Archive for November, 2010

Looking for a Christmas gift perfect for an art fanatic or perhaps you know a Londoner who needs an injection of creativity and a boost to their social life? If so, we have an ingenious gift idea for you…

A Golden Ticket to the very best of London’s art scene.

CultureLabel has teamed up with Love Art London to offer exclusive membership that offers unique art-related experiences to those who love getting behind the scenes and meeting the insiders.

Someone you love could have Tea with Anthony Caro at his studio, see behind the scenes at the Bank of England art collection, get an exclusive curator’s tour of a major exhibition or be part of a flash mob. Inspirational and memorable experiences that are unique only to members of Love Art London.

Upcoming events already in the calendar include an introduction to the next Tracey Emin and a behind the scenes tour of Sir Peter Blake’s Museum of Everything.

Two Gift Memberships are available offering 3 and 5 Love Art London events per year and are priced at £55 and £85.

For more gift ideas for art lovers, you can also browse our Christmas gift guide.

As another successful Movember draws to a close, the team at CultureLabel would like to salute all those brave Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who have sported hairy creations this month to raise money for a fantastic cause.

As a Movember memento, we are offering the chance to win a signed print of ‘The Mo Maketh The Man’ by Pieter Rossouw. Shotopop teamed up with Pieter to create a series of Mo-sters this year with all proceeds being donated to the fight against prostate cancer.

We have it in writing too!

Miss Laverne, the acclaimed BBC 6 Music DJ and Queen of BBC 2′s The Culture Show has named CultureLabel as THE place to go to for all your arty gifts this Christmas, reminding all those lovely Grazia readers that every penny you spend supports the arts too.

To show our appreciation, we’ve compiled a selection of top Christmas gifts based on Lauren’s unique, quirky style that you can browse here.

If you want to look further, we’ve also handpicked collections of gift ideas to help you buy for all the Design Addicts, Domestic Goddesses, Foodies and Art Lovers in your life.

And if you are really stuck, don’t forget that our ex Wallpaper* and Alexander McQueen stylist Astrid Limal is here to handpick you a personalised collection of gift ideas – give her your brief now.

CultureLabel is very excited to be working with The Futureheads on an album-inspired art project that not only raises money for good causes, but also gives you the chance to own a limited edition artwork by an iconic British artist for just £50.

To celebrate 10 years since their first ever live performance, The Futureheads have commissioned four iconic British artists – David Shrigley, Stuart Semple, Lyndsey Jameson and Pete Fowler – to create a series of limited edition prints based on their last four albums, raising money for Newcastle based hospice St Oswalds.

Each artist was sent an album and asked by the band to respond to its music as if creating the album cover for the first time. Ross Millard from the band said: “For us, FH10 is a brilliant way of us celebrating ten years of making music together; new life breathed into our back catalogue by four artists whose work we’ve admired from afar for many years.”

For just £50, you can buy one of the prints from a strictly limited run of 100 that is also signed and dated by the artist.

Prints are on sale from 6th December via CultureLabel and you can pre-order yours here: http://tinyurl.com/39mgvnl

There are people who like nicely designed things… and then there are Design Addicts.

You know who they are; they trailblaze with their painfully fashionable attire, their homes are treasure troves of cool and they always give the most unique and memorable gifts.

So what on earth do you give a Design Addict in return? The high street is out, designer labels might break the bank and handcrafting something is only going to end in tears.

If you’re really looking to impress a Design Fanatic this Christmas, we’ve done the hard work for you and handpicked 10 of the most affordable design-led gifts from the best galleries, artists and independent designers of the moment.

Check out the full Design Addict gift guide here: http://tinyurl.com/2v5jq46

(from left to right)
1. Uprising Bookend, £64.95
2. Tears Pendant, £27
3. Fox Girl Screen Print, £145
4. Lazy Oaf Rucksack, £35.95
5. Tea Cup and Saucer, £39
6. 2011 is the Year of … pocket diary, £9.99
7. Pray for Dior Skateboard, £90
8. Small Deer and Butterfly Paper Eyelashes, £12
9. ‘Q’ Natural Purse, £12.00
10. Ole Black Spot Helmet Cover, £24.50

www.culturelabel.com

One of the best things about receiving an artwork as a gift is that it is yours for life; it becomes part of your home, your every day space and can greatly enhance your mood, especially when it reminds you of that lovely person who bought it for you!

