Over coffee at her Amsterdam apartment we talk about the success of Foam, her position as curator, and the challenge of staying a trailblazer while sharing time between work and raising two children with her French husband Yannick Bouillis – the founder of OFFPrint Paris, a platform dedicated to contemporary photography and image making. Although Dutch born and raised Colette by appearance could also pass for a Parisian or New Yorker. But Amsterdam truly is her hometown. ‘I am of the generation when borders are still present.’
As one of the curators at Foam you have contributed strongly to the museum’s success. Are you proud of Foam’s achievement?
I do not always feel comfortable with the title curator. It is true, curator is printed on my business card, and of course I am curator at Foam for quite some time already, But I do not necessarily consider myself as such, but rather see myself as a filter. Someone who closely follows the photography scene, and picks out the developments or photographers that I think are sending out an important signal. Exhibitions should not be about the people who put them together; the artworks should be in the spotlight. Foam did not hire me as a curator per se. There was just a lot of work to do.

How did director Marloes Krijnen, the director of Foam, find you back in 2001?
Well, it was me who contacted Marloes. After my studies in Contemporary Art in Amsterdam I moved to Paris for an internship at Magnum Photos. I met my current husband Yannick, decided to stay a little longer, and got a couple of jobs and galleries and photo agencies. Persuading me to move back to Holland my parents frequently sent me information on job openings in Amsterdam. They also informed me on the planned opening of Foam, and I decided to write an unsolicited application. Foam figured I was willing to work hard, hired me, and I moved back bringing Yannick with me.

In a fairly short time you succeeded in placing Foam firmly on the map. What is the secret?
Visibility and high pace. From the very start we have made sure Foam is present at all the places that matter. And Foam’s exhibitions typically have a short running time. Instead of the regular 4 shows, we run some 20 shows every year on average. This results in people visiting frequently, creating a strong relation between the public and the museum. People tend to associate themselves with Foam. Mixing exhibitions of established photographers with newcomers has also been part of my curatorial approach: bringing photography to a large public but also keeping the avant-garde contact. We are a young museum, and intuitively attract young photographers too.

I can imagine many photographers try to ingratiate themselves with you, since you curate the exhibitions. How do you deal with artists looking for your favour?
Especially during public events, like a lecture of debate, people often ask me to look at their work. In the beginning I had a tendency to run through their portfolio instantly, but nowadays I ask them to send their work to Foam. Otherwise it would be hard to keep up with my regular work. I have also become slightly more protective of myself.

Ten years on, Foam’s formula proved a strong one, but is it still doing the trick? How do you retain the youngster vibe?
Of course I sometimes think of myself becoming a member of the Old Guard. But what actually counts is the ability to stay innovative. I keep renewing and embrace my interest in new developments.

Keeping up with the latest developments takes enough energy and time, I assume. Is this challenging?
It is not always easy; that is for sure. Take new media for example. It really has great impact on art. Artists are eager to use new technology, and sometimes it is challenging to keep up. I also notice that the new generations of artists increasingly consider themselves cosmopolitans. National borders have truly lost their meaning. I notice I am of the generation when borders will still present.

With borders virtually gone, what is attracting photographers to Amsterdam? What makes Amsterdam special over cities like Berlin and New York?
Amsterdam is missing a strong underground scene but offers great quality. The Dutch are really strong in print and graphics design; art books are renowned worldwide. The combination of pioneering photographers with daring designers results in fascinating work. One plus one makes three. Photography is also stretching itself; its domain is extending, art disciplines are less strictly separated. I dug already in new medias practices, and merging practices, with photography being fully part of it. I believe Holland and Amsterdam in particular is at the forefront of this development.

In the changing field of photography, will there be a role for curators?
Most definitely. It hysteria these days. There is so much of everything. Consider curators the filters.

Thank you Colette for this nice interview! For more information on her work, check out FOAMs website.

Text: Thijs van Velzen
Photography: Jordi Huisman

Growing up on the Aegaen coast of Turkey and after living in Istanbul for more than twenty years, his work still contains a strong connection to the surrounding of his childhood. Just coming back from a trip to his hometown Aydin, the studio is full of fresh olives, oranges and pomegranates filling the room with a smell of summer.

Having never being trained as an artist Melih is an autodidact in many ways. While his noticed artwork mainly consists of large-scale paintings his studio is full of self-made sculptures, installations and details telling little tales that we were really happy to be able to listen to.

Where did you grow up? What are the images that come to your mind when you think about your childhood?
The year when I was starting elementary school, my father declared bankruptcy and our stuff was confiscated. I remember the moment all our belongings were taken away and my mother was crying. We had a very nice house with a swimming pool. That was a turning point. My older brother and I had to stay at our grandparent’s house for the summer. There I was introduced to superstitions. My brother was very loved because he was the first grandchild. They didn’t care much about me and left me alone. I felt very free and without any pressure. I met cats and dogs and chatted with them. One of the staff of the house told my brother not to follow a beautiful rabbit or a beautiful girl at night, because it might be a Jinn (demon).

After I heard this I kept going outside to find rabbits and girls. Workers would find me far off in the terrain and bring me back. They thought I was a sleepwalker. The idea of Jinn became very important to me. Even now (showing an object he made) I call this paint Jinn, it fills the empty paint cans. There is a second strong memory I have. There was a museum next to our elementary school. It was forbidden to go there but I went. It was snowing and I was mesmerized. There was a woman sculpture and I was staring at it. I don’t know how many class hours had passed, the whole school had started looking for me. When they found me I was about to freeze to death. The woman who found me was a teacher named Cemile, she became an important figure for me. She held me in her arms and took me to her classroom. She didn’t let me go and the kids kept laughing at me. She held me until the class ended. I never forgot her smell. Maybe because my mother wasn’t around at the time, the warmth or maybe the need of protection I don’t know what but I admired her. That summer she died in a car accident.

When did you come to Istanbul and why?
I came to Istanbul in 1986. Edip Cansever was insisting on me to come. He said that there wasn’t anything left in Aydin for me. I would not improve my work if I stayed there. When I first came to Istanbul my intentions were just for traveling and now that I look at it I spent my whole life here. The reason I stayed here was because I got to meet so many different kinds of people, get caught up with the theaters and cinemas and to meet people who might possibly ask questions that would help me to improve. I found myself in a different world here and never had the time to go somewhere else. I spent my life dreaming.

