Picture this: the sun is shining, the music is pumping, and the vibes are off the charts at Glastonbury Festival. But wait, what's that in the distance? It's not a bird, it's not a plane... It's the legendary XL Hot Diggity Dog, folks!
But hold up, it gets even better! This gigantic hot dog wasn't just sitting on a stand, oh no! It was floating around the crowd, having a grand ol' time. People couldn't believe their eyes as they watched the XL Hot Diggity Dog soaring above their heads like a foodie superhero!
You know what they say, "Good things come in XL packages," and this hot diggity dog was no exception. It brought smiles and laughter to all who encountered it. It was the talk of the festival, and we couldn't be prouder to bring this epic food adventure to life!
So, if you need some foodie fun and a good laugh, keep an eye out for ThirdDrawerDown's XL Hot Diggity Dog. You never know when it might make a surprise appearance and float its way into your heart!
]]>Faith Ringgold is a powerhouse with a prolific art-making career of sixty years, drawing from personal autobiography and collective histories to document her life as an artist and mother and amplify social justice and equity struggles.
Born in 1930 in New York, NY, she is one of her generation's most influential cultural figures, with a career linking the multi-disciplinary practices of the Harlem Renaissance to the political art of young Black artists working today.
Our collection with this renowned American artist, also made in collaboration with New Museum in New York to celebrate her retrospective American People earlier this year, is now in store.
The Third Drawer Down x Faith Ringgold collection contains two 100% linen tea towels to use as functional items in your kitchen or to hang on the wall as artworks in their own right, plus two puzzles: one 36-piece brain game for kids and a 1000-piece for those who like a challenge.
"No other creative field is as closed to those who are not white and male as is the visual arts. After I decided to be an artist, the first thing I had to believe was that I, a black woman, could penetrate the art scene and that, further, I could do so without sacrificing one iota of my blackness or my femaleness or my humanity."
At 91 years old, Ringgold is well-known for her artwork, writing, and activist role in the civil rights movement. Her art encompasses mixed media, painting, sculpture and performance, but she is best known for her narrative quilts.
Drawing on craft traditions to tell stories about herself and the broader African American experience, the famed story quilts were inspired by her fashion-designer mother and Tibetan thangkas (paintings on cloth framed with brocade).
"I think I had struck on a combination of imagery and politics that worked."
She considers her American People series of paintings, which began in the summer of 1963, the start of her mature artistic work. Naming her own style as "Super Realism", Ringgold explored and depicted what was happening to black people in the United States, commenting on the Civil Rights movement from a woman's point of view.
In 1968, when the Whitney Museum of American Art neglected to include any African American artists in its exhibition of 1930s sculpture, Ringgold helped organize demonstrations. She co-founded the Ad Hoc Women's Art Committee, agitating for equal inclusion of women artists in the Whitney Biennial and the Where We At Black Women Artists Collective, a socially conscious group seeking more exhibition opportunities for black women. She was a member of Women Artists in Revolution and a founding member of the National Black Feminist Organization. And Ringgold's activism continued right through to the 1990s.
"I don't think you can create art out of anger; it has to come out of some form of understanding. You have to feel good about who you are and that you could do something to change things."
From creating some of the most indelible artworks of the civil rights era to challenging accepted hierarchies of art versus craft through her experimental story quilts, Ringgold's body of work bears witness to the complexity of the American experience.
"I have always wanted to tell my story - or, more to the point, my side of the story."
Ringgold is also an award-winning author, having written and illustrated several books for children. Her autobiography, We Flew Over the Bridge: The Memoirs of Faith Ringgold was published in 1995. She is the recipient of over 75 awards, including 22 Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degrees. She is one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2022. Her retrospective American People has now traveled from New Museum and is currently at San Francisco's de Young Museum until late November.
"You can't sit around and wait for somebody to say who you are. You need to write it and paint it and do it."
Explore the entire Faith Ringgold collection HERE
]]>British-born, Brooklyn-based artist Jon Burgerman makes instantly recognizable work in various media, from paintings and drawings to animations and collectables.
