的森林环境、沼泽荒地和草原，在塔斯马尼亚地区，袋狼生存于北部和东部的海岸地区还有中央平原，但它们明显回避了西南部山脉及浓密的雨林。它们喜欢在黄昏-夜晚的时间段落活动，白天则躲避回林地或者灌木丛地区。袋狼的生存模式可能包括独居、成对活动或者小规模家庭式群居，在某些情况下不同家庭的袋狼会进行群集，这可能是某种形式的社交活动。根据不同的文档记录，显示袋狼可能会在情绪激动时，散发出让人难以描述的味道。在唯一的黑白录像和一些照片里，可以看到袋狼总是张大嘴呈打哈气状，这通常被认为是袋狼紧张或者表示威胁的行为。

袋狼的猎物非常广泛，包括沙袋鼠、袋熊、中小型爬行类、小到大型鸟类（包括鸸鹋），但它们的主要食物是小型袋鼠。肉食哺乳动物的咬合力研究显示，袋狼具备捕捉中大型猎物的能力，但没有关于这样结论的直接证据。它们有时也食用尸体，被抓获的袋狼会食用死兔子、绵羊肉和牛肉。

它们的掌、跖骨明显粗短，背脊僵直，这表明袋狼并不是特别善于灵活运动和高速奔跑，通常描述也记载袋狼"不灵活和略为笨拙"，在某些情况下袋狼会利用后腿像袋鼠一样跳跃。粗短的四肢可以让袋狼在短距离内就获得较高的速度，这在突袭或者伏击狩猎行为中是非常重要的，曾经有设置捕猎陷阱的猎手报告"袋狼喜欢伏击猎物"。但在另外一些描述中，袋狼则是以家庭规模狩猎，并且在追逐猎物时表现出惊人的耐力和策略性，即有人描述过袋狼群会分为追击和埋伏两部分。这种描述也可以从一项对于袋狼大脑的研究中得到佐证，即袋狼的大脑拥有比较发达的尾状核皮层，而这一结构负责的功能是学习、规划和决策等，这表明袋狼拥有较强的计划和解决问题能力，这对于群居动物生活、狩猎中的沟通是很重要的。

可这些都只能是猜测。事实上我们除了了解袋狼的外貌形态外，对于这种动物的生活习性和行为我们了解的少之又少。大量的关于野生袋狼的行为描述都是来自猎人、农场员工和旅行者的目击报告和一些文字描述，这些文字性资料的准确性到底有多少，目前已经无法考证，只能作为一项参考。我们对于袋狼的少量确切观察也是来源于动物园被圈养个体，可是这些观察通常也都是在白天进行的，在当时年代、环境下的动物园中，袋狼可能因为本身性格、生活状态都承担着巨大的压力，已知影片中表现的一些行为被认为是非典型行为或者刻板行为，所以这些观察到的行为也许不能代表其真实的行为模式。

袋狼终结的开始

欧洲人并不是最早接触袋狼的人类，澳大利亚土著居民才是。在几乎整个澳大利亚都发现了土著民族以袋狼为原型创作的岩画。根据一些岩画内容，可以肯定至少有一些土著部落曾经猎杀过袋狼，并将其作为食物。在晚更新世期间，入侵到新几内亚的袋狼率先灭绝，其灭绝原因尚且不明朗。澳洲大陆本土袋狼的灭绝则是发生在大约3000年前。传统观点认为澳洲土著带来的澳洲野犬（ Canis lupus dingo ）通过直接竞争导致了袋狼在澳洲大陆的灭绝，但我们真的很难评估在澳洲大陆本土袋狼的灭绝里，澳洲土著和澳洲野犬的责任有多大。

根据澳洲野犬的习性分析，它和袋狼似乎不会发生直接竞争。澳洲野犬主要在白天活动，虽然咬合力较小，但头骨可以承受更大的压力，其可以狩猎中小型动物，但也经常攻击中大型动物，而且澳洲野犬还可以摄取部分植物性食物，是一种典型的杂食动物。而袋狼则主要在夜晚活动，其狩猎对象主要是小型动物。而且袋狼的体型、体重均大于澳洲野犬，如果在一对一遭遇时，袋狼反而有更大的战胜机率。

但在澳洲野犬活动的很多地区都发现过袋狼的亚化石，这说明它们的生存环境确实存在重叠，那么我们就不得重新思考澳洲野犬取代袋狼的原因了，其中有两点可能扮演了非常重要的角色，一是澳洲野犬的群居模式，二就是澳洲野犬更强的繁殖能力。

澳洲野犬的群居规模通常为3~12头，而袋狼的群体规模通常为一对个体或者一对个体带1~3只幼仔。也就是说在多数情况下，如果两者遭遇，袋狼虽然能在一对一的情况下抗衡澳洲野犬，但在群体相遇时，往往在数量上要明显劣于对手。在繁殖能力上两者的差距则更为明显，袋狼虽然有两对乳头，但一般每胎繁殖量仅为2~3头幼仔。澳洲野犬则为1~10仔，多为4~5仔。袋狼的幼兽据信要在母兽育儿袋里生活3个月，离开育儿袋后要生长到成年个体的一半大小才能独立。而澳洲野犬幼仔3~4个月就可以独立行动，这表明在群体照顾幼兽、幼兽独立等等方面，袋狼又再次输给澳洲野犬一局。综上所述，袋狼可能并没有输在与澳洲野犬的直接竞争方面，而是输在了繁殖和群体模式上。澳洲野犬很可能凭借更快速的繁殖，在数量上取得优势并给予袋狼越来越大的生存压力，并最后导致其从澳洲大陆消失。

当澳洲大陆的袋狼消失后，袋狼就仅分布于塔斯马尼亚岛了。塔斯马尼亚的土著偶尔会捕杀袋狼，然后会剥离出骨头，并在骨骼上面做一个奇怪的小盖子或者类似小房子一样的东西，他们认为如果做好之后雨水落到上面，那么随后就会有非常恶劣的坏天气。

这种捕捉并没有影响袋狼在此的生存。或许袋狼本可以在这个岛屿上一直安静的生存下去，但倒霉的是欧洲人发现了这个岛。

大概源于人们对于狼传统的邪恶印象的心理投射，在塔斯马尼亚生活放牧的人们也认为袋狼是一群吃肉吸血的家伙，越来越多的人口耳相传看到袋狼攻击家畜、吸血吃肉（虽然不排除这样的事情曾经少量发生，但其实没有直接证据）。传言愈演愈烈，当人们相信重要的放牧资产绵羊大量遭到袋狼的攻击后，欧洲人坐不住了！

最开始是私人捕杀少量接近农场或者居舍的袋狼，后来一些当地公司后而连同地方政府都开始公开推出猎杀赏金，塔斯马尼亚官方规定，猎手每打死一头成年袋狼可获得1英镑，杀死一只幼仔可获10先令。包括农民和赏金猎人在内的猎手于是尽全力对袋狼进行扑杀。

在赏金猎杀时期，塔斯马尼亚政府总计支付了2184英镑，估算至少有超过2200头袋狼遭到捕杀，但人们普遍认为被杀死的袋狼数量要远远超过赏金对应数量，因为大量受伤逃掉的成年袋狼可能死于逃跑途中或者巢穴等地，成年兽被大量捕杀也可能导致一些不能离巢幼仔继而死亡。另外，导致塔斯马尼亚袋狼迅速消失的原因还包括生存环境被破坏、猎物种类和数量的持续下降、家犬带来的生存压力、海外收藏家对于袋狼标本的收藏需求等等。

在察觉到袋狼数量明显减少后，自1901年开始，相继有自然保护运动团队提出要对袋狼进行保护，但可惜均未成功。一直到1928年，塔斯马尼亚咨询委员会才首次提出建立保护区，以保护日渐稀少的袋狼，但就像开篇提到的那样，政府一直拖到1936年7月10日才颁布了针对袋狼的行政保护令。此时一切都为时已晚。

在最后一头已知袋狼死亡后，袋狼在大众和官方的视线里一下就从可恶的杀羊贼变成了珍贵的濒危动物，人们开始搜集和寻找任何可能证明袋狼仍然存在的证据，一些目击和遭遇事件显示，可能有极少的袋狼在塔斯马尼亚岛的西北部地区坚持到了1960年前后，但并没有确切的直接证据证明这点。当一个物种在其原始栖息地超过五十年没有被证实发现，就满足了宣布"灭绝"的条件。在这一规定下，袋狼"濒危动物"这一身份在1986年自动转换了，世界自然保护联盟对外正式发布公告： 犬首袋狼，在澳大利亚确认灭绝 。

袋狼身后，红尘魅影

自从1936年最后一只已知袋狼死亡后，澳大利亚就出现了袋狼目击事件的爆发。澳大利亚罕见动物协会报道了超过3800起目击报告，澳洲神秘动物研究中心也报道了超过130起目击事件，令人意外的是，目击事件发生的地点并不是只局限在袋狼最后的庇护所塔斯马尼亚岛，相反大量目击事件发生在澳大利亚本土，其中目击纪录最频繁的是维多利亚州南部地区。此后一直到现代，这些地区的目击事件仍然不断发生，而且目击范围又再次扩大到了新几内亚，似乎袋狼的灵魂如此喜欢戏弄人们，它神出鬼没，却又让人找寻不得。

其中大量目击事件都是发生在人口稠密的生活区域、城乡郊区和度假胜地。这是非常有趣的事情，一种被认为已经灭绝的动物不是在人迹罕至的适宜生存地区被重新发现，反而总是在众目睽睽之下、原始生存环境被破坏的地区出现，而且似乎非常容易被人们的照相机或者眼睛捕捉到。而且无论科技多么发达，人们手里的照相机如何更新换代，人们永远拿不出清楚的照片或者录像来证明自己亲眼看到了活的袋狼。

人们总是相信自己的眼睛，坚信自己看到的才是真相，但却忽略了一个俗语明白告诉我们的道理，那就是"心有所思，眼有所见"。当人们热衷于寻找某个事物时，就总能发现其踪迹，如果看到的只是不确定的模糊形态，人们会不自觉的脑补出"它"就是自己要寻找的真相。这也是很多近代灭绝动物或者水怪在科考时总是一无所获，反而是游客、旅者短暂的几天游玩时间内却总能看到、拍到的原因。到目前为止，没有任何关于重新发现袋狼的照片和录像被确认真实性。这大约也是为什么澳洲官方对于这些持续不断的目击事件无动于衷的原因。

可事情总有意外，最近这场约克角半岛的袋狼考察，就始于前国家公园雇员、野外生存专家、土著在内的多方多年持续报告发现疑似袋狼活动。这则新闻引起了激烈的争论，人们试图从不同角度来解释这一官方行为的合理性和不合理性。