When did you start painting?
I started around the mid seventies and before that I was writing. I was mainly writing plays. The change from writing to painting was part of a longer process. It was a process of working and thinking.

Did you always know that you have to do something creative?
When I was young I was writing poems. The only thing I did was writing and daydreaming. I would daydream before I go to sleep for at least two hours and then go to school very tired.

Was there a point when you started to consider yourself as a painter?
Around 1978 I realized that I got so many paintings but I wasn’t showing them to anyone. At some point I realized that they were good paintings and thought that I could be a painter. It was complicated. Back then I was writing poems and plays and started writing a novel – I noticed that writing a novel was out of my league – so I was painting. Meanwhile I met Edip Cansever. He said very nice things about my poetry but I knew that I couldn’t be a poet, it requires such an intense way of living. Apart from that I didn’t like my poems. There was something that I needed to express and I needed to decide which medium would fit. I let it happen naturally. That’s why giving dates is difficult. When I had my first solo exhibition in 1985, the paintings were covered with the characters of the plays I wrote. Portraits were all feelings and I thought I could express the feelings with colors. That was when I decided to go on painting.

Are the motives and themes you were dealing with in your writing similar to the ones you are now dealing with in you paintings?
Yes, my subject matters were very similar they had the same state of mind if you can say so. Loneliness and nothingness caused by not speaking the same language. I don’t believe in anything, so I needed to find something to hold on to. That’s why both my poetry and painting have human feelings of similar characters.

What are repeating motives in your work? Is there something that is always present?
I am painting these characters and I believe that they exist at some part of the world; Portugal, Chile, India… They are always present but I will never find them and they will never find each other. We only know of the other one’s existence. These are the characters that I have been dreaming about. I think that they might as well be waiting in the next room. They have their own personalities and they drag me away.

Everyone is talking about Istanbul as a city that is always changing and somewhere in-between. What has been the biggest change for you here?
When I first came to Istanbul the migration had already started. People deceived by promises of prosperity were filling up the city. I haven’t experienced the old Istanbul really. I would have loved to be here before all that. To see the old buildings and a more and better preserved city. When I think of stuff like this I always end up thinking that I came here at a bad time. But I think there is going to be a dialectic process, the solidarity of the contrasts will create something new. I would prefer Istanbul to be in it’s post-Byzantine way. With all the minorities, the buildings and the culture. When I first came here the city was like a village. You could get cheese from a neighborhood market to pay back later. Now the prices raised enormously. The city became touristic, loud and facing terrible traffic. I would go but where to?

Have you always been living here in Ortaköy?
Yes. I bought this house without having seen it before. I had some money saved and to buy a house. My girlfriend at the time insisted on doing it quickly. There was pressure on me. They were tearing down bulidings everywhere in Tarlabasi, Beyoglu, etc. It wasn’t certain whether they would tear down this area. People were in panic. I was constantly missing my chances of getting nice places. So we had to leave the city at eleven and we found this place at nine in the evening. I just told the man I was buying it. It turns out that I could have bought this place for one third of the money. I thought this place had two or three rooms. When I came here with all my stuff from Aydin I couldn’t shake off the feeling that when I open a door another room will appear. I thought I couldn’t live here. For a long time I didn’t unpack. There was the energy though, so I stayed. And now a whole life has passed. It is interesting.

Did the “buy out” of Istanbul already start in the 80’s?
These kinds of things started mostly as individual attempts. A friend of mine bought a wooden building in Sariyer which of course was very shabby. If I have had an entrepreneurial vision I could have bought a much bigger space, a five-room studio or an apartment with a sea view… But I found this place accidentally and it helped me to meet significant people. Therefore I never regretted it. Everyone pitied me because I paid too much for this place. But it felt all good. Here I always feel that I am surrounded with life. I can’t even give up this old furnace.

Did your art change when you came to Istanbul? Do you feel any differences?
There hasn’t been a lot of change since I moved to Istanbul. I don’t know whether this is good or bad. I am always interested in similar state of minds and situations. And I have been trying to create paintings like I did in Aydin. They don’t seem like they are made by anyone, like they have always existed. I always wanted to paint like this in order to bring the characters that I have formed by words into life. The only thing that has changed – now that I am supposed to earn a living – was my professionalism. I had to stretch the canvas to the frame or buy better quality paints. All these things are hurting my sincerity because I used to paint with tangerine peels even with henna and coffee. That was fine for me but no one buys that. So I had to change. The change started in technical terms and ruined the aura of my work. You can tell that they are made by me. I am trying to go back to that state of purity. I don’t know how successful I will be.

Do you participate in the local art scene?
I had nineteen solo exhibitions in different locations. I have participated in several international group exhibitions. It is not something I turn down. However I don’t care much about art fairs and biennials. In addition to that the galleries here are always working with the same artists, present the same kind of artworks. I got quite bored and feelings like this are not really contributing to it. A few years ago I saw a very good exhibition at Pera Museum. A couple of naive painters from Azerbaijan and some other countries were invited. Besides from that I don’t enjoy the art scene here. If there were any good paintings – there must be – you don’t get to see them much often. The galleries operate with a commercial mentality, trying to sell the artist’s same old artworks because there is a demand for it. Since I lack the proper education I had to learn everything through a long journey. It was long but I have learned a lot. There are some things that you just can’t get from school. I wish we could visit each other’s studios, influence each other. We need to get excited, which doesn’t happen anymore.

How do you find the people who buy your paintings? Do you think that they appreciate or understand your journey?
They buy consciously. It is very interesting the buyers of my paintings are always very alike. I don’t know in what sense exactly but when I introduce them to each other they immediately become friends. When I speak to art dealers they always find my work risky, in terms of whether it would sell or not. That’s why it doesn’t work for me in that sense. A friend of a friend of a friend sometimes sees a painting of mine and wants to purchase it. I sell 5-6 paintings a year. Like the spiritual connection I have with my character, the buyers also create a special bond.

