10 Questions Column: American Artist Dan Witz

Artist Dan Witz in front of his 'Fighting Dogs' diptych on the eve of the opening of his new exhibition in Rome. Photograph by Andreas Romagnoli

American artist Dan Witz’s exhibition has just opened as part of the Public and Confidential project at Wunderkammern Gallery in Rome. Renowned as a pioneer of Street Art, the artist answers Jeanne-Marie Cilento’s ten questions and sits for a photo shoot with Andreas Romagnoli during the installation of his new show in the Italian capital

UNSETTLING images of doors and grates offering a view of  people suffering behind bars are evocative works that form part of Dan Witz's latest exhibition. These pieces are an extension of the Wailing Walls and Dark Doings projects begun in 2012.  His powerful and effective Prisoner and Free Pussy (riot) series reflects Witz's meditations on freedom of thought and the expression of the individual, created in collaboration with Amnesty International.

Witz's new series called Natural History continues to explore the metaphor of doors that suggest the intersection of public and private spheres in repressive societies. The Wunderkammern show also presents his celebrated Animal Mosh Pits paintings that depict  instinctual savagery plus his portraits of girls with cell phones where personal feelings move from the private into the public realm.

Based in New York, Dan Witz began his career in 1979 and was at the forefront of the emerging Street Art movement. His objective was to challenge traditional canons of art, choosing to focus on urban art, creating installations on the streets of cities around the world. At the beginning of his career, the artist concentrated on hyper realistic paintings which developed into street installations using digital images which he painted over. 

Witz has had extensive formal training including studying fine art and design and has won many scholarships and prizes. Along with recognition from American institiutions such as the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts,  the artist has had exhibitions in galleries worldwide. 

1. What are you currently working on?

Before I move on to the easel for the winter, I hope to do a few more NYC installations from the street series, Natural History, that I premiered in Rome.

2. What inspires you for your creative work now?

Usually something simple from my daily life. The natural history pieces come from all the time I spend at zoos and aquariums with my two year old son.

3. How did you choose  painting, street art and installations as your creative metier?

Street art was my post adolescent rebellion against what I feared would be a limited future as a gallery artist. At some point in art school, it dawned on me that being a self supporting artist pretty much meant making objects to sell to rich people. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t have anything against art collectors, or artists who work expressly in that system; I just thought I would like more variety and adventure out of my art life.

4. Can you describe the experience, person or training that has had the greatest impact on your artistic career?

Without a doubt, the grafiteed subway trains in New York City in the late 1970’s. And the Clash. There’s some kind of dissonant alchemy between those two experiences that cracked my suburban mind wide open. I’ve been working off this ever since.

5. What do you find the most challenging aspect of your work?

Definitely these trips to European cities to do street art. It’s always an incredibly demanding and physical process. Usually I get off the plane and hit the street headlong, completely jet lagged, lost, overwhelmed, fulminating within some sort of surreal urban fever dream, and with absolutely no idea how or where I’m going to get my work up. To succeed I need to let myself into the moment and push past my limitations ~ like an athlete. I love it.

6. Where do you like to draw or create your initial ideas for your artwork?

I keep my sketchbook on the couch in my studio where I rest between painting sessions. And for some reason whenever I get on an airplane to go on a street art trip, my mind loosens and gets weirdly free and some surprises can happen in my sketchbook.

7. Do you have a set schedule of working creatively everyday or is the process more fluid?

Depends on where I am. If I’m home, yes, I’m in the studio every week day from 9am-4pm. Even though my studio’s upstairs in my house, I kiss my wife and kid goodbye like I’m some sort of commuter dad. If I’m traveling my schedule is more improvised.

8. What part of painting and/or creating street art and installations gives you the most happiness? Do you find your creative process is more rational or instinctive?

I like the description of successful creative people as having a “mind on fire, and a heart of ice.” I naturally have the mind on fire ~ the inspiration-part going ~ but I’ve had to develop and nurture the rational, scientific mind of ice thing. This has been a life long struggle and unfortunately (or fortunately) the more I master my production process, the more complicated it seems to keep getting.  I’m not sure if I should admit this but I honestly don’t think I could do the large complicated pieces I’m doing these days if it wasn’t for my brilliant studio assistant, Mika Kitamori. I mean this as a compliment when I say she has a, “mind of ice”.

