Cold weather got you down? Settling in for the long winter doldrums? Well…we have something to cheer you up – SPRING SHIRTS! In this first look – Complex.com – previews our upcoming spring 2012 Hamilton 1883 look-book.

Inspired by the the town of Marfa, the shirts take their cues from West Texas style and history. Desert colors mix with vintage prints and contemporary patterns partly inspired by the book Chinati: The Vision of Donald Judd. Chinati is the name of Donald Judd’s modern art museum located in Marfa, where the dramatic Texas landscapes provide the most incredible backdrops to his stark modern sculptures in addition to work by other contemporary artists.

Check out the Chinati Foundation website here…and our new shirt collection here.

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TV tip for tonight!

The American Masters series puts a spotlight on famed design couple, Charles and Ray Eames. Airing on PBS tonight from 10pm to 11:30pm (12/19) this documentary is certainly one not to miss if you are at all interested in style and design.

From the PBS website:  American Masters presents the first film made about America’s most important and influential designers, Charles and Ray Eames, since their deaths in 1978 and 1988, respectively — and the only film that explores the link between their artistic collaboration and sometimes tortured marriage. Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey’s definitive documentary delves into the private world the Eameses created in their Renaissance-style, Venice Beach, California studio, where design history was born.

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Interesting article in The New York Times today about the history of Seattle’s grunge music scene and its influence that is still felt around the city today. Included with the article are videos, slideshows, and a quiz! (I scored “grunge rock star” – top that!) The article goes on to mention that currently on exhibition at the Seattle EMP Museum (Experience Music Project) is “Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses” the world most extensive collection of memorabilia from the bands history.

I don’t know about you, but I would totally LOVE to see this…but since I’m probably not getting myself to Washington state anytime soon, the new must have catalog is available for purchase:

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Besides cooler temperatures, leaves turning, and seasons changing…there is something else to look forward to this fall.

Premiering at the Toronto Film Festival on September 10th, opening in major cities on the 20th, and televised on PBS October 21st, comes Cameron Crowe’s documentary Pearl Jam Twenty. Filmed as part of the PBS American Masters series, this film will take a look at twenty years of live concerts, behind the scenes footage, and interviews with the band from over 1,200 hours of footage.

Can’t wait to see this.

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Saddened to hear of the passing of artist Cy Twombley at age 83. Houston is incredibly lucky to have the magnificent Cy Twombley Gallery right here at the Menil Collection – make sure you pay it a visit.

(more…)

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Houston temperatures might be rising, but the weather can’t possibly compete with the searing heat that will be emanating from the new show opening at the MFAH.

On view July 3rd through September 25th – Helmut Newton: White Women – Sleepless Nights – Big Nudes is a fine art photography show at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston that you MUST NOT MISS. The title of the show refers to the names of three books published by Newton that “established Newton’s reputation as the supreme recorder of female identity, and as a master craftsman of the photographic medium“.

Sexy, controversial, and supremely chic – Helmut Newton’s work represents a unique time capsule of fashion and style of the 70′s & 80′s; women’s liberation; politics; and the boundary pushing morality of a very special time and place. Even thirty/forty years later his work still offers shocks, but always dazzles in its opulence, eroticism, and profound elegance. I promise you…this show will burn the eyeballs out of your head. Go.

© Estate of Helmut Newton

Museum of Fine Arts Houston – Beck Building, Ground Floor 5601 Main Street, Houston, Texas. ph. 713.639.7300 – P.S. leave the kids at home.

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If you are in Houston on Friday June 10th, please check out our friend Julie Soefer’s fantastic new work at the Barbara Davis Gallery.

Julie Soefer: out of range is on view from June 10, 2011 – July 2, 2011, with an artist’s reception on Friday, June 10, 2011, from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. For more information on this exhibit, please contact Barbara Davis Gallery at  info@barbaradavisgallery.com or call 713.520.9200.

Barbara Davis Gallery is located at 4411 Montrose Blvd.

Filed under: Art & Culture, Houston, Texas by Stephen : No Comments »

When I come down to Texas to work on a new shirt collection, I always make sure I take some time out to visit some of fantastic museums here in Houston. This season I tacked on an extra day and I visited the fantastic Museum of Fine Arts Houston. I always get inspired by making discoveries and coming across art and architecture that I wasn’t expecting to see. When I was across the street from the museum, I literally stumbled into The Cullen Sculpture Garden totally by accident. Arriving early to the museum I had the entire place to myself.

I discovered while walking around that the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Garden is practically a sculpture in itself- the concrete walled space was designed by the incredible Japanese artist Isamu Noguchi. Included in the Garden are works by Ellsworth Kelly, Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, and Louise Bourgeois. Next time you are in the Museum District you should definitely check this amazing place out.

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I’m home from Japan! It is seriously the most fantastic place, I can’t wait to go back. Some interesting things that I discovered while there….#1. WIFI is totally impossible to find, even in big hotels. #2. Sushi is way more popular in America. #3. The Japanese are the best dressed people in the entire world. #4 Those super advanced computerized TOTO toilets we giggle at? THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY THE GREATEST INVENTION OF ALL TIME. #5 Everyone uses giant flip-phones.

Here are some snaps before I pass out again from the absolute worst jet lag ever.

The view from the hotel in Osaka.

If you find yourself in Japan, you can buy Hamilton 1883 shirts at this VERY cool store called Journal Standard.

I did not eat this.

I did eat this!

Japan clearly hasn’t gotten the “smoking is bad” memo yet.

Can you imagine? A courtyard belonging to a fabric mill that created fabrics for Samurai and the royal families of Kyoto.

A very cool guy in his kimono with North Face messenger bag.

Kimono-clad cuties at the Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto – the “Pure Water Temple”.

Gorgeous temples everywhere in Kyoto, one of the prettiest cities that I have ever seen.

And, of course, The BIG AMERICA 2 TEXAS 2 Burger at McDonalds. Oh, great…

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Hamilton friend and fellow Houstonian, Randy Twaddle, emailed us about his new project that appeared in the New York Times recently – a series of incredible carpets based on his drawings of electrical transformers. Produced by Carol Piper Rugs these limited edition carpets depicting our modern world are produced using very old fashioned manufacturing techniques. Prices for these underfoot pieces-of-art run from $2400 for a runner, to about $5600 for the larger area rug styles.

As quoted from the Times article “As Mr. Twaddle, the owner of ttweak, a communications and design firm in Houston, said: “I was really drawn to the unintended elegance of the transformers and the lyrical quality of the power lines”.”

Carol Piper Rugs, 1809 West Gray, Houston, TX 77019 ph. 713.524.2442

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