Let’s talk about the big wall in this room. Is it changing all the time? Where are the pictures coming from?
After I bought this space I noticed that water was dropping from the nails on the wall. I painted the walls but I knew that the paint would come off. When I realized that I can’t manage the wall I started covering it with photos and things I find. I paint according to my mood, when I get bored I carry my working area to the other side. That’s why the walls are always changing. It happens in an organic way. I thought if could paint on the same canvas and take a picture of it then do the same over and over again the painting would reach to the other side of the wall, wouldn’t that be great painting?

Are the photos of people you know or are they strangers?
Most of them are people I know. Some of my friends asked me why I don’t have their photos on the wall. I don’t put these things in hierarchical order like my mom, my dad, my friend… Some things fall down and I put new things on. It happens on it’s own but some friends just don’t understand it. There are photos of my ex-girlfriend, some friends, a Modigliani portrait, some details of my works, Paul Klee, kidney beans…

Thank you, Melih, for your time and the fascinating interview!

If you are interested in Melih’s work, take a look at his homepage.

Text: Antonia Märzhäuser
Translation and photography: Ege Okal

But while we are busy working from our Berlin base, our longtime contributor and close friend Antonia Märzhäuser sat up her temporary residency in Istanbul. She will bring some fresh and exciting interviews straight out of Turkey starting next week with artist Melih Özuysal and his amazing place in Istanbul-Ortaköy. Get ready for some nice pictures by Ege Okal and mystic fairytale housing, colourful painted walls and some insights of the Bosporos metropolis past and future.

Heading west, Jordi Huisman and Thijs van Velzen from our FvF Amsterdam team met the curator of the prestigious FOAM photography museum Colette Olof in her lovely apartment in Amsterdam Oud-West.

The FvF Vienna team with Alexandra von Quadt and photographer Lukas Gansterer hung out with upcoming artist Clemens Wolf in his studio. We are very excited for this very special European city.

We are very happy that the project we started in 2009 literally went beyond our local borders and enabled us to meet many interesting and inspiring people. And there is more international content to come.

So when did you come to Berlin?
Gregor Hildebrandt: I came to Berlin in 1998.
Alicja Kwade: 1999.

And what brought both of you here?
Gregor Hildebrandt: I studied in Mainz. For me, it was due to personal reasons. My daughter was born here so I moved here to be with her. But before that I had already travelled back and forth a lot.
Alicja Kwade: I didn’t actually want to move to Berlin at all – I would have much rather gone to New York or London. But after weighing up the finances I realised that those were not an option. So Berlin was the next best.

How did you meet?
Alicja Kwade: Pretty classic. We met at uni in Cafe Mittelachse, wasn’t it?
Gregor Hildebrandt: I’d already noticed her around. But we didn’t get to know each other until we were in the same class. I was working as a tutor.

Is it ever difficult being in a relationship with another artist? Don’t you ever feel in competition?
Alicja Kwade: You have to avoid it at times, but mostly it works out.

Do you talk a lot together about your work?
Alicja Kwade: A reasonable amount… not an awful lot.
Gregor Hildebrandt: It’s ok. But on the other hand, that’s what both of us do on a daily basis, even permanently. We go to openings together because that’s what we both like to do. We have a lot of friends whose girlfriends we have never seen, because exhibition openings are not something that everyone is into.

What makes Berlin so special for you?
Gregor Hildebrandt: I can’t speak English.
Alicja Kwade: But you really have to be able to speak English here! Otherwise, if you’re out in Kreuzberg it can get pretty difficult.

Can either of you imagine living elsewhere?
Alicja Kwade: Maybe for a year at some point, but not forever.
Gregor Hildebrandt: I like to travel, but am always happy to come back to Berlin. We’ve just been in Paris for a week, where it’s amazingly beautiful, much more so than Berlin. But I’m not allowed to smoke there and have to spend a crazy amount of money to get by… but the food is way better, absolutely!

Do you only travel in connection with your work? Or do you pack your bags and jet off just for a holiday now and again?
Alicja Kwade: Every 2 years we tend to go away for a week, not for long…
Gregor Hildebrandt: But even then you’re taking pictures.
Alicja Kwade: We mostly travel for our work and then sometimes stay a few days longer.
Gregor Hildebrandt: We went to Lanzarote once, but then ended up calling it a work trip.
Alicja Kwade: … because of the photos I took there.
Gregor Hildebrandt: I heard Thomas Scheibitz quote Isa Genzken recently: “What am I meant to take a holiday from?”.

You’re friends with a lot of other artists. How important to you is the exchange between each other?
Gregor Hildebrandt: I don’t think we have any friends who aren’t artists in fact.
Alicja Kwade: Somehow we’re always on the topic. But we don’t just constantly talk about art, but also the general gossip and joking around.
Gregor Hildebrandt: I sometimes get the feeling that artists nowadays withdraw themselves more and more, for example, hardly any articles in the art world are actually written by artists themselves.
Alicja Kwade: I think it’s because the roles of authors and curators have taken on a greater significance than in the past. So these roles have separated.
Gregor Hildebrandt: It’s turned into such a huge field. The study of art was not even an option in the past.

You have a lot of art by other artists in your apartment. Do you swap or buy from each other too?
Alicja Kwade: We swap, buy and get birthday presents- that’s what we always have such great birthday parties!

The way you decorate in general is very unique- you have some great furniture.
Gregor Hildebrandt: Alicja does all of that.

Where are all the pieces from?
Alicja Kwade: I’d find it a shame to buy new furniture. I get most of it from Ebay at a great price because I know what to look for. I really enjoy it. It’s not important to me which designer it’s by, I just have to like it.

Do you also restore the furniture yourself?
Alicja Kwade: Yes, together with my father. I often get tips from him or send him things I’m looking at on Ebay to get his opinion.

So although you don’t go on holiday, which 3 things would you take to a desert island?
Gregor Hildebrandt: Wow that’s hard…Friends?
Alicja Kwade: Sun cream. Good food. A computer with Wi-fi,
Gregor Hildebrandt: We’d have to take swimming shorts or I’d feel naked. We can leave the friends, but take a towel!
Alicja Kwade: A camera. Then we could leave it there.