9. Is there a town or place in the world you find inspiring?

I’m really loving Rome now. So many sustained contradictions—one of the few places besides NYC I could see myself living and working.

10. In this digital age what do street art and installations give us as contemporary art?

Just because I’ve been at it for a long time, this doesn’t necessarily make me a reliable spokesperson for Street Art. But with that, I can say that I like this art form because it’s not for sale, no one can own it, so it can exist independently of the compromises of consumer capitalism. It’s free. And in my opinion, an art form that’s not dependent on the market place for its bona fides is a real game changer in today’s art world. If I wanted to sound fancy I’d call it a “paradigm shift”. But, that said, when people find out I've been doing street art for 35 years , almost universally the reaction is something like, “Wow, that’s cool—but how do you make money?”

Dan Witz: Public and Confidential runs from 28th September until November 17th 2013 at Wunderkammern Gallery at Via Gabrio Serbelloni 124 Rome, Italy. Open from Wednesday to Saturday 5-8pm: http://www.wunderkammern.net/danwitz/danwitz.htm

Click on photographs for full-screen slideshow

Dan Witz takes a break from installing his new exhibition at the Wunderkammern Gallery in Rome

 Dogs Fighting (diptych) 2004. Oil and digital media on canvas, 122x122cm (x2)

Pussy Riot. London Grate. From the Free Pussy riot series 2013. Fine art Inkjet print on paper. Edition of 36, signed and numbered. 56x43cm

Pigeon Tower (diptych) 2002. Oil and digital media on canvas, 4 pieces, 111.5x111.5x0.3cm (x4)

Detail of Sleeping King Baby-Bedlam 2012. Oil and digital media on PVC. Edition of three. 158.3x58x1.1cm

Sleeping King Baby-Bedlam 2012. Oil and digital media on PVC. Edition of three. 158.3x58x1.1cm

Mika Bust Grate 2012. Oil and digital media on PVC, wood frame. Edition of six. 43x49.5x2.3cm 

Monica N.O grate 2013. Oil and digital media on PVC, wood frame. 34.5x48x3cm

Ruth Gagged Horizontal Bars 2013. Oil and digital media on PVC, wood frame. Edition of three. 186.5x70.5x1.5cm 

Sarah F Yellow Window 2011. Oil and digital media on PVC, wood frame. Edition of three. 91x97.5x1cm

Melissa 2007. Oil and digital media on canvas. 43.5x64x4.5cm

Laura 2008. Oil and digital media on canvas. 41.5x56.5x4cm 

Necropolis Door: Two Prisoners 2013. Oil and digital media on PVC., wood frame. 123.5x228.5x2.5cm

Running Dogs 2007. Oil and digital media on canvas, 106.5x81.5xx6.5cm

Add Necropolis Door: Natasha 2013. Oil and digital media on PVC, wood frame. 115.5x221x3cm

London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2014: See You Next Season!

Electric blue eyes and a silken black sheath on the catwalk at Liz Black's show for London Fashion Week SS14. Photograph by Limor Helfgott

London Fashion Week has a reputation for edgy and avant-garde design and Spring Summer 2014 was no exception. Limor Helfgott looks back at five exciting days of high catwalk drama at Somerset House in the British capital

MORE than Milan or Paris fashion weeks, London welcomes a broad range of experimental designers from around the world and is known to be one of the best cities to train for a career in the fashion industry.

The stand-outs this season were the flying bags at the Anya Hindmarch show, J.WAnderson's twisted jumpers for a tomboy look and Peter Pilotto’s explosive digital prints with a finale of a halter dress covered in mirror work and knitted materials.

The strong presence of Asian designers this season encouraged an oriental theme: J.WAnderson's clever origami-like fold dresses and Holly Fulton's florals with a dash of the East. Designer L'Wren Scott clashed modern designs with feminine and chic kimono dresses as a homage to traditional Japanese style.

The highly structured, powerful collection of David Koma was free of pastel colors or floral motifs ~ there were no delicate feminine creatures. The Koma woman is indeed a warrior, bound in armour of leather and neoprene.