His creations often combine his signature elements of exaggerated expression, vivid color, gestural mark-making and cartoony googly eyes.
Jon is exhibited worldwide from art fairs, galleries to museums, to even the White House, with works in permanent collections of institutions, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Meet the newest artist to join the Third Drawer Down fold, with the Hot Diggity Dog pool float as his first collaboration with us.
Hi Jon, can you tell us a bit about the inspiration and concept behind the float?
For years, I've dreamt about one day having a balloon float of my work in the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. I've been drawing, painting and creating colorful characters professionally for over 20 years, and I think having a character as part of the parade is one of the greatest achievements. That and designing an Olympic mascot (I came close to doing that once!). The thing is, I'm kinda chronically lazy; designing characters in 3d requires a modicum of concentration, so I thought it would be funny if the balloon float in the parade was pretty much just a big balloon. Like a sausage-shaped balloon with some eyes on and a wiggle of yellow, boom, a hot dog! Easy, fun, silly (all the things I'm into). Of course, getting one's work into the parade isn't so easy, so I figured a pool float was the next best thing. Have you seen the size of these things?! Slowly I'm gonna make bigger and bigger hot dog inflatables until I get that coveted spot in the parade!
How did this hot dog character come about in the context of your work? Why did it "stick", and what made it so compelling to keep drawing?
Hot dogs have populated my work for many years, and I think it's because they are so quick and easy to draw. I've made hot dog vinyl toys, prints, plush, papier-maché sculptures and even had them in a video game. When Instagram first copied Snapchat and introduced a simple drawing tool for Stories, I went nuts taking videos and drawing hot dogs on everything. A simple line with the pink pen tool, a couple of dots for eyes and a yellow swiggle for some mustard, and you have a funny little hot dog. It's fun; give it a try!
What excited you about this collaboration and working with Third Drawer Down?
My art practice has a strong sense of play as part of its process, and I love sharing that with the audience. This collaboration is a physical manifestation of that, and it's pretty hard not to smile when presented with a humungous hot dog balloon pool float! It's just so fun. It also lets me live out my Claus Oldenburg fantasies and perhaps will get me a little closer to my Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade dream. I hope everyone enjoys splashing around with it.
Lastly, now we are travelling again; where would you go with your Hot Diggity Dog? Anywhere in the world!
I'd like to go to Hawaii, Busan, Muscle Beach in California and the cinema; it would be funny to have Hot Dog sat next to me in the theatre.
Take a look at the Hot Diggity Dog Pool Floats HERE
]]>We have been big fans of Judy Chicago for some time now, some of us for longer than others considering her art roots lay in the 70s. She is an icon and when we can collaborate with artists like Judy on accessible art collections, and educate those who may not be familiar with her work on how important it is, that is a good day at the office. Because it is, very important.
We thought the best way to give you an idea of this vivid lady's commitment to supporting women in the arts as well as her background and journey as an artist, and becoming a feminist icon, was to share a few things you may not know about her. Six things to be exact.
Firstly, she changed her name to Judy Chicago.
"Chicago native Judy Cohen Gerowitz became Judy Chicago in 1970 for many reasons. One was to throw off her father’s and husband’s names and the male dominance behind that practice. Another, as shown in the now famous Jerry McMillan photo announcing her breakout exhibition at California State University, Fullerton, was to prove her willingness to fight for her rights" - big think
Her most famous work, The Dinner Party, once sparked an 87-minute debate in the U.S. House of Representatives over whether it was art or pornography.
It was following that The Dinner Party was banished to storage for nearly three decades.
“The Dinner Party went into storage and I went into shock,” said Ms. Chicago, a small, passionate fireplug of a woman with short red curls and rose-tinted glasses. “It was the piece everyone wanted to see, and nobody wanted to show.” - The Observer
She is not a Pop artist.
"So I guess you could say that edges up against pop. There was certainly a pop culture in Los Angeles, even though it was very macho. I just never thought of myself as being a pop artist."
She is determined to making a difference when it comes to women being treated equally in the art world. All you have to do is visit her website to find that out.