Who would you invite to dinner, living or dead?
Gregor Hildebrandt: I probably wouldn’t want to invite the people who I think are great.
Alicja Kwade: Those major personalities that you’re so in awe of, you can’t really just invite to your house very easily.
Gregor Hildebrandt: I’d rather meet them in a bar.

So who would you want to go for a drink with?
Gregor Hildebrandt: There are many…Nico.
Alicja Kwade: Lou Reed in his best years.
Gregor Hildebrandt: Jacques Brel.
Alicja Kwade: From the dead, Houdnini and Nicola Tesla.

Who is Nicoal Tesla?
Alicja Kwade: A scientist who later unfortunately went mad. He was the real person who invented the light bulb along with the alternating current.

Where are your favourite places in Berlin?
Alicja Kwade: I think we agree on that one: Themroc and Bar 3.
Gregor Hildebrandt: A friend of ours runs Schlessisch Blau, a type of brasserie. Amazingly good!

How does a typical Sunday look for you?
Alicja Kwade: Gregor sleeps in while I’m already working in the Atelier, then we meet in the evening at the latest around 21:30. One of us brings food- me or him, then we choose something to watch.
Gregor Hildebrandt: Mostly Columbo.

Alicja Kwade is represented by Johann Koenig and Gregor Hildebrandt by Galerie Wentrup.

Interview & text: Lisa Bosse
Translation: Anya Kinneavy
Photography: Dan Zoubek

Her work is a tale of the modern city, void of logic, overflowing with spray painted emotions. Ed Ruscha captured the Los Angeles notion of light and ease, while Wendy’s work is a reflection of her home on the East Coast in New York, the quickened sensations of life.How did you begin?
I started as a sculptor, and I was trained as a textile artist in undergraduate college. I was always focused on materials, and oriented in that direction. I worked on a lot of two-dimensional pieces, but it was never stretched, it was never really like a painting… it was always a fragment of canvas that had been screen printed on. Looking back, it was very related to print graphics, so in a way, I am returning to where I started with this work. I also made a lot of three-dimensional objects, that were stuffed canvas shapes, soft sculptures, all with print and textile applications, such as screen printing. At that time, I had a lot of jobs in the industry.

What sort of jobs did you have in the industry?
I had this one job designing these doormats in North Georgia, with the text, “W E L C O M E” with these ivy borders. (laughing)

Did you have freedom to do what you wanted on this doormats?
(continuing to laugh) Oh no, not really. There were a few of us there from art school, and we had all these big ideas about these abstract cool patterns. The owners of the company would come in with bags of rugs from Wal-Mart, and they would throw them on the floor. They would be like, “can you just copy these?” It was all very mass market.

What’s your typical day like in your studio?
I get up, have a couple cups of coffee, do some internet and email correspondence, and eventually go to my studio around 11 a.m. I’ve never been a night studio person, so, everyone has asked me how I have managed having a kid and being an artist. First of all, my husband does everything (laughing), and second of all, I have never been a night worker. I have always liked the daylight, the natural light. So I show up at 11, and stay until 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. I’m not really the marathon studio worker, I really like fresh 4 or 5 hour sessions. I am really big on not over working the paintings, I’m seeking that lighter touch. I never want to do those few extra things just because I have some extra time on my hands, so I purposely restrain my time a little bit, so I can back off things, and move onto the next painting.

Did you work on a show while you were pregnant?
Yes, actually I made my first show for Leo while I was hugely pregnant. I was completely covered, from head to toe, in a hazmat suit; you could only really see my eyes. And I build everything myself, so that was a bit crazy. I pretty much built all of the canvases before I was too pregnant, so I could get up and down easily! (laughing)

Your son, what do you tell him you do, does he get it?
He gets it, he totally gets it. He’s been to my studio, he understands that I make paintings. He gets art, in fact when he piles a bunch of blocks on top of each other, he calls it sculpture. (laughing) He once told one of his teachers at preschool that he was making a Barnett Newman. He had just been to MOMA, and it was in his brain, so he’s definitely been exposed, for better or worse.

Is New York your inspiration?
Yes, pretty much. A lot of my work is based on Chinatown.

Chinatown, it is still Chinatown, there really is not another neighborhood that has this authentic touch.
Yes, the authenticity. I think there is a difference, I am not going to say a lack of attention towards aesthetics, but less emphasis on aesthetics. Things are more practical and utilitarian, such as getting the sign up on your store, being open, and doing business, rather than making everything look just so. I’ve been inspired by that sort of “accidental aesthetic.” It is an aesthetic, it’s just not based on things having to look visually “right.” It’s utilitarian, which is really the best word to describe it. There is no other neighborhood where people are still hanging their laundry outside, selling stuff on the streets… a lot of spitting.

Spitting?
Yes, so much spitting. (laughs) The neighborhood is super chill, laid back, pretty quiet at night.

Did you have a mentor, or someone who you saw as an inspiration early on?
Yes, a lot of them really. There were a few very influential teachers. Two women who I learned fibers and textiles from, in fact I can still hear them sometimes in my head. Pamela Wiley and Deborah First from Savannah College of Art & Design. They introduced us to concept so early, it was really mind blowing. They taught us about the connotations of materials. They asked us questions such as, what is canvas, and what is it used for, what are you bringing to it? It was never about what you were putting on it; it’s not just about the surface. The materials already have a role, a personality. I think that is why I never approached painting conventionally.

Were you discovered? Or did you hustle your way into the art world?
I hustled a lot. I didn’t have any artists in my family, and I didn’t go to any fancy schools, but I had people who believed in me, such as my parents and my teachers. I have a really great relationship with my graduate school professor, Thomas Nozkowski, who is an amazingly accomplished abstract painter. He has been incredibly supportive, as he is of all the graduates at Rutgers.

Where did you first begin showing?
I began to show in a lot of group shows in the southeast, near Atlanta and Savannah. I showed at this amazing gallery in Atlanta. After repeatedly showing up to all their openings, I finally got the nerve to ask them for a studio visit, and they accepted. I don’t know, that was pretty much the beginning. For 8 or 9 years I showed only in the southeast before I finally got a show in New York. Not until I was 35, did I finally have a show in New York.