Russian designer David Koma's new collection for Spring Summer 2014 was inspired by the Japanese martial art of archery Kyudo. “The key features are graphics, color-blocking and asymmetry,” said Koma after the show.

The designer's pieces evoke a strong and powerful woman ~ a modern day warrior. Clear references to Kyudo were made with the holes punctured into every garment. The highly structured, collection was free of pastel colours or floral motifs ~ there were no delicate feminine creatures. The David Koma woman is indeed a warrior, bound in armour of leather and neoprene.

The colour ranges were from black, white and powder blue to bold blocks of cobalt. Shapes were strong: origami-folded jackets with sharp blue and black collisions, A-line skirts with asymmetrical hems, graphic elements, prints, stripes and zigzags across the body. Dresses were spliced at the waists. Leather was the dominant fabric of the collection and every piece gave us a glimpse of skin in an innovative way.

Inspired by the London Aquarium the colour palette at Jackie Lee was adventurous with cyclamen teamed with eye-popping pink pouts on the models. 

Korean Jackie Lee's collection was brighter and lighter than previous collections by the designer. Inspired by a journey through the London Aquarium, the colour palette was adventurous with cyclamen teamed with eye-popping pink pouts on the models. Other colours were baby-blue, navy and white.

Simplicity was the designer's key theme but there were layers of meaning. The designer's inspiration was jellyfish and she used shiny fabrics with the occasional gleam of PVC and scale-like textures to help achieve an under the sea vibe.

Shapes include cropped boxy jumpers, sharp tailoring with high necklines, dropped waistlines and oversize blazers. In this era of minimalism this collection gives you what it promises – wearable, clever, graceful and clean-lined clothes.

The inspired collection by Tata Naka had powerful contrasts of textures and colours with a luxurious finish that suggested the beauty and lyricism of the work of the Ballet Russes.

Showcased on the final day of London Fashion Week on a set in a blacked-out basement studio in Somerset house, the Tata Naka presentation was inspired by the work of Sergei Diaghilev and his famed Ballet Russes. Diaghilev turned classical ballet on its head with bold choreography and graphic sets and was the first to collaborate with contemporary fine artists like Picasso, Matisse and Chagall.

Designers Tamara and Natasha Surguladze from Georgia used their trademark shapes and prints in a combination of vibrant colours and pastel tones. Classic silhouettes with modern patterns, geometric cut-outs and zigzagged edges made up the look this season. The inspired collection had striking contrasts of textures and colours with a luxurious finish that suggested the beauty and lyricism of the work of the Ballet Russes.

While Sergei Diaghilev was a starting point for the silhouette of the Tata Naka collection it had a modern twist. Voluminous sleeves and skirts created new shapes in a palette of ice cream pink, pistachio, peach and lemon, contrasted with primary splashes of red, blue and yellow.  

This season Michael van der Ham's collection was all about the dress with bare shoulders or feminine spaghetti straps, sheer detailing and patchwork or a peplum details below the waist.

Showing his collection at the Café Royal on Regent Street, Dutch designer Michael van der Ham's clothes were chic and elegant. Models walked on to the catwalk with minimal makeup and hair pulled back presenting his signature textures and famous patchwork.

The designer won last year's Fashion Forward sponsorship. This season his collection was all about the dress with bare shoulders or feminine spaghetti straps, sheer detailing and peplum details below the waist.

The colour palette was mostly monochrome, with neon yellow paint splatters of peach, grey and green to add a bit of colour. Lace and silk were layered with a brilliant mixture of fabrics and prints covered in mesh covered holes, Swarovski crystal embroidery and jewel embellishments.

 Almost entirely monochrome, the collection by Erdem was enlivened by splashes of yellow and lavender, giving a Parisian feel to the show.

I just loved everything about the new Erdem collection, said to be a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge. Stunning feminine gowns were presented while a grand piano and cello accompanied the models on the runway creating a stylish ambiance. Almost entirely monochrome, the collection was enlivened by dashes of yellow and lavender, giving a Parisian feel to the collection. 