约克角半岛曾经是袋狼的传统栖息地，但过去居住在这里这并不能说明现在就还有，毕竟公认袋狼从澳洲大陆消失已经有三千年的时间了。但比较有利的一个条件就是约克角半岛实在过于偏僻、几乎无人踏足，受人类活动影响非常之小，而且大部分环境仍然非常符合袋狼喜好的栖息环境。另外，半岛总面积大约12万平方公里，但人口只有约1.8万，大半还是土著民族。这里没有柏油路，只有非常颠簸的土路。气候旱季雨季分明，只有旱季可以驾车进入，一进入雨季任何车辆都无法进入。也就是说约克角半岛具备作为袋狼庇护所的全部条件。另外从一些介绍可以看到，目击者除了土著外，还有科学素养比较高、态度比较谨慎的国家公园员工和野外生存专家，其中一些人非常低调拒绝曝光，对自己的目击事件极为谨慎。这与动辄就在郊区度假村或者旅游点拍摄到"袋狼"然后闹的新闻铺天盖地的目击者有明显的区别，单纯从可信度来说，前者们的证言可信度会更高。而且澳洲官方的直接公开宣布介入，也说明对这一地区的目击和报告的可信度给予了不同以往的高度重视。

虽然约克角半岛足以胜任一个庇护所的角色，12万平方公里对于袋狼来说也足够大了，可其中有没有被庇护的袋狼则又是另外一个问题了，在人们枪口下消失不见的犬首袋狼，又在人们深深的思念中被纠缠了几十年，究竟它们会在澳洲大陆的滚滚红尘中再次显露身形，还是隐约的身影又再次世间消散呢？在考察结束之前谁都无法断言。尽管人们都希望这次考察可以带来惊喜，但在事情已经呈现最坏情况的几十年后确实也无法盲目乐观。毕竟故事和现实还是有差距的，用笔者朋友的话说，"对这件事，别抱太大希望，但也别不抱希望"。（编辑：游识猷）

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澳大利亚又双叒叕在找袋狼了？要抱希望，也别太抱希望| 果壳 科技有意思

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澳大利亚东北部，一个尖角直直指向新几内亚岛，那里就是昆士兰州的约克角（Cape York），人迹罕至，土壤贫瘠，它是地球上最后的荒野，也是无数野生动物退守的家园。 但就在最近，这个地方吸引了许多关注的目光，因为绝迹世间81年的袋狼（ Thylacinus cynocephalis ）可能在此出现。 ...

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tasmanian tiger footage from 1935 released - cnn

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'Precious' footage from 1935 of last-known Tasmanian tiger released

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Video footage of the last known thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, has been released by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA).

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For more information,I watched this documentary. Because it mentioned that Corita was influenced by Andy Warhol a lot.

His pop art changed a lot. especially the way people treat on art.

Repetition, commercial, celebrity, money, ironic…

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The A,B,C of traditional Japanese patterns

Though new Wagara have emerged throughout history, there are several traditional designs regarded as "the originals".

Seigaiha (青海波) translates to "blue ocean waves" and is a geometric design representing water. It is formed using overlapping concentric circles to form a series of arches or scales. The Japanese pattern was historically used to depict the sea on Chinese maps. Versions of this pattern also appeared in other ancient civilisations such as Egypt and Persia. In Japan, the pattern symbolizes peace and good luck.

Tatewaku (立涌) is a sinuous design of vertical waves that resembles the rising of steam, thought to be auspicious. The pattern was likely adapted from similar Chinese designs and has also been compared to mist rising off waterways in the spring. The meaning of Tatewaku is therefore "rising above" circumstances. During its infancy in the Heian period, the design required advanced techniques to create and therefore was only worn by those who could afford it.

There are many variations of the design where different motifs are placed within the hourglass forms of the parallel waves. Popular combinations include clouds (kumotatewaku 雲立涌) and chrysanthemum (kikutatewaku 菊立涌).

Kikkou (亀甲) is a tortoiseshell design that represents intellect, and longevity.

Kagome (籠目) is a hexagonal design inspired by a traditional basket weave. This Wagara is thought to ward off evil.

Hishi (菱) is the abbreviation of hishimon and is a diamond design that symbolizes prosperity. The pattern is inspired by the leaves of the water chestnut, an aquatic plant that exhibits high productivity. The design can be seen in many different variations including construction where roof beams or lattice cross to form the repeating diamond shapes.

San Kuzushi (三崩し) or Sannojikuzushi (三の字崩) is a crosshatch pattern made up of alternating horizontal and vertical sets of three lines. These lines come from the character 三 san. The design is another basket weave derivation and is commonly used in architecture.

Shima (縞) simply means "stripe." A variation of the pattern is Yoshiwara Shima, vertical stripes or chains formed by interlinking diamonds. Yoshiwara is the name of the Tokyo red-light district during the Edo Period (early 17 th century). Back then the chains were probably more symbolic of the life of a courtesan in Yoshiwara rather than their wealthy clients who wore the design. Now the chains are thought to represent the links of a community and the pattern is good luck.

Uroko (鱗) meaning "scales", is a pattern of alternating dark and light triangles. The scales are thought to have a protective quality when symbolizing a dragon on a kimono or obi. The design is also used in theatre to represent a snake in the costumes of villains.

Ichimatu (市松) is a simple check or plaid design named after an 18 th century kabuki actor who wore the pattern.

More Wagara

Since these traditional designs emerged, many more have followed. Today, designers will blend modern motifs with traditional patterns to create new Wagara. Here are some other commonly seen patterns that appeared over time.

Shippou is a pattern of interlocking circles. It's based on the seven Treasures of Buddhism: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, agate, seashell, amber and coral which each represent a quality Buddhists strive to uphold. The pattern is sometimes adorned with other motifs such as flowers

Asanoha represents a hemp leaf with six diamonds radiating from a common centre point. Hemp is fast growing and durable, therefore the pattern is commonly used in young children's clothes with hopes that they grow strong and healthy.

Sayagata is a fret based on interlocking Manji, the ancient Hindu turned Buddhist swastika pictogram (long before it was appropriated by the Third Reich). The symbol was introduced to Japan through China, as were silk fabrics "saya" bearing a similar pattern. The design is linked with the Buddhist concept of eternity. It's an auspicious pattern that can be seen paired with motifs such as plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, bamboo and orchids.

Yagasuri or Yabane is an arrow design that is strongly associated with the Japanese saying that an arrow fired, never returns. The pattern is often worn at weddings as a symbol of good luck and at graduations to represent unwavering determination. Arrow-shaped charms are sold at shrines around New Year to repel bad fortune.

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Decoding the Meaning of Wagara - Traditional Japanese Patterns

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Though new Wagara have emerged throughout history, there are several traditional designs regarded as "the originals". Seigaiha (青海波) translates to "blue ocean waves" and is a geometric design representing water. It is formed using overlapping concentric circles to form a series of arches or scales.

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Emerging in the mid 1950s in Britain and late 1950s in America, pop art reached its peak in the 1960s. It began as a revolt against the dominant approaches to art and culture and traditional views on what art should be. Young artists felt that what they were taught at art school and what they saw in museums did not have anything to do with their lives or the things they saw around them every day. Instead they turned to sources such as Hollywood movies, advertising, product packaging, pop music and comic books for their imagery.

In 1957 pop artist Richard Hamilton listed the 'characteristics of pop art' in a letter to his friends the architects Peter and Alison Smithson:

Pop Art is: Popular (designed for a mass audience), Transient (short-term solution), Expendable (easily forgotten), Low cost, Mass produced, Young (aimed at youth), Witty, Sexy, Gimmicky, Glamorous, Big business

Modernist critics were horrified by the pop artists' use of such 'low' subject matter and by their apparently uncritical treatment of it. In fact pop both took art into new areas of subject matter and developed new ways of presenting it in art and can be seen as one of the first manifestations of postmodernism.

American pop vs. British pop

Although they were inspired by similar subject matter, British pop is often seen as distinctive from American pop.

Early pop art in Britain was fuelled by American popular culture viewed from a distance, while the American artists were inspired by what they saw and experienced living within that culture.

In the United States, pop style was a return to representational art (art that depicted the visual world in a recognisable way) and the use of hard edges and distinct forms after the painterly looseness of abstract expressionism. By using impersonal, mundane imagery, pop artists also wanted to move away from the emphasis on personal feelings and personal symbolism that characterised abstract expressionism.

In Britain, the movement was more academic in its approach. While employing irony and parody, it focused more on what American popular imagery represented, and its power in manipulating people's lifestyles. The 1950s art group The Independent Group (IG), is regarded as the precursor to the British Pop art movement.

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Tate glossary definition for pop art: Name given to art made in America and Britain from the mid 1950s and 1960s that drew inspiration from sources in popular and commercial culture

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Corita Kent: The Pop Art Nun | Artbound | KCET

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'He's telling a story of his time': how Bill Traylor, born into slavery, became an art titan

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His works look simple but I feel the real vitality in them. I realized that the most touching pictures usually come from "know nothing".
His work reminds me of ancient Egyptian wall art. He drew a lot of animals such as snakes, dogs, etc. The people might be different because of the hat that shows the time.
And also because of a lack of skills, his work also has no relationship between the light and the shadow, just the shape.
They are beautiful, I can watch them for a whole day.

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ill Traylor had already lived a full life before he was born as an artist. Enslaved at birth on an Alabama cotton plantation in 1853 and having spent his entire life as a farmer within a 40-mile radius of Montgomery, it was only in his late 80s that he, homeless and alone, parked himself by a bustling intersection in the state capitol's segregated black neighborhood and began to draw and paint.

Across discarded scraps of cardboard - candy-box tops, old window advertisements - swept memories from his plantation days and scenes of the rapidly shifting cityscape swirling about him. More than a thousand striking, minimalist artworks flowed from his hands in the three years between 1939 and 1942, a rich trove that remains the only significant body of drawings and paintings by a person enslaved at birth.

The new film Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts introduces to a wider audience one of the most important American artists of the 20th century, whose life traversed slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, the Great Migration and each's accompanying tumultuous social and political upheaval. As the art critic Roberta Smith proclaims in the film, Traylor is "probably the greatest artist you've never heard of".

Film-maker Jeffrey Wolf clearly remembers his first exposure to Traylor's work, just before the landmark 1982 exhibition Black Folk Art in America, 1930-1980, at Washington DC's Corcoran Gallery. "They were unpacking the Bill Traylors, and that was my first glimpse of them, sitting on the floor before being hung," Wolf recalled recently to the Guardian. "They just knocked me out. I was in my early 20s, and they had this effect on me that never went away."

The film took nearly a decade from inception to completion, and one of the main challenges was research. "The records aren't very well kept, especially for poor, black, indigent people at the time," said Wolf, who in 2008 made a documentary about the deaf, self-taught 20th-century artist James Castle. "We really had to dig deep."

But the film-maker Sam Pollard, who directed this year's MLK/FBI and executive produced Chasing Ghosts, believes Wolf's documentary comes at just the right time. "In America, there's been an awakening about the deaths of black men and women at the hands of the police and the notion that this country's history of racism is deeply embedded," he said. "Here comes Jeff with a film about an artist who basically lived through all of these different periods and was living also in a place that becomes the center of a major turn in terms of civil rights with the Montgomery bus boycott. Jeff has created a film speaking to the past that is present."

And it illuminates the oft-overlooked Reconstruction period: Traylor's art is the sole body of work made by a black artist of his era to survive. "He's a chronicler," Wolf says. "He's telling a story of his time. And he was also a social critic of African American life, and the work's survival keeps that African American world alive as well."

Bill Traylor - Untitled (Yellow and Blue House with Figures and Dog) from the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Photograph: Bill Traylor Family Trust

Having never learned to read or write, Traylor devised his own visual language rooted not only in his personal memories but also in the folkways of African American culture at that time: singing and storytelling, survival and healing. "He put down this entire oral history in the language that was available to him, which was the language of pictures," the Smithsonian folk art curator Leslie Umberger says in the film.