Who do you show with now in New York?
Leo Koenig. One of Leo’s artists, Nicole Eisenman, who is an amazing painter, introduced me to him.

Tell me about Leo Koenig.
He is very professional, yet friendly. That whole thing about the Koenig crew, well, it is a family vibe. That’s why I love it there. But then Leo, he tells you what you need to hear, he gets the job done; it’s a good mix. It’s 50/50 between fun, and bad-ass, “let’s get it done time.” (laughing).
I’ve had a lot of bad gallery experiences in the past. I’ve had galleries that the day before my show opens, called and told me that they lost their lease, that the show might not be open, and even that my work might be padlocked inside.

You started with sculpture, and moved onto painting?
I started painting in the early to mid 90′s. I just fell in love with the problems of painting, the problems of surface, and capturing things in a two-dimensional surface, but I always wanted it to be a sculpture painting hybrid somehow. So I was making individual works, and they were gaining closer proximity to each other. I would literally do a painting, and a sculpture on a pole, that would sit in front of another painting. I always wanted to break out of the square or the rectangle, so it was always about somehow breaking up the wall space. So, really the paintings have always been super sculptural. I’ve always had this thing about big paintings, I wanted to make big paintings but I always felt that it was really pretentious, and I did not want to make salon paintings, so I liked the fact that they are modular, its feels more modern if things can be broken down and moved. You don’t have to get four people to move one painting. That’s just not my thing.

Spray, is that also resulting out of graffiti?
I gravitated towards spray because I just needed to not physically touch the canvas anymore. It just started feeling wrong to pick up a brush, and actually touch it. I wanted some sense of detachment, and I wanted the surface to be atmospheric, and I can get that look by hitting it with very thin layers of spray, and building it up. I wanted it to be like dirty windows or city grime. Like one is looking through a subway window at a landscape, or a sign, or anything.
The brush just sort of stopped giving me what I needed.

Wendy White is showing with Henning Strassburger at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz e.V. in Berlin, that opens January 26, 2012.

Solo exhibitions include Van Horn, Düsseldorf (through 3 March, 2012) and Leo Koenig, Inc. (2012). White is represented by Leo Koenig, Inc., New York, NY, Galeria Moriarty, Madrid, Spain, Van Horn, Düsseldorf, and Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago, IL.

Interview: Oliver Kann, Frederik Frede
Text: David John
Photography: Fette Sans

When we’ve met Guinea-born Alpha Sidibe, as a studio manager of Christian Louboutin, in his homely apartment, we had a lovely afternoon which was the exact opposite: relaxed and super fun. We opened a bottle of Crémant and talked about his extensive shoe collection, nightlife in Paris and why he hated Berlin when he first went to visit.

Tell us a little bit about your background.  How did your start your career in fashion?
I studied sociology and communication, focusing on communication in fashion. While I was studying, I was working as an intern in a couple of press offices in Paris- like Ralph Lauren. Then I worked for the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. During my last year at university, I decided to do a longer internship in order to really dive into the fashion scene. It was important for me to learn all the processes. This is when I started working for Christian Louboutin. Initially I was told that they were a small company and that they were not really in need of more people in their communication department. Nonetheless they still gave me a chance to see how I worked and if I were any good. So I began working in the business planning division, even though my passion always was in PR. I began as an assistant to the creative director, helping out with new materials and trends; acting as a link between the creative director and the design studio. After a year and a half, I became a coordinator of the studio, working with the creative director and the shoe- and handbag departments.

Christian Louboutin just celebrated its 20th anniversary. For a long time, they only did shoes, but after a while they began designing handbags as well, and it keeps on growing. Although the bags now have their own department, their designs tend to follow the shoes a lot, to match the spirit of Christian Louboutin. It’s a brand with a very original spirit, also because we don’t follow the market. Its spirit is quite unique: very free, original, crazy and fun- all at the same time. This is how I like to see it.

You seem very passionate about the brand and about the design.
Exactly! I like to feel what the people want, what they need and imagine how fashion will translate this in future collections. So what I do, I like to see it as being a link between the people and the designers, tell them what’s happening around… Although I am much more a communication person, whenever I can, I love to talk to the design team about trends and future collections. Especially now that Louboutin has started doing a line of Men’s shoes. I am a big shoe addict, I recognize myself in this collection.

How long have you been living in this apartment?
We’ve lived here for two and a half years. The funny thing is that when we moved here, friends started to come over and they would all say “Oh, I know this place, I’ve been here before!” It turned out that this was previously the apartment of an editor of Purple Magazine, who used to have a lot of parties here, and many of our friends have been attending.
I love it here. The flat has a great energy. We tend to collect things: we always bring a lot of stuff back when we travel. My Boyfriend kept his old apartment and we use it as a storage for all the things we bring and cannot have here.

Are you from Paris originally? What do you find special about living in this city?
I am from Africa – I was born in in Conakry, Guinea. I came to France when I was four years old. We lived in various different places in France. I’ve been living in Paris since I am 16.
Paris is a really beautiful city. I have to say I travel a lot, but I never found such a beautiful place elsewhere. And there is this energy that is difficult to describe. I love my life here, I have good friends, a great job. Although I know it can sometimes be difficult in Paris, because the people are not always so open at first. But after some time, you find this great way of life, it’s casual & friendly as well. But then again, there’s a lot of establishment here, it can be very traditional, very calm and sometimes you feel there is not enough to do, and it would be cool if Paris got more new energy, if more new young people came. And this is exactly what I try to do with my parties, to give a new kind of energy to people. We got a lot of positive feedback, people told us “we needed that in Paris.”

What is the social life in Paris like?
There is this great place here called Maxim’s, it a restaurant and a club. I had a good friend who worked there, and I hung out there all the time. And then I got asked if I wanted to organize a new party at Maxim’s. So we started having this party every month: we called it “Oiseaux de Nuit”, literally night bird, which is the French expression for a party animal. It matches perfectly with my day job, I meet a lot of interesting people at night.