"For over five decades, Chicago has remained steadfast in her commitment to the power of art as a vehicle for intellectual transformation and social change and to women’s right to engage in the highest level of art production."
Yes, she is at the forefront of the women's art movement, but don't just call her a woman artist.
"I remember myself when I was a young woman. I didn’t want to be identified as a woman artist, because, from my point of view, it was like saying: “Hey, she’s just a woman!” My work would be reduced or somehow marginalised."
She made herself into an artist because she knew that is what she was.
"Once I knew that I wanted to be an artist, I had made myself into one. I did not understand that wanting doesn't always lead to action. Many of the women had been raised without the sense that they could mould and shape their own lives, and so, wanting to be an artist (but without the ability to realize their wants) was, for some of them, only an idle fantasy, like wanting to go to the moon"
She believes feminism is humanism.
"I believe in art that is connected to real human feeling, that extends itself beyond the limits of the art world to embrace all people who are striving for alternatives in an increasingly dehumanized world. I am trying to make art that relates to the deepest and most mythic concerns of humankind and I believe that, at this moment of history, feminism is humanism."
And finally, a blurb from art history to sum up what this wonderful artist is truly about
"Inspired by the women's movement and rebelling against the male-dominated art scene of the 1960s, which lionized the Minimalist work of artists like Donald Judd, Chicago embraced explicitly female content. Creating works that recognized the achievements of major female historical figures or celebrated women's unique experiences, Chicago produced a rich body of work that sought to add women to the historical record and, more generally, to enhance their representation in the visual arts"
So, you could say that it's quite thrilling that The Dinner Party is exhibiting to this day, currently at The Brooklyn Museum. And! that you can purchase four of the settings from the famous work as coasters!
What a journey as an artist, and as a woman, and one to follow and support! We feel very lucky to have worked with Judy on adapting her work to art wares. So you can bring her works into your every day, and celebrate women. Please if you have time, read about The Dinner Party and the work Judy did in research and in art to create it. It is, incredible.
Shop Judy Chicago here.
]]>Imaginary Friend marks the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, as well as the “Get your knee off our necks” march, that took place in Washington on the 29th.
The AR work was inspired by fantastical figures who appear in cartoon fairy tales to offer guidance. Imaginary Friend represents a modern-day sage who attempts to give a blessing to a friend, but refuses as the friend doesn’t believe anything good will come from it. This character offers some words of wisdom, expressing: “Sometimes we believe nothing good can ever happen to us, so it don’t.”
This story can be interpreted in multiple ways given our circumstances in the current world and Abney hopes it raises questions.
Download the Acute Art App to experience Imaginary Friend by Nina Chanel Abney as well as other amazing AR art from artists including KAWS, Ai Wei Wei and Marina Abramović.
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In other super exciting Nina Chanel Abney-related news, she features in Third Drawer Down founder Abigail Crompton's soon-to-be-released book Truth Bomb.
Truth Bomb: Inspiration from the Mouths and Minds of Women Artists is a powerful visual celebration of twenty-two remarkable and iconoclastic women artists, including Yayoi Kusama, Mickalene Thomas, Maja Djordjevic, and Judy Chicago. Using every medium from collages, cartoons, and spray paint
to video art, bronze sculpture, and painting, these pioneering artists’ original ideas have challenged the establishment and continue to do so every day.
Preorder your Truth Bomb copy here.
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To our beloved Third Drawer Down community,
We believe in creating a safe space for everyone to experience art to live with. This includes prioritising the health and wellbeing of our customers and employees.
]]>To our beloved Third Drawer Down community,
We believe in creating a safe space for everyone to experience art to live with. This includes prioritising the health and wellbeing of our customers and employees.
Like many of you, we have spent weeks learning about coronavirus (COVID-19) and have been working quickly to make the necessary adjustments to our work and operations. We are following the latest guidance from WHO and the CDC. All of our team members, especially our store employees, have been trained on additional safety measures to ensure that we are taking every precaution possible to help protect your health.