Much of his work is oblique, perhaps because it had to be: it was extremely risky for African Americans in the Jim Crow south to express plainly any point of view. Part of the first generation of black people to become American citizens, he was raised in "Bloody" Lowndes county, infamous for the violence inflicted by whites against their black neighbors who sought to exercise their rights and legal freedoms after the civil war. But by employing symbolism, allegory and abstraction, he could address subjects from literacy to lynching.

Traylor himself is likewise an enigmatic figure - few photographs of him exist, and many gaps remain in his biography - but the film strives to encompass the man in full. Married three times and fathering some 15 children, Traylor was, in Wolf's words, at once "lusty, bawdy, resilient and resourceful, with an ability to fit big ideas into small spaces. [The film is] showing a complete life - he wasn't perfect."

Chasing Ghosts also situates Traylor's life and work in the context of the history at that time and place. "Montgomery is a place that has so much good history and bad history," says Wolf, who spent seven years of the film's production going back and forth between the south and his home in New York City. "The south is much more complicated than it appears. I was this white Jewish northerner, but I found common ground with so many interesting people. I would meet the most rightwing person, but when it came to helping me find the cotton field that I could shoot in, they would jump over backwards to help."

In addition to archival photographs and footage and perspectives from contemporary artists, curators, academics and Traylor's descendants, the film employs snippets of dance, poetry and prose to emphasize the themes in his life and work, and period music underscores the colorful, kinetic artworks' comparisons to blues and jazz. The acclaimed tap dancer Jason Samuels Smith was tasked with translating Traylor's art into dance, and drawings and paintings with figures' arms and legs akimbo are rhythmically montaged with Smith's choreography to dazzling effect. "I showed him Traylor's work, and he came up with poses from the drawings," Wolf said. "Then on a very hot night and a very hot stage, he just danced his ass off."

Bill Traylor - Untitled (Chase Scene) from the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Photograph: Bill Traylor Family Trust

"Some of these documentaries that used to be made about artists were, to be blunt, dull, just dull," Pollard added. "Jeff came in with some visual motifs and a point of view and took it to another level."

Although the first major exhibition of Traylor's work wasn't shown until 30 years after his death in 1949, he is now regarded among America's greatest self-taught artists (an imperfect qualifier, to be sure). The groundbreaking 2018 Smithsonian exhibition was the first major retrospective ever organized for an artist born into slavery; last year one of Traylor's works, a gift from Steven Spielberg to Alice Walker, sold for a record at auction. Scholars continue to study his work, and a lynching memorial and museum opened in Montgomery in 2018, mere blocks from Traylor's old perch.

But ambiguity persists in Traylor's work: is the white-face cat that appears in his more violent scenes a witness or a ghost? Is the stovepipe hat atop many of the figures a nod to Abraham Lincoln, as Pollard suggests? And perhaps the biggest mystery is why, in his final years of life, this prodigious output burst from him. Wolf admits he's stumped: "It's this transcendent moment when he put together these memories and ancestral roots and history and pours out all this work in a short period of time. It's kind of a phenomenon. That's something we didn't crack, but that's the magic for him, what he held on to, all those periods of time."

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'He's telling a story of his time': how Bill Traylor, born into slavery, became an art titan

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ill Traylor had already lived a full life before he was born as an artist. Enslaved at birth on an Alabama cotton plantation in 1853 and having spent his entire life as a farmer within a 40-mile radius of Montgomery, it was only in his late 80s that he, homeless and alone, parked himself by a bustling intersection in the state capitol's segregated black neighborhood and began to draw and paint.

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George Engelmann : botanical notebook 34: Euphorbia

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The Biodiversity Heritage Library works collaboratively to make biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.

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second try

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went to the V&A museum to see these treasures.
the outlines of the ceramics are really elegant and smooth

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Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 - 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptations of existing texts, or biographies, notably of composers of the Romantic era. Russell began directing for the BBC, where he made creative adaptations of composers' lives which were unusual for the time. He also directed many feature films independently and for studios.

He is best known for his Oscar-winning film Women in Love (1969), (1971), The Who's (1975), and the science fiction film Altered States (1980). Russell also directed several films based on the lives of classical music composers, such as Elgar, Delius, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Liszt.

Film critic Mark Kermode, speaking in 2006, and attempting to sum up the director's achievement, called Russell "somebody who proved that British cinema didn't have to be about kitchen-sink realism-it could be every bit as flamboyant as Fellini. Later in his life he turned to making low-budget experimental films such as The Lion's Mouth and Revenge of the Elephant Man, and they are as edgy and 'out there' as ever".

Russell was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England, on 3 July 1927, the elder of two sons of Ethel (née Smith) and Henry Russell, a shoeshop owner. His father was distant and took out his rage on his family, so Russell spent much of his time at the cinema with his mother, who was mentally ill. He cited the films Die Nibelungen and The Secret of the Loch as two early influences.

He was educated at private schools in Walthamstow and at Pangbourne College, and studied photography at Walthamstow Technical College (now part of the University of East London).

He harboured a childhood ambition to be a ballet dancer but instead joined the Royal Air Force and the Merchant Navy as a teenager. On one occasion he was made to stand watch in the blazing sun for hours on end while crossing the Pacific, as his mentally ill captain feared an attack by Japanese midget submarines despite the war having ended. He moved into television work after short careers in dance and photography.

His series of documentary ' Teddy Girl' photographs were published in Picture Post magazine in June 1955, and he continued to work as a freelance documentary photographer until 1959.

He started directing short films: Peepshow (1956), Knights on Bikes (1956), and Lourdes (1959). He received a lot of acclaim for his short Amelia and the Angel (1959), which helped secure him a job at the BBC.

Between 1959 and 1970, Russell directed arts documentaries for and .

He made Poet's London (1959, about John Betjeman), Portrait of a Goon (1959, about Spike Milligan), Gordon Jacob (1959), The Guitar Craze (1959), Variations on a Mechanical Theme (1959), Scottish Painters (1959), Marie Rambert Remembers (1960), The Strange World of Hieronymus Bosch (1960), The Miners' Picnic (1960), Architecture of Entertainment (1960), A House in Bayswater (1960), Shelagh Delaney's Salford (1960), Cranks at Work (1960, about John Cranko), The Light Fantastic (1960), Journey Into a Lost World (1960), Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill (1961), Old Battersea House (1961), Portrait of a Soviet Composer (1961), London Moods (1961), Antonio Gaudi (1961), Preservation Man (1962), Mr. Chesher's Traction Engines (1962), The Lonely Shore (1962) and Watch the Birdie (1962).

Russell's films began to get longer: Pop Goes the Easel (1962) and the much admired (1962) about Sir Edward Elgar. Elgar was the first time that a television arts programme ( Monitor) was dedicated to one artistic figure, rather than having a magazine format. It was also the first time that re-enactments were used. Russell fought with the BBC over using actors to portray different ages of the same character, instead of the traditional photograph stills and documentary footage.

Russell's first feature film was French Dressing (1964), a comedy loosely based on Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman; its critical and commercial failure led Russell to work further for the BBC.

For television he made the 16-minute Lonely Shore (1964), the longer (1964) (about Béla Bartók), and The Dotty World of James Lloyd (1964).

Russell had a noted critical success with the TV movie The Debussy Film (1965) starring Oliver Reed as Claude Debussy based on a script by Melvyn Bragg. Also well received was Always on Sunday (1965), written by Bragg, about Henri Rousseau.

Russell made Don't Shoot the Composer (1966), a documentary about composer Georges Delerue. He did the highly praised Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1967), about Isadora Duncan with Vivian Pickles.

Russell's television work prompted producer Harry Saltzman to hire him to direct a feature film, Billion Dollar Brain (1967), the third Harry Palmer movie starring Michael Caine. He wanted to follow it with a biopic of Nijinsky but Brain was a commercial disappointment.

He returned to television for Dante's Inferno (1967) with Reed as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Song of Summer (1968) about Frederick Delius and Eric Fenby. He once said that the best film he ever made was Song of Summer, and that he would not edit a single shot.

In 1969, Russell directed what is considered his "signature film", Women In Love, an adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's novel of the same name about two artist sisters living in post- World War I Britain. The film starred Glenda Jackson, Oliver Reed, Jennie Linden and Alan Bates. The film is notable for its nude wrestling scene, which broke the convention at the time that a mainstream movie could not show male genitalia. Women in Love connected with the sexual revolution and bohemian politics of the late 1960s. It received four Oscar nominations, including his only nomination for Best Director.

The film was BAFTA-nominated for the costume designs of Russell's first wife, Shirley; they collaborated throughout the 1970s. The colour schemes of Luciana Arrighi's art direction (also BAFTA-nominated) and Billy William's cinematography, which Russell used for metaphorical effect, are also often referred to by film textbooks.

Russell returned to television with Dance of the Seven Veils (1970) which sought to portray Richard Strauss as a Nazi: one scene in particular showed a Jewish man being tortured while a group of SS men look on in delight, with Strauss's music as the score. The Strauss family was so outraged by the film that they withdrew all music rights. The film was effectively banned from being screened until Strauss's copyright expired in 2019. It was shown in February 2020 at the Keswick Film Festival.

He followed Women in Love with a string of innovative adult-themed films which were often as controversial as they were successful. The Music Lovers (1971), a biopic of Tchaikovsky, starred Richard Chamberlain as a flamboyant Tchaikovsky and Glenda Jackson as his wife. The score was conducted by André Previn.

He followed it with (1971), a film so provocative that the producers Warner Bros. refused to release it uncut. Inspired by Aldous Huxley's book The Devils of Loudun and using material from John Whiting's play The Devils, it starred Oliver Reed as a priest who stands in the way of a corrupt church and state. Helped by publicity over the more sensational scenes, featuring sexuality among nuns, the film topped British box office receipts for eight weeks. In the United States, the film, which had already been cut for distribution in Britain, was further edited but never widely released theatrically in anything like its original state; the original, uncut version has only been shown in the U.S. at film festivals and art houses. In 2017, AMC Networks-owned horror film streaming service Shudder premiered the uncut version of the film for the first time on streaming.

British film critic Alexander Walker described the film as "monstrously indecent" in a television confrontation with Russell, leading the director to hit him with a rolled up copy of the Evening Standard, the newspaper for which Walker worked. The uncut version of the film remains censored.

Russell followed with a reworking of the period musical The Boy Friend (1971), for which he cast the model Twiggy, who won two Golden Globe Awards for her performance: one for Best Actress in a musical comedy, and one for the best newcomer. The film was heavily cut and shorn of two musical numbers for its American release; it was not a big success.

Russell wanted to make Little Sparrow, a film about Edith Piaf, or a biopic of King Ludwig of Bavaria but neither was made. Instead he himself provided most of the financing for Savage Messiah (1972). The film is a biopic of the painter and sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, who died fighting for France at age 23, in 1915, in the trenches during the First World War. The film stars Dorothy Tutin, Scott Antony, and Helen Mirren.

Russell announced a biopic of Sarah Bernhardt with Barbra Streisand but it was not made.

Russell worked with David Puttnam on (1974) starring Robert Powell as Gustav Mahler.