Where do you get inspiration from?
I don’t travel that much for work, apart from the occasional trip to New York. My boyfriend and I tend to travel more for fun- short weekend trips in Europe. We like to take little breaks regularly, in London, Madrid, Barcelona or Italy. But these trips are also essential to working in fashion: you have to know what is going on elsewhere, what’s happening around the world. I try to connect as much as I can with the city I’m visiting: see what’s going on, what people wear, where they hang out…
Berlin, for example, is a city I really like. Not so much the first time I visited, it was winter and extremely cold. I hated it at first, but when I came back in summer I loved its energy. There is a great mix of people, and they seem to connect well between themselves. It looks like it’s easier than in Paris. And there are new places popping up all the time: if you don’t go there for a year, then everything has changed again and the scene has moved to other spots. Very dynamic.

Thank you very much for the interview!

Interview: Mascha Kaessner, Tim Seifert
Photography: Ailine Liefeld
Text: Aymeric Lorenté

DTSM, has a striking, tactile, sensual look which is distinctive without being theatrical or unwearable. Similarly, he photographs Berlin’s people and the cities where he travels with uncommon empathy and nuance. His work appears regularly in Flaunt, I-D, Interview Magazine, Kinki Magazine, Monocle, ZEIT Magazin and many more.

Since I am so lucky to be included in their crew of close friends and collaborators, we curled up on the leather sofas in their atelier to chat about their shared styles, intellectual aims and lives.

How has your aesthetic evolved since being together? When I met you, Maxime, you were wearing a baby-blue tracksuit.
Maxime Ballesteros: I put it away for home-wear now. I still love it.
Jen Gilpin: I love the blue-suit. When he put it on one morning, once after I slept over, was when I said “you’re mine” for the first time. But, aesthetically, for me, its been a journey with work and us together. He taught me a lot about imagery and photography. He showed me ways of seeing that I hadn’t considered before.
Maxime Ballesteros: We created an aesthetic together. We created a style for the imagery and the clothes because it all began together.
Jen Gilpin: We met when we were beginning the collection. In the first photo-shoot, we found one key image that became the image to define our aesthetic. Its always a long and intense discussion about finding the right image that says the right things and stays challenging.

What are the right things for the image to say?
Jen Gilpin: There always needs to be a little humor.
Maxime Ballesteros: It can’t be too serious. I can’t stand when things are too serious. It needs to be light and can’t give everything at once. You need to think when looking at the photo. I like when the feet are not right, or something makes you look a bit further.
Jen Gilpin: It should be a bit challenging. You shouldn’t instantly have associations with other fashion photos.
Maxime Ballesteros: It shouldn’t refer straight to something else.

To me, your aesthetic is so rich because it’s surprisingly humble. I think the assumed associations with your aesthetic are initially intimidating to most casual viewers. A tall, hot, person in sharp black leather intimidates some people….actually, everyone but some people.
Maxime Ballesteros: But, we always add something in the photos that’s a little funny and takes the pressure off the image. Then people can say, “okay, its not such a big deal.”

What else is nice is how the aesthetic super urbane and tough but you’re really working with a small, warm, community of wonderful people, like your main models Celyn Smyth and Merle Winter, with whom you’re comfortable.
Maxime Ballesteros: It’s always hard to work with someone new. We try but its hard to pick the right person. The people we work with are so good, why should we change. When creating something, you get to know the model. It becomes easier and easier. It stops being about a girl who shows up, does a shoot, and then says ‘good-bye.’ Instead, it’s about really working with someone. It’s a bit more honest too. The models really want to work with us. They care about the collection and the imagery. They want to wear the clothes. It’s not just a job.
Jen Gilpin: It takes a while to create intimacy. Photos get way better towards the end of a shoot because trust takes time to develop. It becomes clear with the models’ glance.

Yet, part of Maxime’s extraordinary gift is creating a real aura of intimacy almost immediately. His party-snapshots are really unique and captivating because people respond so well and quickly to his warmth.
Jen Gilpin: Its true but he also challenges me a lot, in a good way.

Do you test ideas off each other?
Jen Gilpin: Max was way more involved in the other collections and less with this one.
Maxime Ballesteros: I had less time.
Jen Gilpin: But his opinions are still stuck in my head.
Maxime Ballesteros: I’ve been a bit hard on her.

But that’s good. That’s the ideal. There is nothing better than getting really important, useful, life advice from someone who really loves you and cares about your wellbeing. I definitely take my guy’s advice over anyone else’s. Besides constructive criticism, what is the most important thing you’ve both brought to the other?
Jen Gilpin: Happiness.
Maxime Ballesteros: Ooh la la.

How great is it, when a hot chick wearing black leather on a black leather sofa can make happiness sound cool? I assumed you’d reference a book, death metal or a favorite type of tea.
Maxime Ballesteros: Well, we also bring the constant energy for work.
Jen Gilpin: More than a reference to Dostoevsky, we bring inspiration for each others’ work and debate about it. We bring an appreciation for that.
Maxime Ballesteros: We also share a schedule for life. We work late and that’s comfortable for us. Being with someone who has a normal job, is too hard.

Happiness. Better than Cannibal Corpse. Its funny how briefly obsessed I was with death metal but I cant think of a single reference except Cannibal Corpse.
Jen Gilpin: Weren’t we all Goths in high school?
Maxime Ballesteros: I wasn’t. I was wearing make-up, pink and orange.

What was that? Glamrock?
Maxime Ballesteros: No, just weird. I had a shaved head and big arms. I was from the country. I didn’t know that I was a weirdo.

Well, I guess the squirrels didn’t complain. Wow, I love how I’m such a city kid that I cant think of another animal but squirrels. I bet that the squirrels and pigeons loved your look. How many cockroaches poached your idea to wear blue tracksuits?

Thank you for the interview! For more information on their work, make sure you check out their respective websites DSTM and Maxime Ballesteros Photography.

Interview: Ana Finel-Honigman
Photography: Ailine Liefeld

Rooted deeply in skate and punk culture, the brand manages to take this inspiration from the street and turn it into something more polished and classic.

Co-Founder Rasmus Bak talks with us about image, being Danish and road trips through Europe.

