An end-of-Summer report from London, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Rome, and Los Angeles, featuring portraits, archives, parkas, beachside ice creams, and even some Oasis. Stay tuned for more interviews and recommendations very soon. — Hamish
But first, a question for you:
Back at it after a few weeks in Europe. Some notable bits from our time in London… the astonishing V&A East Storehouse — undoubtedly the only place in the world you can see a living collage of Vivienne Westwood dresses, Sotssass sidetables, David Bowie’s amplifier, and an Agra Colonnade all under the same roof. And Keith Moon’s drum kit. Their latest addition, the David Bowie Center, opens this month, permanently showcasing the archive of his estate and ephemera. Be sure to book ahead so you can have some private time with an object of your choosing in the Storehouse’s Study Center.
We hugely enjoyed dinner at Brawn on the Columbia Road — thank you, Autumn, for the recommendation. Still thinking about the giant scoop of chocolate ganache doused in olive oil and sea salt.
We were fortunate to catch Jenny Saville’s extraordinary “The Anatomy of Painting” at the National Portrait Gallery and a superb show at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert of David Hockney works from his time at the Royal College of Art, “In the Mood for Love.”
And, of course, no trip to London is complete with stopping in to IDEA. We paid our respects to the Martin Parr waxwork before picking up a copy of co-proprietor Angela Hill’s photobook of the X-Girl 1994 fashion show on the streets of Manhattan’s SoHo. The book has since been reissued in a second edition.
Summer also included some time in France, with highlights being shopping for vintage art books in the Luberon — a favorite being John Doe Books in the Provençal town of Coustellet. I picked up a stunning 1950s handbound edition of Picasso’s then “recent” works and celebrated the purchase at the appropriately named Pizzeria Du Cote de Chez Moi in the nearby hilltop village of Goult. Thank you, Laure, for the 🍕 tip.
Marseille was hot as hell but wears it well. We headed straight to Ensemble — part of the Loose Joints family — and was pleased to learn their neighbors, Maison Mère, house an excellent vintage soccer kit collection. Lunch was in the Malmousque neighbohood at Cécile Food Club, followed by gelato next door at Loulou.
On that note, special shout to Loucau in Aix-en-Provence for having both outrageously good homemade ice creams and some top tier t-shirts.
I was excited to visit Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse but had little expectation of seeing more than the exterior. Luckily — and true to its founding ethos — it’s open to explore and roam freely, including a rooftop sculpture garden with expansive views of the city and the stunning (SCAU-updated) Stade Vélodrome.
Roman interlude: Swiss artist Rolf Sachs turned a Rome parking lot into his studio, I feel very at home here. Photos by Simon Watson for World of Interiors.
I’ve been fortunate to have had a number of portrait commissions of late which reminded me to update my portfolio… drop me a line if you need one.
Some recent portraits include multi-hyphenate entertainer Jon Batiste, F1: The Movie and Mission Impossible’s Shae Whigham, Smoke’s Jurnee Smollett, and — though embargoed until next week — Alien: Earth’s Timothy Olyphant.
Do any of you use these iPhone photo grips? As a Leica user, I had been notified of (and tempted by) their extremely minimal and flexible offering (top left) to accompany their superb Leica Lux camera capture app, but have since discovered a decent alternative in the Fjorden Pro (bottom left) and even an award-winning offering from Hollywood photographer Greg Williams. Please do let me know if you’ve good or bad experiences to share!
Speaking of the Leica Lux app … it was the only app I used at the recent Rose Bowl show for Oasis’ Live25 tour. Accounting for the poznans, beer showers, free Guinness, and general joyful swagger, I’m both pretty happy with how they turned out and also wish I had one of the above photo grips to keep a bit steadier in the future.
And speaking of Oasis… throughout Liam’s last solo tour he religiously wore the great C/N parka by Japan’s Snow Peak — for I own the same one! — but for much of the North American tour has been wearing the equally rad (and aptly named) Bonehead jacket from London’s YMC. Mr Gallagher opted for the navy option but I’m definitely down for the red, below.
Lastly, Spiritualized’s second studio album, Pure Phase, is an all-time top 10 record in my list. They’re playing it in full at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre and Los Angeles’ Orpheum and depressingly these shows haven’t sold out. This particular record, celebrating its 30th anniversary, is perhaps a deeper cut than some fairweather fans might like, but I highly recommend the show if you like outrageously beautiful droning guitars, free-jazz, doped-up space rock. Think Ornette Coleman getting high with the Velvet Underground with the Stooges manning the backline. If you need a taster, here’s their entire performance from this summer’s Primavera Sound in Barcelona.
The Octet is brought to you in collaboration with AH-HA, a select shop and gallery for artist multiples, collaborations, printed works, and an ever-changing collection of vintage ephemera, books, periodicals, and objects. Visit AH-HA.us