As Christmas fast approaches, we just couldn’t help but shout about A Little Bit of Art who specialise in selling affordable printed artworks.

Their prints are by a diverse selection of artists, illustrators and printmakers who use different mediums and techniques to create exciting imagery, printing on paper, glass, mirrors, ceramics and wood. They’ve also just added photographic work.

We’ve put together 8 prints that we LOVE, especially the one that orders us to Drink More Gin. Well, it is the festive season after all…

Prints start from as little as £10 and are available here:
http://tinyurl.com/2etozlh

From left to right:
1. Drink More Gin, £50.00
2. High Society, £150.00
3. Squirrel About Town, £60.00
4. Dog Walker, £25.00
5. Love II by Ros Shiers, £49.00
6. Oh Crumbs!, £150.00
7. Seven Metria, £80.00
8. I’m gonna form a band, £70.00

A Little bit of Art was set up by Gina Cross who commissioned illustrations for the Guardian newspaper and has worked with some of the best illustrators and artists worldwide.

www.culturelabel.com

Eco-friendly style is everywhere; it’s never been cooler to mend your clothes, re-heel your shoes and to tart up your old furniture. Hence why we at Culturelabel are loving the stylish upcycling skills of Lula Dot, aka product designer Lucy Norman.

Lula Dot aims to tackle the issue of London’s waste by upcycling discarded materials into products of lasting beauty, with her two recent projects dealing with wasted books and bottle tops.

Currently 10,000 books end up in landfill due to there being no infrastructure to recycle low grade paper or to remove the glue on the spine. Addressing this, Lucy has created ‘Light Reading Chandelier’, a striking light shade where every page is folded in half producing a circular arrangement which hangs around a ceiling light.

Astrid Limal, our resident stylist loves the shade too: “I think it looks astonishing and I love its shape. Its timing is also perfect with home interiors taking a vintage recycled theme – it would look fantastic in a contemporary house to give a more ‘homey’ atmosphere.”

The Light Reading Chandelier is £330 available at: http://tinyurl.com/34lk3mk

Similarly, only 5.5% of plastic bottles sold in the UK are recycled, which leaves 40 thousand tonnes going to waste each year. The ambient light feature CAPtivate allows you to use different bottle caps to change the colour and pattern. Each light comes with fifty caps, but to cover the light completely more bottle caps can be collected.

West Ham United donate the bottle caps collected from each home game to prevent fans from using them as missiles. The collected parts are then assembled at Watford Workshop, a registered charity providing training and employment for people with disabilities.

CAPtivate is £88 and available now at http://tinyurl.com/36kcdkj

More of Lucy Norman’s work is currently on show at the Science Museum in London and the Museum of Design in Plastics in Bournemouth.

This Christmas avoid the bland gift offerings of the high street and feast your eyes on these luxury gifts from CultureLabel.com. We’ve handpicked you a stunning collection of luxury gift ideas from over 200 museums, galleries and independent designers so that you can give a unique gift this Christmas. Whether it’s standout jewellery, a limited-edition art print, high-end fashion accessories or classic home interiors, you’ll find a design classic to give someone a truly unforgettable gift. Our full Luxe Gift Guide is here: http://tinyurl.com/3xd5g8w

And if you’re buying for someone really tricky, you can enlist the help of our new free Gift Concierge service and ask our expert gift stylist Astrid Limal for a personalised collection of gift ideas. You can give Astrid your brief and also get inspiration from other Gift Concierge collections here: http://www.culturelabel.com/unique-gift-ideas/

(Gifts: from left to right)
1. All exotic lounge lovers need this Giant Pineapple Cushion, £120
2. Put your girlfriends in a right flutter with Deer and Butterfly Lashes, £12
3. To Boom or To Bust? La Cavaliere Plaster Bust, £210
4. An art enthusiast will love this Pencil Drawing Bib Necklace, £57
5. Pen your darkest secrets in these Portuguese Notebooks, £27.50
6. Carry your loved ones close in this Three Strand Locket Necklace, £85
7. For the extrovert in your life: ‘Just Stick It Up’ print by Kyra Alanova, £60
8. Inspire a breakfast buff with this quirky ‘I’ll Carry You’ Bowl, £32.90
9. Adorn a traditional home with these regal Glass Tumblers, £20
10. A timeless design classic from the V&A – the Narcisse Scarf, £185

www.culturelabel.com

Our vagabond shoes have strayed all the way to New York!