Designer Erdem Moralioglu from Canada used shimmering white satin silk, feathers, floral quilting and appliqué lace on boucle skirts and crisp white shirts which were teamed with sheer black organza, buttoned-up collars and embroidered bomber jackets. It was a tone down from last season's edgier collection for the designer. The mix of textures - sheer contrasted with heavier tweed ~ made this collection perfect with it's monochromatic palette.

Urban chic was the key motif at Eudon Choi with oversized coats, A-line skirts, beautifully draped asymmetric dresses in stripe and block colors along with Japanese-style kimonos and silk trousers.

Although Eudon Choi is known for precision tailoring and is a menswear graduate – it was all about the girls this season and there were very few masculine elements in the collection. It was all delicate and intensely feminine, inspired by the tragic story of Princess Deokhye who was forced into marrying a Japanese prince.

Urban chic was a motif with over sized coats, A-line skirts, beautifully draped asymmetric dresses in stripe and block colours along with Japanese-style kimonos, silk trousers and robe combinations tied with a cord but with low necklines to give it a modern touch. One of the outstanding pieces was a white strapless gown that was reminiscent of a chima or traditional Korean skirt.

The colour palette was delicate and included bright floral prints teamed with stripes in coral, white, magenta, navy and pink.

The innovative design duo of Latvian Fyodor Podgorny and Israeli Golan Frydman presented a chic, ultra feminine collection where colour was brilliant ~ from the sunniest yellow to pink and contrasting soft pastel hues of mint, baby blue and nude.

The Fyodor Golan SS14 collection Electric Children was inspired by bikers and joggers crossing Waterloo Bridge alongside the river. The innovative design duo of Latvian Fyodor Podgorny and Golan Frydman from Israel presented a chic, ultra feminine collection where colour was brilliant ~ from the sunniest yellow to pink and contrasting soft pastel hues of mint, baby blue and nude.

The looks were completed with Tresor Paris beads in a range of muted tones both embellishing and structuring the shapes of the collection. The luxurious beads were sewn to the tops and dresses also adding texture along with feathers, snakeskin and sheer flowing fabrics.

For me, the standout was a bandeau top made of rings of yellow smiley faces, which added a funky edge to the show together with the soundtrack of Heroes playing by David Bowie.

Beading, feminine shift and tube dresses at Mary Katrantzou featured large inverted pleated layers, skater silhouettes covered in ruffles and feathers and mini cocktail dresses shaped like cupcakes.

Turning sports clothes into feminine and flirty fashion, this season Greece's Mary Katrantzou created bold colourful digital prints also on to shoes including brogues, trainers and slippers.

The collection was full of blown-up details from the collaboration between the designer and French embroidery house Maison Lesage. Beading, feminine shift and tube dresses featured large inverted pleated layers, skater silhouettes covered in ruffles and feathers and mini cocktail dresses shaped like cupcakes.

Models walked to the sounds of She's a Rainbow by the Rolling Stones. Katrantzou's prints in neon purple, fluorescent green, electric blue and acid yellow and pink ruled the catwalk and each  looked unique.

 Fashionistas pause in London on the way to see shows for LFW SS14

Bold colour combinations make this father and son combo stand out at the entrance to LFW at Somerset House.

Striking a pose for the waiting cameras outside London Fashion Week's headquarters at Somerset House

Taking the Shalwar Kameez into a new urban realm with opaque black spectacles and felt hat outside LFW 

Perspex heels and an umbrella lined with lace were the accessories for this fashionista battling London's bleak fashion week weather

The Nuts and Bolts of Fashion: Jewellery Designer Yaniv Baranes

Yaniv Baranes new collection of jewellery creates a connection between the industrial and the feminine. 

Fashion correspondent Limor Helfgott interviews designer Yaniv Baranes at his Tel Aviv studio and discovers that hardware and fashion definitely go together. As a young boy, the Israeli grew up surrounded by the nuts, bolts and springs of his father's factory. He never imagined he would one day be making jewellery from them. Special editorial photography for Design & Art Magazine by Sherban Lupu with model Nela Samokovlija

YANIV Baranes was always an artistic child and at his father's factory he was given full rein to explore the interesting materials. But the designer went on to study economics, planning to work in the business sector of the family firm. After graduating, he yearned for a more creative career and decided to study interior design and began designing interiors with a strong industrial aesthetic.