While we have always taken pride in the hygiene standards and cleanliness of our stores, we have implemented these additional measures to reduce the potential for exposure:
1. Increasing the frequency of disinfectant cleaning of our store and distribution centres, including high-touch areas such as product displays, counters, registers and credit card payment devices.
2. Instructing our employees to wash their hands multiple times a day and adding more hand sanitiser, alcohol wipes, and tissues to our workplaces and sales floors.
3. Keeping our employees up to date on the information they need to help prevent exposure and requiring them to stay at home if they are showing symptoms of illness.
4. Establishing a dedicated task force with representatives from critical business units to help our organisation take immediate action in response to this evolving issue and ensure the care of our customers and employees globally.
For those who prefer to shop from home, our products will be available 24/7 here at www.thirddrawerdown.com.
We will continue to closely monitor the situation, and we are committed to doing everything we can to protect your health and wellbeing.
Stay safe,
The Third Drawer Down Fam.
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Let’s start with the Guerrilla Girls.
When studying Fine Art, I wrote an essay on public political art. Amongst the artists and critics were Lucy Lippard, Maria Kozic, Yayoi Kusama, and Guerrilla Girls. Never did I consider I would be working alongside these woman in my role as Director of Third Drawer Down and making their art accessible globally.
Two years of conversation with the Guerrilla Girls realised the timing was right for our first collaborative collection.
It was 2015, and I approached MoMA in New York to offer them to chance to launch the collection. It was the 40 year Anniversary of the Guerrilla Girls first “protest in response” and creation of their exhibition "An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture" [1984). Incidentally, this register of 165 artists included only 13 women.
The exhibition also celebrated the newly renovated and expanded MoMA building. The exhibition claimed to survey the era's most important painters and sculptors from 17 countries. The proportion of artists of colour was even smaller, and none were women.
MoMA loved this idea of launching the collection in the Anniversary year, the Museum where the Guerrilla Girls were born and previously having been the subject of huge criticism. The collection went “bananas” (pun intended), there was a re-enactment protest out front of MoMA and the Guerrilla Girls protested "Long live cheap art!”
In my non-curatorial words, without the Guerrilla Girls we would not be so advanced in universal feminism and the essentialism and accessible language. I love that they instil that in all women with particular attention to women artists by teaching them how to protest and make noise.
After years of shaking up the art world with posters, stickers, lectures and billboards and challenging the prominence of male artists in museums as well as general sexism and corruption in the art world, these incredible women are now exhibiting and being heard.
In 2005, the group exhibited large-format posters Welcome to the Feminist Biennale at the Venice Biennale (the first in 110 years to be overseen by women), scrutinizing 101 years of Biennale history in terms of diversity. Where Are the Women Artists of Venice? highlighted the fact that most works owned by Venice's historical museums are typically kept in storage.
Since then, the Guerrilla Girls have been invited to produce special projects for international institutions, sometimes for the very institutions they have criticized.
They have officially been heard, and officially been named as one of the most influential artists of 2016 by Artsy AND officially made me so proud to be female and continue to fight for the future.
My absolute respect for the Guerilla Girls has fuelled my mission to find a way via Third Drawer Down to have their protest merchandise available in every art museum in the world. If I can achieve that, I have done this collaboration its true justice!.
Why they rock the art world can be identified for various reasons:
So why do we do what we do at Third Drawer Down? It’s the knowledge we are incrementally achieving something significant that can change the world . You can be a part of this community of change in the world too.
Abi Crompton
]]>Every now and then, us art-y folk tend to take things a little too seriously. In honour of April Fool’s Day, we’ve rounded up four times the art world got totally punk’d for a good giggle!
]]>Every now and then, us art-y folk tend to take things a little too seriously. In honour of April Fool’s Day, we’ve rounded up four times the art world got totally punk’d for a good giggle!
Stromberg Stickin’ It To MoMA
Described by the New York Times as a 'photographer, or a media manipulator, or a self-made chance factor, or a guerilla artist or a fraud. All of the above. None of the above', Harvey Stromberg was in a league of his own in the 1970s.