Can you tell us a bit about this space?
This used to be an old bodega where the guys working in the meatpacking district on the other side of the street used to have a beer after their shift. After the old owner died, this place stood empty for almost two years. Then we rented it, and now it’s our meeting area.

Your logo is very nautical. Can you explain a bit why that is or what it has to do with your brand?
The whole maritime approach is still the cornerstone of our designs. It has always been. In a strange way it has a lot of positive values attached to it.

Does it have anything with Copenhagen?
No, not really. But it represents our rather playful approach to the whole industry and our brand. It’s a great symbol for that. There’s also an extended version with a sparrow dancing on it. We don’t like to be stuck with just one logo. We play around all the time with small signs that define the energy behind a collection. It’s really important to us that the soul of the brand is reflected in the logo. We’re moving fast at the moment, and I think it’s nice to have something visual to attach it to. It’s like a tattoo.

To remember a place in time?
Totally! It works as such a good reminder for us. Something that you only realize in the rear-view mirror when time has passed.

But unlike some tattoo you hate later, you won’t regret any of your logo designs?
No, not at all. We know where we’re going, we know what we stand for and what our main inspirations are. So we’d never do something that we won’t like next season.

So what does Libertine–Libertine stand for?
We always say we are inspired by bright city lights and wild shores. We have roots in city life, but we’re also connected to the skate and surf scene. That’s where our roots are. We’ve always been interested in skating, music and surfing, and now we have a more classic and grown-up approach to it. We don’t want to be a skate brand, but it’s important to us that you feel that chaotic energy in some subtle way.

Would you say your designs are Danish? That you are a Copenhagen brand?
Of course we feel like a part of Copenhagen. It’s actually a really versatile city;,you can get away with a lot. And people are really interested in local brands, so it’s a nice place to experiment. We feel freedom here. But our approach to fashion is not strictly Scandinavian minimalism. There are a lot of good players here that do their stuff well, but personally, I am super bored with it.
When we started out we were really fed up with the whole minimalistic black, white and gray thing, and we knew we wanted to avoid that. So we distinguished ourselves from our competitors by not including black, for example. For us, that is a way to stand out here; to not include the skinny jeans, to not include the suits, to not include these elements. In Scandinavia, all the collections are built up in the same way. We didn’t want to have anything to do with that.

Any idea why black is such a big part of Nordic fashion design?
It’s a business decision. But we didn’t worry about that. The first collection we did consisted of just twenty hangers. Just some really clean shirts and we built it up from that. We didn’t want to blow it out of proportion, and we still feel like that. We want to be really honest in every step we take on our way. Be do-ers instead of pretenders. It’s fine to say that you are interested in art, but have you taken any steps towards the art scene lately?
It’s so easy to put things like that down in your ‘About’-text and just pretend that you are a part of all this. We believe in taking small footsteps all the time. Leave small marks. Be really rich in initiative. Spend some money on projects that don’t give you anything back besides a good, fun experience. It will always come back to you full circle. And we like to have something to waste our energy on apart from fashion from time to time.

You’re three people doing the brand. Tell us about your different tasks.
Pernille is the head of design. She has a background in designing for other brands and that’s where her education is. Peter does the sales. Since we’ve grown so much, he now handles the back-office, logistics, and the financial side. He keeps things in order here, which is a big job. We do everything ourselves, the invoicing, the delivery, packaging. It’s important for us to be hands on, so we can be flexible and prioritize. I do communications and sales as well as product development.

Are you three best friends?
Pernille and I are a couple actually and we had known Peter for years when we started this, even though he wasn’t a close friend. He’s a really likeable guy, and he stands for a lot of good things and values; a high morale. So this might be an uncommon constellation, but it works for us. We want that small but extremely strong core. We don’t want all the risk.

But do you see your label growing?
Of course we will grow. We already need more people. But my dream isn’t that office with 50 employees. Growing too fast can sometimes kill the soul of a brand. It sounds dreamy what I’m saying here, but I really mean it. This project has been launched out of the ambition to create an ideal life for us. And we are getting there. We can live off what we love now. We travel a lot, we meet great people, we party a little bit, we use our heads. We earn money to do exactly that.

Sounds great.
Yes. We have 20 or 30 years ahead of us. We aren’t in a rush. We are patient. And I think that is quite an important virtue these days. And sometimes, saying ‘enough is enough’ for the time being is the best you can do.

Have you always lived in Copenhagen? What do you like about the city?
I grew up in Jutland, close to Aarhus. In Copenhagen, you have freedom. I don’t think any of us could live here if we didn’t travel so much. But it’s a nice place to come back to. You have an openness here that is really hard to find anywhere else, and a lot of possibilities. It’s the Danish mentality, I guess. It’s possible to slack and get by for a while. That is way harder in other big cities.

Tell us how Libertine–Libertine started.
In the beginning, we worked from our apartment. Peter came over every morning at nine, and our warehouse was at his place on the fifth floor. It was exhausting to carry up all the boxes. But every month we thought: “Let’s save the rent, that will keep us on the road for a week.” If you save one thousand euros like that, that’s five or six nights in a hotel and some gas for the car. We took meetings all over the place and laid our European foundation like that.
The normal way of starting a fashion business is to establish yourself in your home market and then grow. For us, it was more important to get out there. Fuck it, if we have to drive 1000 kilometers for 2000 euros, it’s always worth it. It pushes the boundaries a bit of what you can actually do as a brand. That momentum is important to keep, and we have kept it ever since. Just do stuff, instead of thinking strategically and writing emails, just go and feel it instead. Experience it yourself instead of just reading about it.

This seems to be working out for you.
It does! But we also had to put so many hours in it. We drove so many kilometers all the time. But it was always worth it. Travel is a big part of my life and it’s a big part of the brand as well. We like the whole hobo and Kerouac thing. It’s kind of an inspiration. It’s such a cliché to say: “Live the dream!“ But when we started out, we felt exactly like that. We even had a dogma saying that the collection can never be bigger that what fits in two bags, so we can always throw it in a car and just drive. Now, it’s not interesting anymore to just have two collection bags anymore, it would just be boring to develop such a small amount of styles. But we still try to keep up the concept, and the spirit is still very much rooted in Libertine–Libertine.