In 1975, Russell's star-studded film version of The Who's rock opera starring Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Elton John, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton and Jack Nicholson, spent a record fourteen weeks at the No.1 spot.[citation needed ]

Two months before was released (in March 1975), Russell started work on Lisztomania (1975), another vehicle for Roger Daltrey, and for the film scoring of progressive rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman. In the film, the music of Franz Liszt is stolen by Richard Wagner. Wagner's operas then put forward the theme of the Superman. Tommy and Lisztomania were important in the rise of improved motion picture sound in the 1970s, as they were among the first films to be released with Dolby-encoded soundtracks. Lisztomania, tagged as "the film that out-Tommys 'Tommy'", topped the British box-office for two weeks in November 1975, when Tommy was still in the list of the week's top five box-office hits.

Russell's next film, the biopic (1977), starring Rudolf Nureyev as Rudolph Valentino, also topped the British box-office for two weeks, but was not a hit in America. After this he said "nobody in Hollywood would give me even a B movie to direct."

Return to television and Altered States

Russell returned to television with William and Dorothy (1978) a look at the life of William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy, and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1978), about Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Russell went to Hollywood to make Altered States (1980), a departure in both genre and tone, in that it is Russell's only foray into science fiction. Working from Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay (based upon his novel), Russell used his penchant for elaborate visual effects to translate Chayefsky's hallucinatory story to the cinema, and took the opportunity to add his trademark religious and sexual imagery. The film had an innovative Oscar-nominated score by John Corigliano. The film enjoyed moderate financial success, and scored with critics who had otherwise dismissed Russell's work. Roger Ebert, who had given "zero stars", and had panned Russell's early composer portraits (he did, however, give three stars to both and Lisztomania), gave it his highest rating for Russell's work (three-and-a-half stars), praising it as "one hell of a movie!"

Although the film was a financial success Russell had difficulty making his next film. One project Beethoven's Secret was about to start shooting when financing fell apart at the last minute. He was attached to do the film of Evita for over a year, but ultimately left the project when he refused to cast Elaine Paige in the lead. A biopic of Maria Callas with Sophia Loren also failed to get financing. However Russell found himself artistically rejuvenated when offered the chance to direct some opera. He did The Rake's Progress, Soldiers and Butterfly.

Russell's next film after Altered States was The Planets (1983), about Gustav Holst's musical suite of the same name. This 53-minute film was made specially for The South Bank Show, the weekly arts programme of the ITV network in Britain. It is a wordless collage that matches stock footage to each of the seven movements of the Holst suite. John Coulthart wrote "familiar Russell obsessions appear: Nazis, naked women and the inevitable crucifixion." After essentially disappearing for decades, in 2016 the film was re-released on DVD by Arthaus Musik.

Also for The South Bank Show he did Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait (1984) about Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Russell returned to feature films with a sexual thriller, Crimes of Passion (1984), with Anthony Perkins and Kathleen Turner for New World Pictures. It had moderate critical success and did not perform at the box office, but was a big hit on video.

In 1985, he directed Gounod's Faust at the Vienna State Opera, conducted by Erich Binder with Francisco Araiza, Ruggero Raimondi and Gabriela Beňačková in the main roles. He did successful productions of La Boheme and Madame Butterly.

Russell set up a company, Sitting Duck, to make video clips. "Videos are a magic new art form," he said. Among the clips he made were Nikita for Elton John and Phantom of the Opera for Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Russell had a legal fight with Bob Guccione over an aborted attempt to film Moll Flanders which was dramatised in a movie, Your Honour, I Object! (1987).

Russell directed (1986) with Gabriel Byrne, about the night Mary Shelley told the tale of Frankenstein. It was a hit on video for Vestron Pictures who signed him to a three-picture contract.

Russell did one of the segments for (1987) and for British TV made Ken Russell's ABC of British Music (1988) and A British Picture (1989).

For the Vestron deal, he directed Salome's Last Dance (1988), a loosely adapted esoteric tribute to Oscar Wilde's controversial play , which was banned on the 19th century London stage. The cult movie defines Russell's adult themed romance with the Theatre of The Poor and was also notable for the screen presence of Imogen Millais-Scott as Salome.

He did two more for Vestron: The Lair of the White Worm (1988) with Amanda Donohoe and Hugh Grant, based on a novella by Bram Stoker, and The Rainbow (1989), another D. H. Lawrence adaptation, which also happens to be the prequel to Women in Love. Glenda Jackson played the mother of her character in the previous film.

He directed the opera Mefistofele (1989).

In the 1990 film The Russia House, starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, Russell made one of his first significant acting appearances, portraying Walter, an ambiguously gay British intelligence officer who discomfits his more strait-laced CIA counterparts. Russell thenceforth occasionally acted.

He directed a segment of Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990) and for TV did The Strange Affliction of Anton Bruckner (1991).

In 1991, Russell directed . It was highly controversial and branded with an NC-17 rating for its sexual content. The MPAA and the theatre chains also refused to release posters or advertise a film called Whore, so for this purpose the film was re-titled "If You Can't Say It, Just See It". Russell protested his film being given such a rating when Pretty Woman got an R, on the grounds that his film showed the real hardships of being a prostitute, and the other glorified it.[citation needed ]

The film Prisoner of Honor (1991) allowed Russell a further opportunity to explore his abiding interest in anti-Semitism through a factually-based account of the Dreyfus affair in France. The movie featured Richard Dreyfuss in the central role of Colonel Georges Picquart, the French army investigator who exposed the army establishment's framing of the Jewish officer Captain Alfred Dreyfus.

By the early 1990s, Russell had become a celebrity: his notoriety and persona attracted more attention than his recent work. He became largely reliant on his own finances to continue making films. Much of his work after 1990 was commissioned for television (e.g. his 1993 TV film The Mystery of Dr Martinu), and he contributed regularly to The South Bank Show including documentaries such as 'Classic Widows' about the widows of four leading British composers; dance sections in these were choreographed by Amir Hosseinpour.

Prisoner of Honor (1991) was Russell's final work with Oliver Reed. His final film with Glenda Jackson before she gave up acting for politics was The Secret Life of Arnold Bax (1992).

He directed Lady Chatterley (1993), The Mystery of Dr Martinu (1993), a version of Treasure Island (1995), Alice in Russialand (1995), Mindbender (1995) (about Uri Geller), and an episode of Tales of Erotica.

In May 1995, he was honoured with a retrospective of his work presented in Hollywood by the American Cinematheque. Titled Shock Value, it included some of Russell's most successful and controversial films and also several of his early BBC productions. Russell attended the festival and engaged in lengthy post-screening discussions of each film with audiences and moderator Martin Lewis, who had instigated and curated the retrospective.

Later films include (1998), The Fall of the Louse of Usher (2002), and Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle (2002).

Russell had a cameo in the 2006 film adaptation of Brian Aldiss's novel Brothers of the Head by the directors of Lost in La Mancha. He also had a cameo in the 2006 Colour Me Kubrick. He directed a segment for the horror anthology Trapped Ashes (2007) which also includes segments directed by Sean S. Cunningham, Monte Hellman, and Joe Dante. Prior to his death in 2011 he was reputed to be in pre-production for two films: The Pearl of the Orient and Kings X.

Efforts such as The Lion's Mouth (2000) and The Fall of the Louse of Usher (2002) have suffered from low production values (for example, being shot in video on Russell's estate, often featuring Russell himself) and limited distribution.

In 2003 he was a member of the jury at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival. He also acted in "Final Cut", an episode of the BBC television series Waking the Dead, playing the role of an aging director of a notorious 1960s crime drama similar to Performance.

From 2004, Russell was visiting professor at the University of Wales, Newport Film School. One of his many tasks was to advise students on the making of their graduate films. He also presented the Finest Film Awards (for graduate filmmakers of Newport) in June 2005.

Russell was appointed visiting fellow at the University of Southampton in April 2007, where he acted in a similar capacity to his role at the Newport Film School, until March 2008. His arrival was celebrated with a screening of the rare director's cut of The Devils hosted by Mark Kermode.

He began production of his first full-length film in almost 5 years, Moll Flanders, an adaptation of Daniel Defoe's novel, starring Lucinda Rhodes-Flaherty and Barry Humphries, but a finished film failed to materialise.

Also in 2007 Russell produced A Kitten for Hitler, a short film hosted by the Comedybox.tv website. Russell commented that "Ten years ago, while working on The South Bank Show, Melvyn Bragg and I had a heated discussion on the pros and cons of film censorship. Broadly speaking, Melvyn was against it, while I, much to his surprise, was absolutely for it. He then dared me to write a script that I thought should be banned. I accepted the challenge and a month or so later sent him a short subject entitled A Kitten for Hitler. 'Ken,' he said, 'if ever you make this film and it is shown, you will be lynched.' "

Russell joined Celebrity Big Brother in January 2007, at the start of the series, but left voluntarily within a week after an altercation with Jade Goody.[citation needed ]

Ken Russell and his wife Elize " Lisi" Tribble were invited by New York film writer Shade Rupe on a six-week journey across North America, beginning with a Lifetime Achievement Award given by Mitch Davis at the Fantasia film festival on 20 July 2010, followed by a screening of Russell's most notorious film, . The next day, a near complete 35mm print retrospective of Russell's work at the Cinémathèque québécoise including Billion Dollar Brain, Women in Love, The Music Lovers, Crimes of Passion, The Rainbow, , and many more found projection along with an exhibition of several of Russell's photographs from the 1950s. The next stop was Russellmania! at Lincoln Center, a nine-film overview of Russell's work from Women in Love through , with Russell present at each evening screening for a nearly sold-out weeklong festival. 30 July 2010, opening night, Russell was joined by Vanessa Redgrave for a 40th anniversary screening of and the next evening saw The Music Lovers and Women in Love projected with Ken in attendance. Tommy Tune joined Russell the next evening for The Boy Friend and followed the screening with a live stage dance number from the film.

The American Cinematheque in Los Angeles next hosted Mr. Russell at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica with screenings of and Altered States with Charles Haid and Stuart Baird in attendance, and and Lisztomania at the Egyptian the following evening. Director Mick Garris extended an invitation and Russell, Tribble, and Rupe joined the Masters of Horror for one of their rarified dinners. The tour wrapped up in Toronto at the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear and a packed screening of at the Bloor Cinema hosted by Richard Crouse.

In 2008, he made his New York directorial debut with the Off-Broadway production of Mindgame at the SoHo Playhouse produced by Monica Tidwell, a thriller by Anthony Horowitz and starring Keith Carradine, Lee Godart and Kathleen McNenny.[citation needed ]

Towards the end of his life, Russell was planning a remake of the 1976 erotic musical comedy Alice in Wonderland.

Russell converted to Roman Catholicism during the 1950s.

He was married four times. His first marriage, to costume designer Shirley Kingdon from 1958 to 1978, produced four sons and a daughter. He was married to Vivian Jolly from 1984 to 1991 (the wedding celebrant being Anthony Perkins, who had been ordained in the Universal Life Church); the couple had a son and daughter. He was married to the actress and former ballerina Hetty Baynes from 1992 to 1997; the couple had a son. His first three marriages ended in divorce. He married American actress and artist Elize "Lisi" Tribble in 2001, and the marriage lasted until his death.