The team is honoured to announce our first partner from the U.S. today, with the addition of New Museum, Manhattan’s only dedicated contemporary art museum and undoubtedly one of New York’s coolest buildings.

New Museum will be selling a range of unique and quirky products including 7 Deadly Sins snow globes, ‘I Forgive You’ baby suits, Vive la Recession hip flasks and a ‘Ronald McHitler’ art print.

New Museum is a leading destination for new art and new ideas and is respected internationally for the adventurousness and global scope of its curatorial programme.

It’s really only fitting then that the museum itself is an architect’s dream, being the first ever new art museum constructed from the ground up below 14th Street in Manhattan and described as “a sculptural stack of rectilinear boxes dynamically shifted off-axis around a central steel core.”

If you can’t make it to Manhattan to see it up close, explore their very cool shop collection here: http://tinyurl.com/2fhmsts

Celebrated as ‘The Man Who Shot the 70s’, Mick Rock’s images define rock n’ roll and now his biggest show to date opens in London following a star studded private view last night at our very own home, Idea Generation Gallery.

‘Rock Music’ in association with Zippo is a retrospective exhibition through an exceptional career as well as musical history. Launching with a portrait of an unknown David Bowie in ’72, Mick Rock has spent the last four decades capturing the most fascinating and exciting characters in rock music, including Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, The Stones, Mick Jagger and Queen right through to contemporary artists such as Gaga, Bono, Snoop Dogg and The Prodigy.

Mick Rock’s images are gritty, sexy & mesmerizing. Always drawn to extreme performances, and defiant, rebellious artists, his unusual portraits encapsulated the dawning of an era, and continued to recreate it in succeeding decades through his work with underground musicians of the 1980s, 1990s and into the new millennium.

And he lived the life as well as documenting it… always in the right place at the right time, Rock’s Terrible Trio photograph, the “party snap” as he calls it, captured David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed, and set him on the road to success. He became Bowie’s official photographer on tour, and with access that no other photographer had at the time, was able to document the creation of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona.

Rock Music in association with Zippo is open to the public from 11th -16th November 2010

Idea Generation Gallery, 11 Chance Street, London, E2 7JB.

Or you can browse and buy Mick Rock’s limited edition prints online at CultureLabel here:  http://tinyurl.com/3xygoyx

Shop online

Shop online

Shop online

CultureLabel presents Gift Concierge… Your Free Personal Gift Stylist

Christmas doesn’t always have to mean high street chaos, maddening crowds and bland gift sets ‘for him and her’. This festive season you could instead enlist the help of your own personal stylist to search through hundreds of design treasures from all over the world,  handpicking you a collection of unique, striking and unforgettable gift ideas…and all within budget.

Whether it’s a limited edition artwork, exclusive range jewellery, luxurious homeware, stylish accessories or a weird and wonderful gadget, CultureLabel’s resident stylist Astrid Limal and her team will search over 200 international museums, galleries and designers to bring you a personalised collection of standout gift ideas for your friends and family.

Just visit www.culturelabel.com/gift-concierge and tell us who you need to buy for this Christmas, a bit about them and their style and how much you’d like to spend. Astrid and her team will set to work and within just a couple of hours* of submitting your request, your tailored gift list will be delivered to your inbox for you to browse in your own time.

For further gift inspiration you will also be able to view regularly updated requests and suggestions from other Concierge customers on the site… and Gift Concierge is not just for Christmas, you can use the new service all year round for any occasion including birthdays, anniversaries, christenings, weddings, engagements and graduations.

Astrid Limal, CultureLabel’s leading stylist, was born in the USA and now works between Paris and the UK, owning a degree from the Chelsea College of Art and Design. She has worked with Wallpaper* Magazine, global advertising agencies, fashion houses including Alexander McQueen and currently freelances for Elle Decoration and private clients.

Ask Astrid and the team to create you a truly unique gift collection now at: www.culturelabel.com/gift-concierge

*Requests submitted out of office hours may take longer.