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Project Highlights: Samurai Armor

Ed Marquand

Few art forms are as universally popular as Japanese samurai armor. Graphic, bold, refined, and theatrical, this exquisitely crafted material has inspired designers and artists for centuries. From Yoshitoshi, the father of modern Japanese manga style, to George Lucas’s iconic Star Wars costuming, its influence is thoroughly integrated into our cultural aesthetic.

Marquand Books produced English and French editions of Art of Armor: Samurai Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection. Published in association with Yale University Press, this 320-page book showcases more than 300 images. These illustrations allow readers to see the intricacies of samurai armor, and captions include the weight and measurements for each piece. Jeff Wincapaw of Marquand Books designed the book, and Brad Flowers photographed the work. Essays were written by John Anderson, Ian Bottomley, Sachiko Hori, Gregory Irvine, Eric Meulien, Morihiro Ogawa, John Stevenson, and Stephen Turnbull; Bernard Fournier-Bourdier authored the catalogue entries.

The Barbier-Mueller collection is currently on display at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris until the end of this month. The show then opens in April at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Quebec and will be on view until January 2013. In Dallas, the Barbier-Muellers renovated a former Catholic school into a handsome museum, where the collection will be permanently housed.

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Paper Jewels

Visit Paper Hammer Gallery this weekend for a preview of the new exhibition, “Paper Jewels,” featuring jewelry transformed from paper to wearable art.

Artists include:

Alejandra Koreck (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Sabrina Meyns (County Waterford, Ireland)

Sara Owens (Seattle, WA)

Cynthia Rohrer (Oakland, CA)

Midori Saito (Seattle, WA)

Laura Wood (San Antonio, TX)

“Paper Jewels”                 

Preview dates: Friday, January 13, 2–6 p.m.; Saturday, January 14, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday, January 20, 2–6 p.m.; Saturday, January 21, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday, January 27, 2–6 p.m.; Saturday, January 28, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

Opening reception: Thursday, February 2, 2011, 5–7 p.m.

Paper Hammer Gallery shares space with Marquand Books at 1400 Second Avenue in downtown Seattle.

A Museum of Museums

“Visit more museums.” That resolution is bound to be included on the 2012 lists of a lot of people. The experience of viewing art—especially in a culture of economic crisis and cultural change—can be engrossing, challenging, and even comforting. However, actually getting to some of the world’s best collections in Spain, Germany, or the Netherlands can be tricky.

Last year, Google developer Amid Soot introduced the Google Art Project, an 18-month undertaking that links a number of prestigious museums around the world in a central, web-based “museum of museums.” Work from institutions, including the Frick Collection in Manhattan, the National Gallery in London, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, and the Palace of Versailles in France are featured at www.googleartproject.com. 

Recently, Soot presented at a TED: Ideas Worth Spreading conference, to talk about the technology and logic behind the Google Art Project.

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Tangerine Dream

Seattle-based Pantone colorist Leatrice Eiseman recently led a team in choosing the optimistic “Tangerine Tango” as the 2012 color of the year. The hue is sure to reach racks of sweaters at H&M in the next few months, but will graphic designers follow the trend?