Traveling as a way of life?
I have always found comfort in the awareness that that is possible. I grew up in a small city, and I can still recall that emotion of being trapped. Maybe you don’t want to go out on a Monday night, but it’s really nice to know that you could if you wanted to. It’s good to know that you could get out of your apartment and just do stuff.

Thank you for the nice talk, Rasmus! Make sure you check out the website of Libertine-Libertine for more infos and very nice imagery.

Interview: Anna Peuckert
Photography: Søren Jepsen

Please give us an introduction on who you are and what you do.
I am a NYC based fashion photographer and an artist. I’m Finnish/Hungarian (Finngarian), grew up in Finland, and have lived in NYC for 14 years.

Did you move to New York with certain ideas/plan in mind, and which were they?
I came here with my first actor boyfriend to go to art school. I wanted to be a painter. I attended SVA for four years, and then entered the world with an apartment filled with huge photo-realistic paintings. Needless to say, I ended up doing a lot of other jobs before finding photography and being able to make a living from it.

What was the decisive point for you to start making photographs as a commercial venture?
I was dating a singer/musician, who had a campaign coming up all over NYC to promote his new album… I just took some quick snaps of him in the shower, and the record label ended up using them for his campaign. That’s when I realized it could be more than just a hobby, and I could actually get hired for jobs. I started building my book, and a year later I was getting paid assignments.

How long have you been living in New York?
14 years. In the middle of it I lived about a year in London and another in Singapore, but I always had my place here, and had to come back.

What do you think makes NY special in comparison to other cities you have lived in?
New York has energy like no other city I have ever been to… and I have traveled a lot. It draws artists and alpha-types that give it a unique, fast-paced heartbeat. I love being surrounded by crazy artists. And walking fast.

Do you miss the European lifestyle?
We live a pretty European lifestyle with my boyfriend Ian… We enjoy life, travel a ton, and definitely drink our share of good wine. I’m happy to have a job that I’m happy to do even on my time off… I’m always shooting.

What makes you satisfied about a shoot, then later a specific shot or a whole series?
Well… Usually careful planning and great team and casting assures that I’ll be happy with the shoot. I usually know how things are going while shooting… There are few surprises when editing, but generally I know If I’ll be happy while shooting. I love a visually interesting and original shoots with a narrative, or something to say. I like to create beautiful things.

What could be a typical day / night for you?
I usually work at my home office in the LES, just like today… I edit, do retouching, plan shoots, and correspond with clients. At the moment I just finished three rather large shoots, so my days are long and tedious with editing and retouching. On a typical day, I could also be location scouting, having meetings with clients, or my favorite, shooting. I try to fit in a workout at least few days a week. I go out few nights a week… It could be an art opening, dinner or drinks with friends, or a party. Or we stay in, make good food, and watch a movie.

Describe your work in 3 words?
Sexy. Narrative. Edgy.

Do you prefer studio or on-location shoots? And why?
Depends completely on the shoot… Sometimes a studio is the best way to achieve the desired result, but generally I prefer to shoot on location. It’s more stressful and challenging, but there’s freshness and fun in that unpredictability.

Name a person who passed away whom you would like to shoot.
Cleopatra.

Do you have a specific playlist when you shoot?
I have several… A sensual one for sexy shoots, and more upbeat, energetic one for fashion shoots. Most importantly, I want the model to be inspired. It can add quite a bit to the mood, and really influence the outcome of the images.

What’s your best music find of 2011?
Spotify.

Any films that you feel have helped shape your visual aesthetics?
I grew up watching Roman Polanski and David Lynch…Definitely Bitter Moon and Blue Velvet.

What can’t you live without?
Being creative. I need to make things. Otherwise I feel like I am not alive.

Favorite place to eat in New York?
Besides our house (I love cooking)? There are so many… Mostly places that have either amazing food (Blue Ribbon), great atmosphere (Schillers), awesome cocktails and wine (Freeman’s), close-by awesome sushi (Takatachi), excellent Korean food (Dok Suni)… I love living here, with so many amazing restaurants.

What’s coming up in the near future?
Bigger, better, more sparkles!!

You just published a book. Tell us about this body of work.
It’s a 240-page, rather large coffee table book, that has some of my sexiest images from the last seven years. It’s called Femme Fatale; Female Erotic Photography. The book is available Worldwide, online and in bookstores, and translated to 6 languages. GQ Spain called it “The book that will make your girlfriend fall in love with erotic photography”. It has a different angle than most erotic books that are geared towards men.

Do you ever get odd mail from people who have difficulties accepting nudity? What does it make you feel?
Actually, I have never gotten such an email. I get a lot of emails from people with naked photos of themselves, hoping that I’ll want to shoot them. Some are quite amusing.

Share an anecdote with a sitter/model who did the most unusual thing not requested by you.
Hmmm… I guess she asked me out and then kissed me.

For more information on Reka’s work and photography please visit her portfolio.

Photography: Fette Sans
Color Grading: Ailine Liefeld
Interview: FvF

His selection includes classic from Bill Withers and Cat Stevens as well as some feel good rarities from El Michels Affair and Edwin Starr. There can´t be a better choice for a relaxed evening in the city than to listen to one of Artoo’s sets while enjoying a drink and starting to move your feet with a grin on your face. As Berlin as it gets.

Tracklist:
1. Let Me In – Benny Sings
2. The First Cut Is The Deepest – Cat Stevens
3. Lovely Day – Bill Withers
4. Fire And Rain – James Taylor
5. Trying To Get Next To You – Arnold Blair
6. Just The Two Of Us – Grover Washington Jr.
7. I Feel The Earth Move – Carole King
8. Keep Me In Mind – The Bamboos
9. Never Met A Girl Like You Before – Edwyn Collins
10. Cream (Main) – El Michels Affair
11. It’s Great To Be Here – The Jackson 5
12. Style Council – The Lodgers
13. Running Back And Forth – Edwin Starr
14. Tiny Dancer – Elton John

Photo by Henrik Kuerschner.