The Never-ending Film Festival

The Lawrence/Douglas County Chapter of the Kansas Equality Coalition will be hosting FREE films every few months as part of their Never-ending Film Festival. This Thursday, July 30th, 7pm at Liberty Hall (646 Massachusetts) the Coalition presents the winner of the 1998 Golden Globe Best Foreign Film award “Ma Vie en Rose” (“My Life In Pink”). Check back at The Rathaus or on the Kansas Equality Coalition of Lawrence website for future showing dates and titles.

posted by: Tricia Rock

Style Icon: Georgia May Jagger

It’s no wonder Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall produced beautiful children, however, beauty does not always equal style. Seventeen-year-old Georgia May Jagger, the pair’s youngest daughter, may have garnered some attention with her unique beauty and famous folks but has only come to the forefront of fashion through wise-beyond-her-years style. Georgia May, who recently signed with a top modeling agency, creates looks that are simple and chic yet always with a slight twirk or edge that sets her apart from your everyday fashionista. With a Hudson Jeans campaign, a feature in Vogue Paris, and a Women’s Wear Daily profile to kick off her career, I think we will be seeing much more of Georgia May Jagger.

Georgia May Jagger in the August 09 issue of Vogue Paris

Georgia May Jagger for Hudson Jeans

Artist Shout Out: Species by the Thousands

On a recent trip to NYC I had the pleasure of attending the Brooklyn Flea. Besides holding the title of one of the best centralized locations for rummaging through endless isles of unique vintage finds from across the country (according to me), the Brooklyn Flea also gives the chance for emerging designers to showcase their goods.

Enter Species by the Thousands. As my (3 hour) tour of the Flea was coming to a close, I hadn’t yet settled on a souvenir for Mr. Brent Carter (founder/director of The Rathaus). And that’s when I stumbled upon this wonderful booth. With a focus on the eco-friendly, Species by the Thousands “combines painting, drawing and design to create a variety of jewelry and printed wares made from sustainable materials such as vintage, reclaimed metals, organic and recycled fibers.” Ordinarily I choose to support eco-friendly designers more for their social consciousness than their design aesthetic, however this Brooklyn based company headed by Erica Bradbury knows how to do it right. I was immediately drawn to their quirky and humorous prints and jewels before I had even learned of their focus on sustainable design. And for Bradbury, being eco-friendly isn’t just a passing fad but a way of life. “I hope people actually think it’s important and not just a passing trend—that the shift of interest is because of necessity. I hope in the near future every designer is eco-friendly so that we don’t have to even use the term, it’s just understood,” (Paste Magazine).

I was happy to end my afternoon at the Brooklyn Flea by purchasing a souvenir for Carter from these wonderfully nice people. I settled on the Bearded Man t-shirt (top photo, 3rd from the left), which for anyone curious, is actually eerily similar to the way he looks.

Check out the Species by the Thousands online store on Supermarket. And if you’re in the New Jersey area July 31 – August 2, Species by the Thousands will be selling their goods at the All Points West Music Festival.

posted by: Tricia Rock

River To Well Photo Competition

From the organizers:
It is said that 1.1 billion people on this planet do not have access to clean and safe drinking water, that is one in six people. It is also said that 80% of all sickness and disease is a result of unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation. This planet is 70% water, but only 2.5% of it is freshwater. Of that 2.5%, only .4% is accessible from surface lakes and rivers. 30% of fresh water lies in underwater aquifers. The only way to get to those aquifers is to drill wells.

A community of passionate people came together to create a fundraiser in the form of a photo competition. In partnership with local Lawrence, KS businesses and artists, we are ready to change the world and fight the water crisis one photo at a time.

Our goal is simple. Use 100% of the photo competition entry fees to fund the building of a well in the Limpopo province of South African and hopefully other villages too. We are seeking other passionate people with talent and creativity to help create the photo competition as well as ask businesses to be involved by donating prizes, funds, or services, as well as, organizations and individuals to create buzz and participate.

The River to Well Outdoor Exhibition will be displayed on October 10-11th during the Lawrence ArtWalk.

Learn more about the River To Well Competition here.

posted by: Brent Carter

Artist Shout Out: Victor Castillo

Moonshadow, Acrylic on canvas, 2009

Artist’s Statement: (via Merry Karnowsky Gallery)
After his successful exhibition in Roq la Rue gallery in Seattle last year, Chilean-born, Barcelona-based artist Victor Castillo shows his particular vision of western society with Merry Karnowsky for the second time in the US. Expansive politics –bombing, invasion and imposition of the self culture in foreign countries–, racism, omnipresence of violence, weapons culture or extremist Catholicism are some of the subjects of his new series of paintings. He depicts decadent aspects from our society through the use of an apocalyptical visual poetry. Once again, children are the main actors in the artworks, and the games that they play are far beyond ethical correction. They portray dark scenes where toys become weapons and cruelty replaces innocence. They act as metaphors but are actually not so far from reality when compared to facts like the trends in youth towards broadcasting their own violence and executing brutality without compassion or recognition of actual consequences.

The landscapes in this new body of work are baroque or “romantic”, and refer somewhat to a lost paradise or the Promised Land having become a sinister playground: Gameland. With a lighting atmosphere that could belong to sunrise or sunset equally, darkness prevails as the best panorama to hide questionable acts. On this occasion, the language that he uses is more direct: in contrast with the dark backgrounds, colors are vivid and create iconic images, bringing him closer to illustrative aesthetics. His allusions to politics are more obvious than they used to, and there’s clear references to classic movies such as “The Shining” or Hitchcock’s “The Birds”.

Victor Castillo’s “Gameland” is on display at Merry Karnowsky until August 8, 2009.