Ken Russell died on 27 November 2011 at the age of 84, having suffered a series of strokes; he was survived by three wives (two ex- and one current) and eight children. Upon his death, he left his entire estate to his fourth wife.

Besides books on film-making and the British film industry, Russell also wrote A British Picture: An Autobiography (1989; published in the US as Altered States: The Autobiography of Ken Russell, 1991). He also published six novels, including four on the sex lives of composers - Beethoven Confidential, Brahms Gets Laid, Elgar: The Erotic Variations, and Delius: A Moment with Venus.

Mike and Gaby's Space Gospel is a science-fiction rewriting of Genesis. His last novel, also science-fiction and published in 2006, is called Violation. It is a very violent future-shock tale of an England where football has become the national religion.

At the time of his death, he had a column for in the Film section of times 2.

Before achieving success in the film industry, Russell was a stills photographer for a period. An exhibition displaying some of Russell's work was on display during the summer of 2007 in central London's Proud Galleries in The Strand, London. The exhibition, entitled Ken Russell's Lost London Rediscovered: 1951-1957, included photos taken in and around London, with many of the pictures being taken in the Portobello Road area of London. An exhibition Ken Russell: Filmmaker, Photographer ran at several galleries in 2010.

In the late-1980s, Russell directed the music video for " It's All Coming Back to Me Now", a song written and produced by Jim Steinman for his Pandora's Box project. The production featured a range of erotic imagery, including studded bras and spiked codpieces. He had also directed Elton John's video for " Nikita" which featured a scene of John wearing the same boots he wore as the Pinball Wizard in the film adaptation of The Who's .

Light-hearted references to Russell often allude to sexual and religious (frequently Catholic) images in his work.

In his 1973 novel The Honorary Consul, English novelist Graham Greene includes a passage in which a "Conservative Member of Parliament had described the British entry [in the Mar del Plata Film Festival in Argentina] by some man named Russell as pornographic."[citation needed ]

Ken Russell at the BFI's Screenonline

Savage Messiah - a Ken Russell site by Iain Fisher

Ken Russell's film on Delius, Song of Summer

Ken Russell on Television - British Film Institute. Video clips are restricted, but the text can be read.

Ken Russell Discussion Group : The Lair of Ken Russell

BBC Interview with Ken Russell and Tony Lane on Invasion of the Not Quite Dead (2008)

Ken Russell interview - BBC Film Network. Sept 2008

places that have inspired Russell's film-making - BBC

Ken Russell on his early career in ballet and photography (19 June 2010)

The musical legacy of Ken Russell John Bridcut, The Guardian music blog, 28 November 2011]

"10 Nude Scenes To Make You Cringe!" - Obsessed With Film blog, 16 November 2010

Trauma as Memory in Ken Russell's Mahler, by Eftychia Papanikolaou; chapter in After Mahler's Death, edited by Gerold W. Gruber, Morten Solvik and Jan Vičar, 72-89. Olomouc, Czech Republic: Palacký University, 2013.

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Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 - 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptations of existing texts, or biographies, notably of composers of the Romantic era.

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Choose your favorite euphorbia drawings from 39 available designs. All euphorbia drawings ship within 48 hours and include a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Euphorbia

Euphorbia serrata

Scientific classification

Kingdom:

Plantae

Clade:

Tracheophytes

Clade:

Angiosperms

Clade:

Eudicots

Clade:

Rosids

Order:

Malpighiales

Family:

Euphorbiaceae

Subfamily:

Euphorbioideae

Tribe:

Euphorbieae

Subtribe:

Euphorbiinae
Griseb.

Genus:

Euphorbia
L.

Type species

Euphorbia antiquorum

Subgenera

Chamaesyce
Esula
Euphorbia
Rhizanthium
and see below

Diversity

c. 2008 species

Synonyms[1]

Adenopetalum Klotzsch & Garcke

Adenorima Raf.

Agaloma Raf.

Aklema Raf.

Alectoroctonum Schltdl.

Allobia Raf.

Anisophyllum Haw.

Anthacantha Lem.

Aplarina Raf.

Arthrothamnus Klotzsch & Garcke

Athymalus Neck.

Chamaesyce Gray

Characias Gray

Chylogala Fourr.

Crepidaria Haw.

Ctenadena Prokh.

Cubanthus Millsp.

Cyathophora Raf.

Cystidospermum Prokh.

Dactylanthes Haw.

Dematra Raf.

Desmonema Raf.

Diadenaria Klotzsch & Garcke

Dichylium Britton

Diplocyathium Heinr.Schmidt

Ditritra Raf.

Elaeophorbia Stapf

Endadenium L.C.Leach

Endoisila Raf.

Epurga Fourr.

Esula (Pers.) Haw.

Eumecanthus Klotzsch & Garcke

Euphorbiastrum Klotzsch & Garcke

Euphorbiodendron Millsp.

Euphorbion St.-Lag.

Euphorbium Hill

Galarhoeus Haw.

Galorhoeus Endl.

Hexadenia Klotzsch & Garcke

Kanopikon Raf.

Keraselma Neck. ex Juss.

Kobiosis Raf.

Lacanthis Raf.

Lepadena Raf.

Leptopus Klotzsch & Garcke

Lophobios Raf.

Lortia Rendle

Lyciopsis (Boiss.) Schweinf.

Medusea Haw.

Monadenium Pax

Murtekias Raf.

Nisomenes Raf.

Peccana Raf.

Pedilanthus Neck. ex Poit.

Petaloma Raf. ex Boiss.

Pleuradena Raf.

Poinsettia Graham

Pythius Raf.

Sclerocyathium Prokh.

Stenadenium Pax

Sterigmanthe Klotzsch & Garcke

Synadenium Boiss.

Tirucalia Raf.

Tithymalodes Ludw. ex Kuntze

Tithymaloides Ortega

Tithymalopsis Klotzsch & Garcke

Tithymalus Gaertn.

Tithymalus Ség.

Tithymalus Mill.

Torfasadis Raf.

Treisia Haw.

Trichosterigma Klotzsch & Garcke

Tumalis Raf.

Vallaris Raf.

Ventenatia Tratt.

Xamesike Raf.

Zalitea Raf.

Zygophyllidium Small

Euphorbia is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the spurge family ( Euphorbiaceae). "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to the type genus), not just to members of the genus. Some euphorbias are commercially widely available, such as poinsettias at Christmas. Some are commonly cultivated as ornamentals, or collected and highly valued for the aesthetic appearance of their unique floral structures, such as the crown of thorns plant (Euphorbia milii). Euphorbias from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America, so they (along with various other kinds of plants) are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. Some are used as ornamentals in landscaping, because of beautiful or striking overall forms, and drought and heat tolerance.

Euphorbias range from tiny annual plants to large and long-lived trees. The genus has over or about 2,000 members, making it one of the largest genera of flowering plants. It also has one of the largest ranges of chromosome counts, along with and . Euphorbia antiquorum is the type species for the genus Euphorbia. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum.

The plants share the feature of having a poisonous, milky, white, latex-like sap, and unusual and unique floral structures. The genus may be described by properties of its members' gene sequences, or by the shape and form ( morphology) of its heads of flowers. When viewed as a whole, the head of flowers looks like a single flower (a pseudanthium). It has a unique kind of pseudanthium, called a cyathium, where each flower in the head is reduced to its barest essential part needed for sexual reproduction. The individual flowers are either male or female, with the male flowers reduced to only the stamen, and the females to the pistil. These flowers have no sepals, petals, or other parts that are typical of flowers in other kinds of plants. Structures supporting the flower head and other structures underneath have evolved to attract pollinators with nectar, and with shapes and colors that function in a way petals and other flower parts do in other flowers. It is the only genus of plants that has all three kinds of photosynthesis, CAM, C3 and C4.

The common name "spurge" derives from the Middle English/ Old French espurge ("to purge"), due to the use of the plant's sap as a purgative. The botanical name Euphorbia derives from Euphorbos, the Greek physician of King Juba II of Numidia (52-50 BC - 23 AD), who married the daughter of Anthony and Cleopatra. Juba was a prolific writer on various subjects, including natural history. Euphorbos wrote that one of the cactus-like euphorbias (now called Euphorbia obtusifolia ssp. regis-jubae) was used as a powerful laxative. In 12 BC, Juba named this plant after his physician Euphorbos, as Augustus Caesar had dedicated a statue to the brother of Euphorbos, Antonius Musa, who was the personal physician of Augustus. In 1753, botanist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus assigned the name Euphorbia to the entire genus in the physician's honor.

The plants are annual, biennial or perennial herbs, woody shrubs, or trees with a caustic, poisonous milky latex. The roots are fine or thick and fleshy or tuberous. Many species are more or less succulent, thorny, or unarmed. The main stem and mostly also the side arms of the succulent species are thick and fleshy, 15-91 cm (6-36 in) tall. The deciduous leaves may be opposite, alternate, or in whorls. In succulent species, the leaves are mostly small and short-lived. The stipules are mostly small, partly transformed into spines or glands, or missing.

Like all members of the family Euphorbiaceae, spurges have unisexual flowers.

In Euphorbia, flowers occur in a head, called the cyathium (plural cyathia). Each male or female flower in the cyathium head has only its essential sexual part, in males the stamen, and in females the pistil. The flowers do not have sepals, petals, or nectar to attract pollinators, although other nonflower parts of the plant have an appearance and nectar glands with similar roles. Euphorbias are the only plants known to have this kind of flower head.

Nectar glands and nectar that attract pollinators are held in the involucre, a cup-like part below and supporting the cyathium head. The "involucre" in the genus Euphorbia is not to be confused with the "involucre" in family Asteraceae members, which is a collection of bracts called phyllaries, which surround and encase the unopened flower head, then support the receptacle under it after the flower head opens.

The involucre is above and supported by bract-like modified leaf structures (usually in pairs) called cyathophylls', or cyathial leaves. The cyathophyll often has a superficial appearance of being petals of a flower.

Euphorbia flowers are tiny, and the variation attracting different pollinators, with different forms and colors occurs, in the cyathium, involucre, cyathophyll, or additional parts such as glands that attached to these.

The collection of many flowers may be shaped and arranged to appear collectively as a single individual flower, sometimes called a pseudanthium in the Asteraceae, and also in Euphorbia.

The majority of species are monoecious (bearing male and female flowers on the same plant), although some are dioecious with male and female flowers occurring on different plants. It is not unusual for the central cyathia of a cyme to be purely male, and for lateral cyathia to carry both sexes. Sometimes, young plants or those growing under unfavorable conditions are male only, and only produce female flowers in the cyathia with maturity or as growing conditions improve.

The female flowers reduced to a single pistil usually split into three parts, often with two stigmas at each tip. Male flowers often have anthers in twos. Nectar glands usually occur in fives, may be as few as one, and may be fused into a "U" shape. The cyathophylls often occur in twos, are leaf-like, and may be showy and brightly coloured and attractive to pollinators, or be reduced to barely visible tiny scales.

The fruits are three- or rarely two-compartment capsules, sometimes fleshy, but almost always ripening to a woody container that then splits open, sometimes explosively. The seeds are four-angled, oval, or spherical, and some species have a caruncle.

