Zaha Hadid: Architect for the Ages

1950 - 2016

Very recently the visionary architect Zaha Hadid passed into eternity. Her works have already resided in hearts, minds and physically in an earthly space of an eternal admiration. Her buildings bend, twist and elegantly flow like no others. These compelling, masterful achievements attest to her strength, purpose and love of process and humanity. She will be missed as her works stand; surely, the test of time.

                                    

                                   “I find industrial cities exciting. I like their toughness.”

                                                                                                                  Zaha Hadid

Yes; MS Hadid was an architect carrying the respect and acknowledgement of her peers. The honor of being the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize was hers; the pinnacle of success in her field.  She was also awarded the Stirling Prize and the RIBA Gold Medal. She remains much admired and loved by all who experience and enjoy her buildings.

Hadid was equally a fabulous designer of furniture, shoes and cars. Her flair for style was great and original. Her drawings and paintings were works of beauty, intrigue and High Art. I was able to see several of her pieces at Design Miami as part of Art Basel Miami. This was a personal high-light. 

“I'm into fashion because it contains the mood of the day, of the moment - like music, literature, and art.”                                                                                                                                        Zaha Hadid

                                                                                                                                             

   

                                                                                                                                       

There was greatness in Zaha Hadid; we saw it in her life and works. Everything she touched became a treasure. She will be missed. In times future those who speak of Eiffel, Wright, Koolhaas and Gehry will speak too of Hadid.  

Don Cheadle's MILES AHEAD

Don Cheadle has delivered a beautiful love letter to Miles Davis, Davis fans and all who cherish good story telling in the form of cinema. I had the immense pleasure of viewing this; the directorial debut of Mr. Cheadle with members of the press and supporting Indie-gogo contributors.  Cheadle; a member of   the fraternity of actors that always give remarkable; flawless performances, shines here in the lead. The work was compelling funny, balanced and of a very high caliber. We see Miles with all his attributes and flaws (which are vividly the spice of every life) in this sophisticated, funny and emotional film. “Miles Ahead” is pure, cinematic joy!  

The Columbia music and recording years of Miles Davis are featured heavily here in remarkable style. Cheadle uses flash backs in scenes that blend seamlessly from the films present into the memory and reminiscing of the main character. The film is placed within a five year period that Miles withdrew from performing and recording. The artistic and varied Davis album covers feature as much as the music as bridges between the many narratives revealed in both the truths and mythologies of Miles.       

                   

Ewan McGregor portrays a Rolling stone reporter that within his attempts to interview Miles becomes a cohort in retrieving stolen come back tapes Davis had recently recorded. They develop a kind of “Butch and Sundance” comradery that drives much of the storyline. Actress Emayatzi Corinealdi; stuns, as Francis Taylor the wife and muse of Davis.  Taylor was pivotal to the life of the man and Corinealdi portrays her as the grand passion she must have been.   Another highlight is the performance of an All-Star band featuring actual former Miles Side Men; Herbie Handcock and Wayne Shorter along with contemporary greats Esperanza Spalding, Gary Clark Jr. and Antonio Sanchez.  

Don Cheadle has created a “crowd pleaser” of a film that has every potential of becoming a legitimate hit.  “Miles Ahead” a visionary homage, completely satisfies and makes me look forward to the next Cheadle project. For all its worth; something for which I am already on board; something certain to be another tremendous, roller-coaster of a ride. “Miles Ahead” is not to be soon be forgotten...Oscars?

Vija Celmins The Drawings & Paintings Of...

Vija Celmins is an artist whose works ask and surely compel the viewer to slow down, breath in and absorb her brilliance and subtlety of technique and style. The photographic feel and look she masters beg to be studied unlike any other artist working today. She is not loud, bold or extravagant but the genuine powers of her pieces are transformative. Look at these works of her hand’s precision, intricacy and exacting measure. She delivers her grace of being for our understanding and joy.

“There aren't really rules for painting, but there’s certain facts and fictions about painting. Part of what I do is document another surface and sort of translate it. They’re like translations, and then part of it is fiction, which is invention.”

                                                                                                            Vija Celmins

The Latvian born Celmins (now living in the United States) has authored several books including The Painting of Modern Life and The Stars; a book about her long term obsession with viewing the cosmos. She likes to think of her paintings as things that she builds rather than paints. Celmins starts with the construction and preparation of her canvas and sees every step as integral to the finished piece. She also paints as many as nine layers of paint; as many as deemed necessary to achieve her desired result.

“Somehow the image begins to have a sort of memory in it, even if you can't see it. It can build up a dense feeling toward the end, and then it makes me happier.”

                                                                                                           Vija Celmins

The spider webs, stars and space configurations, still life’s and ocean surfaces are most often mono-chromes likened to black and white photos.  Vija uses photographs extensively as reference and she also paints familiar objects from her studio and home.  She uses color sparingly as if to not distract the viewer from a mental connection of purpose. Her works displayed in museums, sought by collectors and viewed by the millions are quiet treasures to behold.