Curio: Julie Alberti's Faces

Alexa here. Julie Alberti is an artist who watches a lot of movies and loves unique faces. She works in porcelain, paper and clay to create some really clever pieces that celebrate her love of Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Shelly Duvall, Buster Keaton and Cole Porter, among others. 

She reuses old porcelain tableware like a master; I've fallen hard for these Steve Buscemi plates. Click for more including a Peter Lorre doll, Buster Keaton pendants, and Christopher Walken teapot!

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Curio: McDermott & McGough

Alexa here. David McDermott and Peter McGough formed an artistic partnership during the 80s in the East Village, dressing as turn-of-the-century dandies in the scene that included Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Known as McDermott & McGough, they've worked in photography, painting, sculpture and film.  They continue to collaborate, even though McDermott lives in Dublin and McGough in New York (in quite the apartment).  

 

I thought their latest work, photorealistic paintings that celebrate actresses in classic films, would be of interest to TFE readers.  The work often pairs actresses from different films together in moments of intense emotion, or nestles them in modernist compositions with other elements of pop culture.

Here's a selection... 

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Curio: Mitch Frey's Film Typologies

Alexa here. The German photographers Bernard and Hilla Becher pioneered the art of the typology: grids of images of various examples of a single type of object. The technique was to photograph a series of similar objects, usually industrial structures, from similar vantage points to highlight what their differences were. Illustrator Mitch Frey has used this technique to create grids of types from the world of film, including these 70s movie men. He's turned the typology into a fun guessing game of "Name That Movie!"

We'll continue the guessing games after the jump, with 70s ladies, and typologies of Clint Eastwood through the years...

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Curio: Film Devotionals

Alexa here.  This Easter/Passover time of year is always replete with biblical references; for me, most are tied to film.  For instance, my main understanding of the significance of Passover is through my repeated childhood viewings of The Ten Commandments.  As one of the heathen mob, I am more likely to light a candle to mourn the loss of Ryan Gosling from the screen than ask saints for intercession. Religious or not, I thought TFE readers would enjoy some curios that aid in the practice of film idolatry, like these devotional candles from this etsy shop.

Who would you light a candle for this year?

More false idols including Tim Burton, Steve Buscemi and The Avengers after the jump... 

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Curio: For the Love of Paul (Rudd)

Alexa here. Nathaniel's Posterized on Paul Rudd got me thinking about the man and his merits.  As many of the comments suggested, I wish he would spend less time with the Apatow crowd and do a little more challenging work: more uncomfortable dramas like Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things and less sloppy comedies like I Love You Man. In fact, I seem to recall him expressing some sadness in an interview last year that he wasn't offered more serious roles. Here's hoping that more directors see his dramatic merits in the future. Until then, the closest he'll come is in David Gordon Green's upcoming dramedy Prince Avalanche. But I'll admit I'm looking forward to him returning to Anchorman territory, if only for the mustache and the Sex Panther.

To celebrate this puppy-faced dynamo, here is a Rudd coloring book I may or may not own. [more after the jump...]

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