In the genus Euphorbia, succulence in the species has often evolved divergently and to differing degrees. Sometimes, it is difficult to decide, and is a question of interpretation, whether or not a species is really succulent or "only" xerophytic. In some cases, especially with geophytes, plants closely related to the succulents are normal herbs. About 850 species are succulent in the strictest sense. If one includes slightly succulent and xerophytic species, this figure rises to about 1000, representing about 45% of all Euphorbia species.

The milky sap of spurges (called "latex") evolved as a deterrent to herbivores. It is white, and transparent when dry, except in E. abdelkuri, where it is yellow. The pressurized sap seeps from the slightest wound and congeals after a few minutes in air. The skin-irritating and caustic effects are largely caused by varying amounts of diterpenes. Triterpenes such as betulin and corresponding esters are other major components of the latex. In contact with mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth), the latex can produce extremely painful inflammation. The sap has also been known to cause mild to extreme Keratouveitis, which affects vision. Therefore, spurges should be handled with caution and kept away from children and pets. Wearing eye protection while working in close contact with Euphorbia is advised. Latex on skin should be washed off immediately and thoroughly. Congealed latex is insoluble in water, but can be removed with an emulsifier such as milk or soap. A physician should be consulted if inflammation occurs, as severe eye damage including permanent blindness may result from exposure to the sap.

The poisonous qualities were well known: in the Ethiopian Kebra Nagast, the serpent king Arwe is killed with juice from the Euphorbia.

Several spurges are grown as garden plants, among them poinsettia ( E. pulcherrima) and the succulent . E. pekinensis ( Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is regarded as one of the 50 fundamental herbs. Several Euphorbia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), like the spurge hawkmoths (Hyles euphorbiae and Hyles tithymali), as well as the giant leopard moth.

Ingenol mebutate, a drug used to treat actinic keratosis, is a diterpenoid found in Euphorbia peplus.

Euphorbias are often used as hedging plants in many parts of Africa.

Among laypeople, Euphorbia species are among the plant taxa most commonly confused with cacti, especially the stem succulents. Euphorbias secrete a sticky, milky-white fluid with latex, but cacti do not. Individual flowers of euphorbias are usually tiny and nondescript (although structures around the individual flowers may not be), without petals and sepals, unlike cacti, which often have fantastically showy flowers. Euphorbias from desert habitats with growth forms similar to cacti have thorns, which are different from the spines of cacti.

The present taxon " Euphorbia" corresponds to its own former subtribe, the Euphorbiinae. It has over 2000 species. Morphological description using the presence of a cyathium (see section above) is consistent with nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequence data in testing of about 10% of its members. This testing supports inclusion of formerly other genera as being best placed in this single genus, including Chamaesyce, Monadenium, Pedilanthus, and poinsettia ( E. pulcherrima).

Genetic tests have shown that similar flower head structures or forms within the genus, might not mean close ancestry within the genus. The genetic data show that within the genus, convergent evolution of inflorescence structures may be from ancestral subunits that are not related. So using morphology within the genus becomes problematic for further subgeneric grouping. As stated on the Euphorbia Planetary Biodiversity Inventory project webpage:

Previous morphologically based delimitations of subgenera or sections within the genus should not be taken at face value. The genus is in fact rife with striking examples of morphological convergence in cyathial and vegetative features, which justifies a global approach to studying the genus to obtain a proper phylogenetic understanding of the whole group.... The bottom line is that a number of clades have been placed inside or outside of Euphorbia at different times... few of the subgeneric circumscriptions hold up under DNA sequence analysis.

According to a 2002 publication on studies of DNA sequence data, most of the smaller "satellite genera" around the huge genus Euphorbia nest deep within the latter. Consequently, these taxa, namely the never generally accepted genus Chamaesyce, as well as the smaller genera , Elaeophorbia, Endadenium, Monadenium, Synadenium, and Pedilanthus were transferred to Euphorbia. The entire subtribe Euphorbiinae now consists solely of the genus Euphorbia.

See List of Euphorbia species for complete list.

Euphorbia albomarginata - rattlesnake weed, white-margined sandmat

Euphorbia amygdaloides - wood spurge

Euphorbia antisyphilitica - candelilla

Euphorbia balsamifera - sweet tabaiba (Canary Islands)

Euphorbia bulbispina

Euphorbia caducifolia - leafless milk hedge

Euphorbia canariensis - Canary Island spurge, Hercules club (Canary Islands)

Euphorbia caput-medusae - Medusa's head (South Africa)

Euphorbia ceratocarpa - (Sicily and southern Italy)

Euphorbia characias - Mediterranean spurge

Euphorbia cotinifolia - copper tree

Euphorbia cyathophora - fire-on-the-mountain

Euphorbia cyparissias - Cypress spurge

Euphorbia decidua

Euphorbia dendroides - tree spurge

Euphorbia epithymoides - cushion spurge

Euphorbia esula - leafy spurge

Euphorbia franckiana

Euphorbia fulgens - scarlet plume

Euphorbia grantii - African milk bush

Euphorbia gregersenii - Gregersen's spurge

Euphorbia griffithii - Griffith's spurge

Euphorbia helioscopia - sun spurge

Euphorbia heterophylla - painted euphorbia, desert poinsettia, fireplant, paint leaf, kaliko

Euphorbia hirta - asthma-plant

Euphorbia hispida

Euphorbia horrida - African milk barrel

Euphorbia ingens - candelabra tree

Euphorbia labatii

Euphorbia lactea - mottled spurge, frilled fan, elkhorn

Euphorbia lathyris - caper spurge, paper spurge, gopher spurge, gopher plant, mole plant

Euphorbia leuconeura - Madagascar jewel

Euphorbia maculata - spotted spurge, prostrate spurge

Euphorbia marginata - snow on the mountain

Euphorbia mammillaris

Euphorbia maritae

Euphorbia milii - crown-of-thorns, Christ plant

Euphorbia misera - cliff spurge, Baja California, Southern California

Euphorbia myrsinites - myrtle spurge, creeping spurge, donkey tail

Euphorbia obesa

Euphorbia paralias - sea spurge

Euphorbia pekinensis - Peking spurge

Euphorbia peplis - purple spurge

Euphorbia peplus - petty spurge

Euphorbia polychroma - bonfire

Euphorbia psammogeton - sand spurge

Euphorbia pulcherrima - poinsettia, Mexican flame leaf, Christmas star, winter rose, noche buena, lalupatae, pascua, Atatürk çiçeği (Turkish)

Euphorbia purpurea - Darlington's glade spurge, glade spurge, or purple spurge

Euphorbia resinifera - resin spurge

Euphorbia rigida - gopher spurge, upright myrtle spurge

Euphorbia serrata - serrated spurge, sawtooth spurge

Euphorbia tirucalli - Indian tree spurge, milk bush, pencil tree, firestick

Euphorbia tithymaloides - devil's backbone, redbird cactus, cimora misha (Peru)

Euphorbia trigona - African milk tree, cathedral cactus, Abyssinian euphorbia

Euphorbia tuberosa

Euphorbia virosa - gifboom or poison tree

Euphorbia has been extensively hybridised for garden use, with many cultivars available commercially. Moreover, some hybrid plants have been found growing in the wild, for instance Rouy, a cross of E. amygdaloides × E. characias subsp. characias, found in southern France.

The genus Euphorbia is one of the largest and most complex genera of flowering plants, and several botanists have made unsuccessful attempts to subdivide the genus into numerous smaller genera. According to the recent phylogenetic studies, Euphorbia can be divided into four subgenera, each containing several sections and groups. Of these, subgenus is the most basal. The subgenera Chamaesyce and are probably sister taxa, but very closely related to subgenus Rhizanthium. Extensive xeromorph adaptations in all probability evolved several times; it is not known if the common ancestor of the cactus-like Rhizanthium and Euphorbia lineages had been xeromorphic-in which case a more normal morphology would have re-evolved namely in Chamaesyce-or whether extensive xeromorphism is entirely polyphyletic even to the level of the subgenera.

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Euphorbia Euphorbia serrata Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Clade: Tracheophytes Clade: Angiosperms Clade: Eudicots Clade: Rosids Order: Malpighiales Family: Euphorbiaceae Subfamily: Euphorbioideae Tribe: Euphorbieae Subtribe: Euphorbiinae Griseb. Genus: Euphorbia L. Type species Euphorbia antiquorum Subgenera Chamaesyce Esula Euphorbia Rhizanthium and see below Diversity c. 2008 species Synonyms [1] Adenopetalum Klotzsch & Garcke Adenorima Raf.

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Kara Walker: "A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby" | Art21 "Extended Play"

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The sugar and the sphinx， a really amazing combination.

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Kara Walker: "A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby" | Art21 "Extended Play"

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Kara Walker | Sweet Talk || Radcliffe Institute

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radcliffe institute for advanced study (college/university)

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Kara Walker | Sweet Talk || Radcliffe Institute

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In her lecture "Sweet Talk," the renowned artist Kara Walker explores the riddles of her life, work, and a 40-foot-tall sugar sphinx. Introduction by Lizabeth Cohen, Dean, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies, Department of History, Harvard University.

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1/2 Tracey Emin on Louise Bourgeois: Women Without Secrets - Secret Knowledge

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1/2 Tracey Emin on Louise Bourgeois: Women Without Secrets - Secret Knowledge

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Kara Walker - Fons Americanus at the Tate Modern

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Kara Walker - Fons Americanus at the Tate Modern

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In 1950s London, the Teddy Girls ruled the streets. The subculture emerged from the wreckage of a ravaged capital, with teenage girls forming their own fashion-focused gangs in the post-war debris. Also known as the 'Bombsite Boudiccas', the Teddy Girls could be found in all corners of the city - from Bethnal Green and Canning Town, to Tottenham and North Kensington.

Like their male counterparts, the Teddy Boys, these young women fused beatnik rebellion with Edwardian opulence. Think ornate bonnets with scuffed denim; silk neckerchiefs with Marlboro Reds; beer bottles with cameo brooches. They were a teenage subculture who - much like London in the years after World War Two - were reimagining their past, while also envisioning a bolder future.

In January 1955, photographer and filmmaker Ken Russell began documenting the Teddy Girls. The result was a series of striking black and white portraits, taken all over London, that capture the subculture at its peak. And fortunately, for the first time ever, these photos have now been collected and published in Teddy Girls; a new release from Happy Dancer, an imprint set up by Conor Donlon of Donlon Books and designer Roland Brauchli in lockdown.

The publication book comes with an afterword from fashion historian Mairi Mackenzie, who dissects the Teddy Girls' legacy, as well as their enduring appeal. "I am always drawn to the glamour we find in everyday life, the pleasure that we take in dressing up and going out, and the role that clothing plays in society and culture," she tells AnOther.

For Mackenzie, the Teddy Girl style remains as compelling today as it did over half a century ago. "They look great," she says, simply. "I know that's an obvious and seemingly fatuous thing to say but, even though I am a fashion historian, I have no real interest in quantifying or trying to break down why someone looks good. For me, that kills the joy of their look stone-dead."

Instead, she believes that much of the magic lies not just in their sartorial choices, but in the attitude that powered them: "I'm going to quote Ken Russell here because he summed up what made the Teddy Girls so great, better than I ever could; ' ... they were proud. They knew their worth. They just wore what they wore.'"
Teddy Girls is published by Happy Dancer and available at Donlon Books.