His most famous prank was his 'exhibition' at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) where he installed over 300 adhesive, life-sized photographs of utility objects such as light switches, bricks and keyholes. It took the museum two years to discover and remove the stickers, Stromberg even threw himself an opening party to celebrate the 'longest-running one-man photo exhibit'.
The Late, Great Nat Tate
Launched on the eve of April Fool’s Day in 1998 at Jeff Koons’ studio, William Boyd and David Bowie created a fake biography for made-up artist, Nat Tate.
Released by David Bowie’s publishing group, Nat Tate: an American Artist 1928-1960 fooled a good majority of New York’s art and literature scene - even with that (very obvi) name combination of ‘National Gallery’ and ‘Tate’. With references of fake galleries and false artworks, it still took one week for people to figure out the hoax.
Banksy’s Shred Of Dignity
Banky’s most recent stunt at a Sotheby’s auction saw his Balloon Girl shred after being sold for $1.4 million USD.
According to Sotheby’s website: 'In a moment that caught the art world by surprise, Banksy’s Girl with Balloon self-destructed just as the final hammer signaled the end of an evening of auctions in London'. The Washington Post dubbed it: 'one of the most memorable art prank(s) in years', and the shredding actually increased the painting’s worth by twenty percent. A metaphor? Maybe. Freakin’ funny? Abso-freakin'-lutely.
Art Thou Vandelay?
Our personal favourite is the Art Vandelay saga from Keeping Up With The Kardashians - a riff on George Costanza's alter ego. When Kris Jenner art-shamed Khloe Kardhashian after she didn’t recognise the Jeff Koons' balloon sculpture in her office, we were graced with one of the best art pranks in TV.
With the help of Scott Disick, Khloe pranks art snob Kris by hiring an actor to play renowned (imaginary) artist 'Art Vandelay'. They introduce her to 'the next big thing' and before we know it, she hangs up one of his pieces in her house - which is actually a painting by Khloe. To quote Kris: 'You’re an artist and your name is "art"? This is amazing!'
Moral of the story: art shaming is not cool y'all.
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Real talk: Female representation in the arts sucks. So this year, Third Drawer Down is calling for #BalanceForBetter.
]]>Real talk: Female representation in the arts sucks. So this year, Third Drawer Down is calling for #BalanceForBetter. We want to see a higher percentage of female representation across museums, commercial galleries, contemporary art spaces, biennales, art prizes, collections, and across arts sector boards.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts poses a single question for Women’s History Month: “Can you name five women artists?” Using the hashtag #5WomenArtists, we’re faced with the embarrassing reality that the lives and work of women artists have been, and are continually greatly overshadowed and undervalued.
Third Drawer Down favourites, the Guerrilla Girls, best sum it up: instead of asking “Why haven’t there been more great women artists throughout Western history?”, ask “Why haven’t more women been considered great artists throughout Western history?”
We are proud to say that over 60% of the artists we work with are female, including powerhouse artists like the late Louise Bourgeois, Mickalene Thomas, Magda Archer, and activist campaign group Guerrilla Girls, amongst many others. We adore our female artists, and we know you will too.
Shop our most adored piece made in collaboration with our idols, and support female artists!
Big love,
The feminist women and men of Third Drawer Down Studio.
Louise Josephine Bourgeois was a renowned French-American artist and sculptor, best known for her contributions to both modern and contemporary art, and for her spider structures, titled Maman, which resulted in her being nicknamed the Spiderwoman. It is interesting to delve into the areas of her life of which she found inspiration to create the strong themes which are apparent in her various bodies of work. Like many artists, her work is in part a reflection of what goes on both internally and externally in her world.
1.
NATURE AND ANIMALS.
Throughout her work it’s clear animals and nature alike played a huge role, Bourgeois took inspiration from our perceptions of particular creatures and the traits we may share. Maggots (or Untitled), 1989 reveals these thoughts, “[Maggots are] not a negative subject at all…however hard things are, there is still hope if you believe in maggots. Something has decomposed, and it is from that decomposition that hope comes again.”
