There is no telling what will inspire us as we scroll. However, one the many problems with doom scrolling, a truly foul exercise, is that we don’t take the time to appreciate a striking piece of work, whether, beautiful, odd, new, or something part of a larger story.
Summer is almost over and I found that the images that spoke to me over the last month were fantastical paintings of epic scenes and stories (no surprised there), photographs that reveal how much media and how we consume media has changed, and delicate images where the artist’s hand is crafting elements of nature or rendering the environment and eerily realistic ways.
Vibes of the Month is a listicle of images, works by artists known and unknown, curated by me, for you, as a means to sift through the fodder of the internet.
A stunning art framed door frame in an apartment decorated by Antoine Billore
Close up of the Italian conservator Lorenza d’alessandro working on the restoration of the tomb of Nefertari in the late 1980s. She looks so lovingly at the wall while she works.
Peggy Guggenheim shot by Man Ray in 1925 (ish). She’s wearing a cloth-of-gold evening dress by Paul Poiret and a headdress by Vera Stravinsky - something about this is so dark and mysterious in the best way.
A solid cast sculpture of of a striding figure with ibex horns, raptor skin draped around his shoulders and upturned boots from 3000 B.C. Mesopotamia. It feels strangely fashion forward and avant-garde - it’s giving Rick Ownes.
WORK WITH THE CULTURELIST
For editorial collaborations, commissions, brand partnerships and more…
Canadian Artist Colette Stubbings creates what she calls ‘rose armour’ which is exactly what you see. They are sculpture like, fashion inspired pieces that use real plants and flower petals.
They don’t make fashion campaigns or editorials like this anymore. Penelope Cruz in Ralph Lauren’s FW campaign in 2000. It’s sultry, intriguing, feels like a story and nothing about it looks over done.
Nature Unbound by Farnaz Nylander - luscious work.
Obsessed. Tony Liu’s 1920s Brooklyn co-op, the colours by Patrick O’Donnell from Farrow & Ball. The colour combination is like a painting.
The now viral image of the cafe Bussy Cat in Zakaria Ahmed Street in downtown Cairo, Egypt is delightful on so many linguistic and bilingual levels.
Beautiful. A vase by ceramic artist Tatiana Cardona.
Enjoying this story by The Culturelist?
Share it with someone who might love it too.
Every time I see The Apparition by Gustave Moreau (1876-1877) I’m mesmerised by what he could do with watercolours.
A close up of the beloved and iconic Toyota Building in Dubai set to be demolished early next year. I wrote about the history of the building and what it has meant to people in Dubai for Architecture Digest Middle East. You can read that here.
From photographer Simon Upton’s book Simon Upton: A to Z Interiors, a wonderful volume on how we live in our spaces. Worn out candy pink, wine red and stacks of books is absolutely perfect.
Egyptian belly dancer, actress, viral queen, meme muse, Fifi Abdu photographed by the artist Youssef Nabil in 2000. Titled Fifi with Cigarette in Her Mouth, Cairo, the image evokes all the troupes of over the top glamour associated with a particular era in the Arab world but in a restrained way.
Not sure where this is from. I really hope it isn’t AI and there is indeed a small stone tile somewhere reminding us how might it once was.
I love hand written messages and annotations in a book, this one of Edward Said’s Culture and Imperialism is particularly intriguing for both its warmth and vaugness.
To dearest Manal:
“Suhaib, O sweetest woman, [a] heart cannot help but love her.”
With my deepest affection…
Not sure where there is from but I assume it’s probably Leda. She’s been through alot poor Leda.
Want to share your thoughts on this story?
Let us know what you think!
Delicate and so gorgeous - Drool Jewel by Olina Music.
Recently discovered Ryan McMenamy, an incredible artist on the intersection of fashion illustration and painting.
A photo of Mohamed Aziz who has been selling books from his second hand bookstore Bouquiniste El Azizifor more than 50 years in Rabat, Morocco.
A Rodin bronze sitting beautifully under a Picasso drawing. Elegantly designed by Marshall Watson and photographed by Luke White.
A charming tourism poster for Istanbul, Turkey.
Desperately hoping this too isn't AI. So true and clever.
From the Iksel Decorative Arts instagram, the post is focused on their "Governor’s Visit wall paper, but I’m sorry I can’t concentrate on that when that stunning chez lounge is right there.
Kurt Vonnegut writing. No other image will make me stop scrolling and inspire me to go read or write.