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"They Wore What They Wore": The Timeless Appeal of the Teddy Girls

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In 1950s London, the Teddy Girls ruled the streets. The subculture emerged from the wreckage of a ravaged capital, with teenage girls forming their own fashion-focused gangs in the post-war debris. Also known as the 'Bombsite Boudiccas', the Teddy Girls could be found in all corners of the city - from Bethnal Green and Canning Town, to Tottenham and North Kensington.

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Although these are among the first photographs to capture fledgling youth culture in London, they remained unseen for 50 years, and were only rediscovered in an archive in 2005. The exhibition, which also marks the 10th anniversary of The North Wall Arts Centre, runs from 1-18 February 2017. Admission is free.

Ken Russell has been described by film critic Mark Kermode as "someone who thought with his eyes"; Russell himself called his photographs his "still films". The images, all taken in 1955, are exceptional as they feature mostly girls, often staring directly and defiantly at the camera. As Russell said: "No one paid much attention to the teddy girls before I did them, though there was plenty on teddy boys. They were tough, these kids, they'd been born in the war years... they knew their worth. They just wore what they wore."

The teddy girls and boys are photographed on London streets, at funfairs, at stage doors, leaning on graffiti-covered brick walls, on derelict East End bomb sites and outside the Seven Feathers Club where they did the popular Ted dance, The Creep. Several of the images feature a strikingly contemporary looking 14 year old Jean Rayner - "she had attitude by the truckload", said Russell.
Via Creative Boom submission | All images courtesy of North Wall Arts Centre Main image: Elsie and Rose Hendon with Mary Toovey and Jean Rayner on an East End bombsite January 1955 © Ken Russell / Topfoto.co.uk

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Ken Russell's iconic photographs of London's Teddy girls discovered 50 years later

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Although these are among the first photographs to capture fledgling youth culture in London, they remained unseen for 50 years, and were only rediscovered in an archive in 2005. The exhibition, which also marks the 10th anniversary of The North Wall Arts Centre, runs from 1-18 February 2017. Admission is free.

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I discovered some of his pieces have the the sharp edge line.
So I tried to cut the shape of dog and horse to make the same effect.

I think the most important word is “silhouette “ in all his pieces.

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After I watched the ducumentary of Louise Bourgeois ,I made this little sculpture.  The name of the little sculpture is DISHES. It's also about my childhood . In my childhood, I washed dishes for my mum. Every time  I washed the dishes, it would take a long time, because I can lay the dishes up under the tap,  and make it a fountain.

I choose the candle at first because I think it will be easy to cut. But during the process, I found the leftovers just like snow, it looks like an ice sculpture  which is popular in the north of China where there is a city called Harbin. My father used to work there . But I stayed with my mother in our hometown. We would meet twice a year in the cold city. They would take me to see the ice sculpture.

This is a great piece of memory when I think back. It also never lost its magic.

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There are a lot of different ways to play with the printing. During this time i can see some possibilities in the future. I can do more than that.

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during the process I found it is no need to do a lot of details sometimes. sometimes less is more.

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Japanese patterns come in many forms and all have a hidden meaning. Very much found on the kimono and other Japanese clothing, they are called wagara. Most of the traditional Japanese patterns dates back to the 8th century and are inspired by nature, of which the symbolism is very strong in Japanese culture.
Would you like to know more about the meaning Japanese patterns? 🧐

In Japanese culture, there is a real language of patterns, each representing one or more Japanese symbols - the kimono wouldn't be so fascinating without these magnificent historical Japanese designs that constitute the richness of Japanese art. 🎨

Looking for the meaning of a specific pattern? Here is an overview of our article to help you out:

Japanese geometric patterns

Japanese floral patterns

Japanese animal patterns

Japanese patterns inspired by nature

Japanese patterns inspired by objects

Let's find out more about traditional Japanese patterns and their meanings now. 👇

Japanese geometric patterns

Geometric Japanese patterns are great classics found on many Japanese fabrics. They can be self-sufficient or serve as a background for a more elaborate pattern. Timeless, some geometric patterns are extremely ancient and yet still used today to adorn modern Japanese kimonos.

Seigaiha

Asanoha

Yagasuri (or Yabane)

Same Komon

Tatewaku (or Tachiwaki)

Kikkô (or Kikkoumon)

Shippo

Kanoko

Sayagata

The Sayagata pattern is derived from the swastika symbol 卍 which is named after manji in Japan. This symbol is closely related to Buddhism and represents the qualities of intelligence, strength and peace. It is a sign of good omen. Sayagata is derived from the word "saaya" which was used to designate a Chinese textile that already contained this geometric pattern.

Hishi

This Japanese geometric pattern consists of rhombs formed by several parallel intersecting lines. It has many variations, including the Hanabishi pattern which represents stylized chestnut flowers with petals forming a rhombus.

Igeta

This simple pattern represents small grids or sharps (or hashtags for the youth). It has no particular meaning, except that its name is formed from two Japanese words, well and beam. We can imagine seeing a well in the center of the four beams forming a cross.

Uroko

Kagome

Ichimatsu

The Japanese word ichimatsu simply means " checkered pattern" and represents an alternation of small squares of different colors. Originally, the word ichimatsu came from the name of a Japanese kabuki theater actor, Sanogawa Ichimatsu, who liked to wear costumes adorned with this simple pattern.

Mame Shibori

The Mame Shibori pattern is a polka dot pattern. In Japanese, the word Mame means both polka dots and beans as well as robust. Thus, simply by representing dots, the fabric also becomes a symbol of good health and long life.

Japanese flower patterns

In Japan, each flower has its own meaning according to its appearance and characteristics. Thus, each flower is associated to a specific Japanese symbol, a virtue, an emotion... Japanese also have a word to name this: Hanakotoba which means "language of flowers". Let's have a closer look at the most popular Japanese flower patterns.

Karakusa

The arabesques of this Japanese pattern represents a plant endlessly growing and spreading in many different directions. This pattern was introduced to Japan by China during the Nara period (710-794). Although it originally was just decorative, the Japanese made it the symbol of prosperity and longevity, and considered it as a lucky charm. It can also be associated with other plants or decorated with different flowers. The Karakusa pattern can be found on clothing but also on Japanese furoshiki; cloth squares used to wrap and carry objects.

Sakura

The cherry blossom, also known as sakura in Japanese, is THE emblematic flower of Japan. The cherry blossom marks the beginning of spring and occupies an important place in Japanese culture, to such an extent that there is even a tradition, called hanami, consisting in watching and appreciating the beauty of the cherry blossoms at the time of flowering. Represented on many fabrics, the sakura flower symbolizes softness, kindness and acceptance of the transience of beauty.

Kiku

Botan

Ume

Tsubaki

The camellia flower is very common in Japan and is easily recognizable thanks to its yellow stamens (center of the flower). There are many varieties and its meaning depends on its color. The red camellia symbolizes love (or bad luck for samurai), the white camellia symbolizes desire while the yellow camellia symbolizes expectation.

Nadeshiko (or Kaneshon)

Shoubu (or Hanashoubu)

The Japanese iris is recognizable by its long and elongated leaves with three drooping petals. As a pattern on a kimono this flower looks very elegant, but it has no particular significance.

Kiri

Kikyo

Hanabishi

The Hanabishi pattern is frequently depicted on samurai crests and represents flowers of the water chestnut, an aquatic plant of the Japanese swamps. This flower is composed of four diamond-shaped petals arranged around a circular center.

Asagao

Matsu

Matsuba

Take

Nanten

Although this plant is nicknamed "the sacred bamboo", the nandina has nothing to do with bamboo. It' s a small shrub with elongated green leaves, recognizable by its red berries. Japanese people plant a nandina next to the entrance of the house in order to protect the fireplace.

Hagi

When a pattern is composed of small leaves that resemble coffee beans, then it surely is the Hagi pattern that represents lespedeza, a legume very present in Japanese culture, especially in poetry. This plant is associated with the autumn season.

Susuki (or Obana)

This pattern features a grass design, the eulalie. Simple yet elegant, this plant appears to undulate with the wind. The eulalie pattern is found on fabrics, notably in fall landscapes.

Tachibana

With its leaves that stay green all year round, this Japanese citrus fruit forms a very pretty pattern that also symbolizes longevity.

Ginkgo

Fuji

In May, Japanese Wisteria blooms into magnificent clusters of purple flowers. This pattern is absolutely wonderful on a kimono.

Maru mon

Maru signifies circle or round in the Japanese language, a never-ending figure without end nor beginning, symbolizing eternity. This is not a plant itself but this pattern often depicts a plant with a rounded shape or a flower in a circle.

Shôchikubai

Akikusa

This floral composition includes seven fall plants including lespedeza, eulalie, carnation, morning glory and bellflower. These plants have already been mentioned in the previous patterns. The autumn season symbolizes beauty and nostalgia, it evokes a feeling of sensitivity for the ephemeral. This spiritual Japanese concept is known as " mono no aware".

Fukiyose

This pattern, related to fall, represents dead leaves blown away by the wind. This design is frequently associated with gingko leaves. The term Fukiyose is made up of two words: "fuki" which expresses dying and "yose" which means final movement. In fall, leaves die in a final movement by detaching themselves from the tree.

Japanese patterns that feature animals

In Japan there are many fascinating animals that occupy an important place in myths and legends. Some animals have a sacred and symbolic character which explains their presence on traditional Japanese patterns. In the following section of this article, let's take a closer look at the most common Japanese animal patterns.

Koï

Tombo

Formerly, Japan was known as Akitsushima, which literally means "the island of the dragonfly" (akitsu is an ancient Japanese word for dragonflies). At that time, Emperor Jimmu would have noticed that the main island of the archipelago resembled a couple of dragonflies. As a symbol of summer, the dragonfly is particularly appreciated by the samurai that uses it as a symbol of strength, courage and victory. Dragonflies have the peculiarity of only flying forward, as if they would never retreat in front of the enemy.

Chidori

Kujaku

The peacock is associated to love, education, good will and attention. With its long feathers and majestic appearance, the peacock pattern looks really pretty on kimonos.

Houou

Usagi

Kame

Kame stands for turtle in Japanese language and obviously symbolizes longevity due to its long life span. This slow-paced animal is also associated with wisdom, luck and protection.

Cho

Tatsu (or Ryu)

Fukurou

Tanuki

Oshidori

Japanese patterns inspired by nature

Just like plants and animals, the elements of nature also have an important place in Japanese folklore. Either with special significance or simply because they are appreciated for their beauty.

Kawa

The word Kawa stands for river and symbolizes continuity and future. Rivers and streams can be more or less stylized. If the pattern consists of wavy lines, they are probably rivers.

Kumo

Clouds, kumo in Japanese, can take many forms, from figurative to stylized. The meanings of the clouds are related to hope, change or the proximity of Gods.

Yukiwa

Nami

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

This famous Japanese print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa is the first depiction of the "36 Views of Mount Fuji" series created by the painter Hokusai. This painting represents a huge wave threatening three boats on the stormy sea. Mount Fuji rises in the background, calm and impassive, assisting the scene. This painting has become so famous that it can often be found on Japanese fabrics.

Kinkakuji

Kyoto's most famous Buddhist temple, the Golden Pavilion, or Kinkakuji, is a magnificent building covered with golden leaf. This temple can be found on Japanese fabric patterns.