The idea of creating jewellery and fashion accessories began when he was producing an exhibition for one of his university professors. “I was fascinated by the materials I was using which were foreign to me as an interior designer,'' Baranes says. "I was drawn by the gentleness of using textiles instead of the wood and concrete I worked with as an interior designer.”

When Baranes was designing his own apartment he created a net curtain made from different types of springs from his father's factory with the idea of designing a large abstract lamp. “I brought the net home and my sister caught a glimpse of it and immediately wrapped it around her hand. She asked if I could make a bracelet for her. 

“I learnt from making that first bracelet how much pleasure I had creating jewellery for women from industrial pieces which have no connection to fashion and femininity until they are linked together to create something entirely different," says Baranes.  

Baranes new collection of jewellery called Springs Project is made entirely from springs, locks, washers and bolts. The range has been a great success but the designer says he still has a lot to learn in the fashion and accessories world and is starting a masters degree in Fashion and Textile Design: “I am always looking for new ideas and one of my goals when I am studying is to come up with other new projects in the fashion field.”

Fashion styling: Limor Helfgott. Make-up: Yael Madmon. Model: Nela Samokovlija. 

Click on photographs for full-screen slideshow

Yaniv Baranes designing his jewellery collection at his studio in Tel Aviv. Always an artistic child, at his father's factory he was given full rein to explore the interesting materials.

Baranes new collection of jewellery called Springs Project is made entirely from springs, locks, washers and bolts.

The idea of designing jewellery and fashion accessories began when he was producing an exhibition for one of his university professors. “I was fascinated by the materials I was using which were foreign to me as an interior designer.''  

When Baranes was designing his own apartment he created a net curtain for a lighting piece made from different types of springs from his father's factory. “I brought home the net home and my sister caught a glimpse of it and immediately wrapped it around her hand. She asked if I could make a bracelet for her.”  

“I learnt from making that first bracelet how much pleasure I had creating jewelry for women from industrial pieces which have no connection to fashion and femininity until they are linked together to create something entirely different," says Baranes.  

The Springs Project has been a great success but the designer says he still has a lot to learn about the fashion and accessories world and is starting a masters degree in Fashion and Textile Design.

New Architecture: Festival Hall Tiroler Festspiele Austria

Folded like an origami bird of prey, Austria’s new Festival Hall crouches among the hills of the Tyrol looking ready to take flight, writes Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photographs by Brigida González

Designed by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects the building’s geometry follows the natural landscape of the surrounding hills and rock formations in Erl. The new Festival Hall is a winter concert venue for the Tyrol Festival. It's sharp, soaring lines offer a contrapuntal foil to the 1950s curving white building already on the site. The Passionsspielhaus, or 'Passion Playhouse'  hosts summer operas and orchestras and sits across a grassy hillock from the new building. 

The staircase leading into DMAA's  Festival Hall is integrated into the terrain’s topography and the enormous white foyer allows you to gaze at the surrounding green hills and look out to the white summer playhouse nearby.

The architects designed the configuration of their monolithic building like a tectonic stratification, with the 'crevices' and 'faults'  showing the way into the interior. During the evening, the incisions and folds of the façade allow slanting views into the brilliant white foyer.

A staircase leads up to a gallery on the next level and inside and out are brought together by the glass-fronted western façade. Pathways lead through the building, narrowing and widening with different ceiling heights creating a sense of the land's geometry.

The concert hall is located at the centre of the building like a shell anchored to the rock. The dynamic asymmetry of the foyer is deliberately contrasted with the peace and ordered space of the wood-lined auditorium. Delugan Meissl Associated Architects won a competition in 2007 to design the concert hall and it was completed at the end of last year. 

The embracing, wooden interior of the dynamic new auditorium

The asymmetrical, all-white entrance foyer 

The curving 1950s playhouse that offers a complete contrast to the sharp, soaring planes of the new Festival Hall 

Western glass facade of the building leading into the entrance

 Looking out from the new Festival Hall to the surrounding mountains of the Tyrol