"We know that you feel terrible about this" - Guerrilla Girls.
"This is the story of a trailblazer who had to overcome sexism, racism and mental illness to pursue her dream of being an artist," Lenz says about her documentary. "I hope people will find the film inspiring."
“Now that my life is in its last stage, I am putting all of my energy into my art,” said Kusama. “I want to live forever.
'It was a 'Living Hell in New York',
In 2008 we collaborated with Mrzyk and Moriceau on a letraset project making decal-art sheets. Here is a moment in our time together:
Working collaboratively since 1998, the Chatillon-sur-Indre, France based artists
Petra Mrzyk and Jean-Francois Moriceau are a collaborative duo known as Mrzyk and Moriceau. Known for their detailed black and white ink drawings, their work straddles the fine line between absurd, humorous and perverse. With an ironic nod to commercial illustration, comics and graphic design, the creative duo draw inspiration from contemporary visual culture. In the inky line drawings of Mrzyk and Moriceau, animals take on human traits, inanimate objects come to life, the surreal is the norm and anything is possible.
http://1000dessins.com
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Well done everyone, this time last year you made the swan thing viral. Now David Shrigley has an exhibition of Giant Ridiculous Inflatable Swan Things opening up today in Sweden at Sprits Museum! What started out as a lovely little sculpture from David blew up for the first time in 2014 when we collaborated with David for his exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia. Four years on and things are getting more ridiculous than ever! Maybe it’s a sign of the times we live in that the swan hasn’t run out of puff just yet. If you’re in Sweden float on down to Sprits Museum and have a look for yourself!
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Accessibility has always been something we’ve drawn focus on at Third Drawer Down, to work with something as evocative, exciting and important as art, and providing a platform for all to enjoy it is what we do best! With our new Hi Art range we’ve taken art education and engagement to the next level, this ever-growing brand is your doorway into the art world, and let me tell you.. it’s wide open! This is Hi Art!
]]>Accessibility has always been something we’ve drawn focus on at Third Drawer Down, to work with something as evocative, exciting and important as art, and providing a platform for all to enjoy it is what we do best! With our new Hi Art range we’ve taken art education and engagement to the next level, this ever-growing brand is your doorway into the art world, and let me tell you.. it’s wide open! This is Hi Art!
Banishing intimidation with whoopie cushions and squishy stress toys? Why of course! We aim to bring down the divides and help make art that little bit less intimidating! We admit it’s not all fun and games, balloon dogs and soup cans but it’s not all blue periods either!
Take our new ART SEE game for example. The Art See Museum Experience Dice Game is a simple way to start what could be a lifelong love affair with art, this game helps you loosen up and have a laugh in a gallery context, something you may not always expect on your day to the museum! So go ahead and roll the dice, who knows you might view art in a way you had never thought possible!
This is ART SEE! from Third Drawer Down on Vimeo.
Don't take our word for it though. Our art graduate/buyer for our Australian store /writer of the brilliant Hi Art! Newspaper wanted to share her faves!
"When trying to decide a favorite for the new Hi Art! range I admit it was a tie for first place, coming out on top, a no-brainer, being the Fart Whoopee Cushion…F-ART, it’s genius! Along side was the Fabric Toy Newspaper (Yes I wrote it, so what!) This plush, squeaky, and ever so silky publication is both a textural and educational experience! Having the opportunity to discuss what I love most, art theory and history in a way that appeals to younger people, to jokesters and those who love a good pun was way too much fun. As an advocate for humour in art and knowing when to have a giggle I assure you it will be just as fun to participate, give any of these new interactive products a go and you too could crack a smile like the Mona Lisa."
News from Hi Art! from Third Drawer Down on Vimeo.
So that's Hi Art! Ready to get involved? Click here.
]]>Recently our Cindy Sherman Oops Phone Float got her selfie on in the heart of the Big Apple, where we met up with our friend Olympian Kim Vandenberg. Kim loaded her "I'd rather be swimming" backpack on her back and began her city slicking in Times Square before hitting the subway and eventually the famous ferry - all while wishing "I'd rather be swimming"....