Dokuro

Unlike what people might think, the skull and skeleton patterns on Japanese fabrics do not have negative connotations but rather are reputed to ward off evil and may be a representation of regeneration.

Japanese patterns inspired by objects

Last but not least, in this section of our article about traditional Japanese patterns, you will find a final list of patterns and ornaments inspired by everyday objects.

The Japanese fan is a symbol of prosperity, which is reinforced by its particular movement when opening it, reminiscent of a blooming flower.

Noshi

Temari

Tsuzumi (or Taiko)

The drum pattern stands for joy, celebration and festivities. The Tsuzumi is a particular Japanese drum with an hourglass shape. This instrument is used to musically accompany actors of the Noh and Kabuki theater.

Kasa

Umbrellas are both traditional and indispensable objects in the everyday life of Japanese people, and they still are today.

Hanaguruma

The Hanaguruma pattern represents small carts filled with flowers. Formerly this was a carriage used by aristocrats living around the imperial palace in Kyoto.

Genjiguruma

As a symbol of change, the Genji wheel evokes the imperial car. This wheel is often adorned with flowers. Its name originates from an important work in Japanese literature, The Saying of Genji. This work tells the story of a Genji, a son of an emperor that cannot claim the throne.

That's it! You now know everything you need about Japanese patterns

This detailed article offers a nice overview of the most popular Japanese patterns found in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Next time you meet up with friends or travel to Japan, you will be able to impress the people around you with your in-depth knowledge of Japanese patterns and their symbolism.

From now on, you will be able to select your kimono, yukata or other Japanese fashion accessories, not only based on the aesthetic criteria, but also with the underlying meaning of the patterns in mind. A whole new look at the Japanese world opens up to you!

Don't wait any longer and put your knowledge into practice by visiting our store!
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Japanese patterns come in many forms and all have a hidden meaning. Very much found on the kimono and other Japanese clothing, they are called wagara. Most of the traditional Japanese patterns dates back to the 8th century and are inspired by nature, of which the symbolism is very strong in Japanese culture.

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I found his animal especially dog only has the shape with two black round eyes.
I think the most special part is its red tongue.
It makes it more “dog”

And he often drew these things on discarded scraps of cardboard. So I draw these dog things on the same paper.

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What is Memphis Design Style and Why It Is Back In Vogue

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What is Memphis Design Style? The Memphis Design Style created by the Memphis Group is one of the most instantly recognizable design styles and blends art deco with pop art.

The Memphis Design Style created by the Memphis Group is one of the most instantly recognizable design styles and blends with pop art.

Whether you love or hate it, the Memphis Design movement initiated by the Memphis Milano group is still relevant in today's design scene and is making a comeback among influencers and tastemakers.

Back in the 1980s, a team of Italian architects and designers led by Ettore Sottsass, known as Memphis Milano, developed the retro design aesthetic known as Memphis Design. Because of their mutual dislike of the minimalist design style of the 1960s and 1970s modernism, the group of creatives set out to make postmodern furniture, fabric, patterns, ceramics, and other decorative objects inspired by art deco and pop art, bonding streamlined geometry and electric colors.

What is Memphis Design Style?

But do you know what is Memphis Design Style? The Memphis Design Style is a design movement born in the living room of Ettore Sottsass on the evening of December 11, 1980. Sottsass invited a group of 22 Italian architects and designers to discuss the future of design. In common, they disliked the simplicity of Modernism , its use of modest lines, bland shapes, and neutral colors.

While the artists were brainstorming in Ettore Sottsass's living room in Milan, Bob Dylan's record "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" was playing on repeat. 'Memphis' became the name for the group of Italian artists defying the harmonious post-war aesthetics standards.
'Memphis' names a contemporary city in Tennessee, USA, and ancient Egypt's capital city. This duality was hand in hand with Memphis Design Style aesthetics that merges the opulence of art deco with the aesthetics of 1950s kitsch and mass-produced pop art objects.

After the initial meeting, the Memphis Group gathered again three months later in 1981 to share hundreds of furniture, patterns, textiles, and objects that clash with the balanced proportions of Modernism. Therefore, the Memphis Design movement outlined the post-modernist aesthetic.

The initial critical reaction to the designs produced by the Memphis Group was not the best. The group's use of conventionally 'bad-taste' plastic laminate and clashing colors challenged the widely accepted design standards of the time. However, we can now look back on the designs created by the Memphis Group and recognize that they were ground-breaking. They marked a complete separation from the dark, overly tasteful, and serious design styles of the 1970s.

Ettore Sottsass left the Memphis Milano group in 1985. The collective of post-modernist architects and designers disbanded in 1987 since it became challenging to parallel the initial commercial success of their designs. Fast forward, the Memphis Design style is back.

Memphis Design Style Characteristics

The Memphis Design style is a retro aesthetic that opposes brutalism and post-war architecture, interiors, and product design. In this manner, the Memphis Design style lends the streamlined geometry of art deco design and the electric colors of day-to-day objects. Memphis Milano is often described as kitschy and tacky because it is characterized by bright colors, geometric shapes, strong patterns, stripes, clashing hues, abstract designs, and plastic laminate.

Why Is Memphis Design Style Back?

Memphis design began to reemerge in 2005 in Los Angeles. LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum Of Art) exhibited a survey of Sottsass' designs a year before he passed away.

Right after Sottsass' death, interest in what is Memphis Design style began to grow. It influenced high fashion houses like Missoni, Karl Lagerfeld, and Christian Dior, and the latter's 2011 collection helped kick-start the movement.

Fast forward to 2014, Nathalie Du Pasquier, a founding member of the Memphis Milano group, designed a collection of patterns for the fast-fashion giant American Apparel. Following the steps of American Apparel, in 2016, the brand Supreme released a series of skate decks and clothing designed by Alessandro Mendini, who took part in the first Memphis Design exhibit ever. A year later, the big box retailer West Elm joined the Memphis Design movement with a Du Pasquier-inspired collection designed by Brooklyn-based artist Dusen Dusen.

At the 2022 Triennale Milano, the Memphis Milano Collective showcased more than 200 objects and pieces of furniture designed and produced from 1981 to 1986 in an exhibition named Memphis Again. The exhibition curated by Christoph Radl points out that the Memphis Design style remains an iconic concept until nowadays.

Furthermore, the Memphis Design style became a predominant aesthetic in furniture and product design, graphic design, and interior design. Patricia Urquiola, Charles Zana, and Bells + Whistles are some of the top architects and interior designers who design Memphis Design interiors.

Almost 40 years since its influential debut, this design movement is back in vogue with its "Less is Bore" vibes.

Now that you know what is Memphis Design Style and why it is back, embrace the trend. Discover 5 Memphis Milano projects to inspire your journey through the style.

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What Is Memphis Design Style And Why It Is Back

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What is Memphis Design Style by the Memphis Group is one of the most instantly recognizable design styles and blends art deco with pop art.

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I colored my plastic cup to make it a memphis style thing

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Japanese traditional patterns can be found on kimonos, tenugui hand towels and all manner of other small Japanese items. Learning their names and origins reveals their auspicious meanings and the wishes for happiness that they embody. Here are some of the best-known traditional Japanese patterns.

Uroko (Scales)

The combination of triangles resembles the scales of a snake or fish. Samurai would wear clothing with the pattern as a talisman to protect themselves from harm.

Kōjitsunagi (Interlaced Kō Characters)

This pattern is named for the repeated use of the 工 ( kō) character. The way the interlocking characters seem to stretch into infinity is associated with good fortune, and the design is often used in kimono material.

Asanoha (Hemp Leaves)

Asanoha is a pattern representing hemp leaves. Hemp has strong vitality and grows vigorously without the need for a lot of care, so this pattern was often used on babies' and children's kimonos with the hope that they would grow up big and strong.

Yabane / Yagasuri (Arrow Feathers)

This design is based on hawk, eagle, and other bird feathers used in arrows. With their symbolism of aiming for a target, arrows have long been used as an auspicious pattern. And because, once shot, arrows do not return, in the Edo period (1603-1868) brides were given kimonos featuring this yabane pattern for good luck to ensure they would not need to return to their original family home.

In the late 1970s, Benio, the main character of Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern, a manga for teenage girls, wore this type of kimono while at school, and this led to its pairing with maroon hakama, a type of divided skirt, becoming a popular combination at graduation ceremonies.

Same Komon (Shark Skin)

This pattern is so named because its overlapping arcs of small dots resemble shark skin. It was used by the Kishū Tokugawa family, to which Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751) belonged.

Seigaiha (Blue Ocean Waves)

This pattern represents fan-shaped waves of the open sea. The name originates from the gagaku ancient court dance called Seigaiha, in which the dancers wear costumes with this pattern. There is a scene in The Tale of Genji where Genji dances the Seigaiha.

Shippō (Seven Treasures)

Circles overlapping in quarters resemble petals and each center forms a shining star. This pattern is regarded as auspicious for the prosperity of descendants, good relationships, and for bringing harmony.

Kikkō (Tortoiseshell)

This is an auspicious pattern derived from the shape of the tortoiseshell (hexagon), which represents longevity. Simple tessellation of hexagons leads to a wide number of variations, including Kikkō hanabishi, where the center of the hexagons form flowers, and Bishamon kikkō, created by joining three hexagons together.

Ichimatsu (Checkered)

This pattern has different colored squares arranged alternately and is similar to a gingham pattern. While it has been a common woven pattern since ancient times, it became known as Ichimatsu in the eighteenth century as the kabuki actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu liked to use it on his costume hakama. It features in the logos for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Tachiwaki / Tatewaki (Rising Steam)

Two curving lines represent steam gently rising. This was often used as a pattern on kimonos for people of high status in the Heian period (794-1185). Changes to the way the lines curve create variations such as Kumo tatewaku (cloud) and Sasa tatewaku (bamboo).

Karakusa (Winding Plant)

This pattern was introduced into Japan via the Silk Road; the vines stretching in all directions symbolize longevity and prosperity. For some reason, however, it has become well known as the pattern of the furoshiki cloth that robbers used to carry off stolen goods. It suggests that whichever house they broke into, the pattern was so popular that there was always a furoshiki with the pattern there.

Kanoko (Fawn)

This pattern gets its name because it looks like the spotted back of a fawn. It is created by hand using a tie-dyeing technique and is very labour-intensive, so a kimono with an all-over kanoko pattern is considered a luxury item.

Hishi (Diamond)

This is a pattern where geometrical shapes are created when two parallel lines intersect and can be found even on pottery from the ancient Jōmon period. Some of the many variations include Waribishi featuring four diamonds combined to form one and Hanabishi where flower petals have been shaped into diamonds.

Mameshibori (Pea Tie-dye)

This was the most popular pattern on hand towels in the Edo period. Mame is a play on words, meaning both peas or beans, as well as sturdy and healthy, so represents the hope of staying in sound health. Most mameshibori patterns these days are created using stencil dyeing or printing techniques, so the dots are regular. However, as the name shibori indicates, this pattern was originally handmade using a tie-dyeing technique, meaning the dots were once a more irregular shape.
(Translated from Japanese.)

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Japanese traditional patterns can be found on kimonos, tenugui hand towels and all manner of other small Japanese items. Learning their names and origins reveals their auspicious meanings and the wishes for happiness that they embody. Here are some of the best-known traditional Japanese patterns.