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Recently our Cindy Sherman Oops Phone Float got her selfie on in the heart of the Big Apple, where we met up with our friend Olympian Kim Vandenberg. Kim loaded her "I'd rather be swimming" backpack on and began her city slicking in Times Square before hitting the subway and eventually the famous ferry. It was a kick-arse day that gave us extreme butterflies about how lucky we are to work with such an incredible artist on a project supporting such an incredible cause (please look up + POOL here!) Here's a look at the chaotic splendour that is New York City, with our Cindy Sherman Oops Phone Float on parade.
We have officially launched the presale of our inflatable project, so you can bring Cindy’s phone-shaped float to your hometown. Some proceeds from each global sale will support our collaborators + POOLto build an innovative water-filtering swimming pool that will help clean the NYC river.
Photos by @juophotography for Third Drawer Down USA #idratherbeswimming
]]>Imagine a world where two of your all-time favorite things collide, a union never thought to be possible until now. Turns out this world exists, and it can be found at the Deste Foundation Project Space in Hydra, Greece.
]]>So you clicked through to because there was a David Shrigley goat staring at you? Well done.
What could these two things be to warrant such excitement you ask? It’s very simple you see:
2: Goats
Yep, that’s right. The much loved David Shrigley’s most recent exhibition Laughterhouse can be seen at the unassuming project space in Hydra, the original function and morbid past of the converted slaughterhouse prompted the June - September video focused exhibition. Humor and reliability is something you can consistently identify in Shrigley’s work and what makes him so damn loveable, to see these ideas twisted and reconsidered in the Laughterhouse exhibition definitely make for an evocative experience. The focus of this work is shown in the compiled video piece with a star-studded Scottish goat cast making noises that are uncanny to those of human beings. The film's interpretation is reliant on the viewing context, Shrigley felt that removed from the Deste Foundation Project Space it may be understood as entirely comedic however inside the walls of the slaughterhouse the interaction evolves and perhaps takes on a more sombre tone.
David Shrigley described the exhibition as “a conversation about the context of comedy, and when things are funny and when they stop being funny.” Also touching on the ethics of meat production and the responses we have regarding it. This exhibition may not be what you expected from David and that’s why we love it, it makes you think, reconsider and question all in the one viewing.
Another reason to get on board with this project is for the opening event alone! Three musicians on top of the cliffside building performed a piece based on the film creating what Shrigley described as “a crescendo of goats”, not only that, the guitars used were designed by none other than David himself, reiterating the importance of music, performance and sound for this work.
Sadly we can’t all make an impromptu trip to Greece so take a look at this video instead! This work is uncharted territory for the Third Drawer Down favourite as he delves into a live-action film like never before, the completely experimental Laughterhouse is worth checking out. Take it from David himself, “it’s quite peculiar, it’s melodic, it’s kind of funny but kind of quite strange.”
And finally, we leave you with this photo of David climbing a rock in Greece captured for artflyer network. Plus an educational video.
]]>San Jose born, Chris Johanson spent a great deal of his formative years in the San Francisco skate and punk scenes. He shortly became associated with the Mission School movement in the 1990s to 2000s, making zines, designing concert posters and painting skateboards. Johanson’s self-taught style stemmed from this time and continue to shape his works today.
We took five to shed some light on this talented and warm soul. Time to get Jiggy with Johanson.
]]>This month, Third Drawer Down welcome USA artist, Chris Johanson to the family - with a collection of super fun and collectable art oddities including the best plush toys we have ever laid eyes on.
In case you feel like some artist education, and why wouldn't you, here's some juice on Chris - plus a little interview we like to call 'Three with Third Drawer Down'.
So what is it about Chris and his work we were drawn to? Well, at first glimpse, his work appears colourful, playful and optimistic but as we dissect his paintings, installations and prints further, conversations of political and economic conflict reveal themselves, his creations exist as a social commentary, consisting of Johanson’s formulated visual language. Described as a ‘poet of the people’ Chris Johanson provides an optic into the Everyman’s reality creating a relatable, simple and often humorous perspective of his observations, he channels messages of hope and optimism, encouraging positive energy when sincerely addressing the world’s issues.
Plus, his work is relatable! What is it that makes it so damn relatable?! Aside from the fact it’s so visually appealing… It’s most likely due to the fact his works are about each and every one of us, touching on our current issues, events and states of being. When asked his preferred medium to work with, Johanson responded: “I love to work in the medium of life.” So I guess that explains it! Nothing is more engaging than straight life slapped on paper! His work exists for all, straying from exclusivity and elitism to be viewed, questioned and appreciated by everyone.
We are so happy to have finally collaborated with this incredible artist and warm soul. Here's our three with Chris.
Three with Third Drawer Down
We mailed artist David Shrigley one of our Ridiculous Inflatable Swan-Things and a sharpie marker and the result is, well, ridiculous! Sign-Up to be our friend in the USA and enter to WIN this customized gem!
]]>It's now a Totally Ridiculous Crazy Inflatable Sort-Of Swan-Type of Thing. This is a super rare, one-of-a-kind personalized gift in celebration of our new home in the USA, and you could take it home. All you gotta do is join our USA list--we promise not to be boring--and you're in the draw! Check out our homepage to register.
Good luck USA!
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We designed the Gorilla Mask Tote in direct collaboration with The Guerrilla Girls with the feminist fight in mind. Imagine, you just happen to stumble across a protest for women's rights and BOOM you're ready!
]]>So this is probably one of the easiest how to's going. There are no tools needed, no IKEA (anxiety o'clock) instruction pamphlets - it's simple: buy this bag and wear it as a mask to your next neighbourly protest!
We designed this bag in direct collaboration with The Guerrilla Girls with just this in mind. Imagine, you just happen to stumble across a protest for women's rights and BOOM you're ready! We went back and forth with samples - face-timing with Kathe from The Guerrilla Girls to make sure the eyes were in the right spot! It was a really fun project and one that keeps giving every time we see a photo of someone wearing their tote bag loud and proud!
With Guerrilla Girls having just exhibited in New York, we thought it was important to share our lovely Gab with her Tote and show you just how AWESOME it is - on and off your head!
Here it is - in five! Purchase yours here.
I know what you're thinking - what if I have stuff in my bag! Why not store all your little bag stuff in a Guerrilla Girls clutch! That way it's easy to get to and you're ready to turn your tote into a mask.
We love collaborating with The Guerrilla Girls, and all of our female artists - their passion and progress is our reason for working! Also, here is a bonus photo of Guerrilla Girl Susan Tyrell wearing her Tote Mask!
Love,
Your friendly feminists at Third Drawer Down
We are (pee-in-our-pants-not-the-pool) excited to finally share this very special collaboration with you. The Cindy Sherman Oops Phone Float is available now for pre-order and may we just say, we're predicting big things for this treasure and are here to float the idea that you get behind this beautiful item with a very special cause behind it - to us and the artist. The float project is a collaboration by Cindy Sherman, Third Drawer Down, and + POOL, the nonprofit organization building an Olympic-sized water-filtering, floating swimming pool in New York’s river.
Check it out.
“These works have a particular charge at a time when we snap ourselves with the understanding that our image will ricochet onto any number of screens, devices, and platforms. We are all striving to get it right.” - W magazine cover story for 2017 Art issue on @CindySherman phenomenon
Also - here's a look at the + POOL project - I'd rather be swimming, that's for sure.
Don't miss this rare opportunity to support this fantastic cause and celebrate the fascinating art of Cindy Sherman. View the details here.
]]>As predicted the demand for tickets to Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrors at The Broad has sent the west coast into a spin, with tickets selling out within minutes and crowds of gallery goers lining up for hours. We were so excited to be involved in the gift shop experience of this Instagram-famous, glowingly glorious exhibition through collaborating with The Broad on a luxury collection of items set to sell out!
The brief was to adapt Yayoi Kusama's amazing installation pieces into both a leather clutch and a silk scarf. We are very proud of the result and are calling it, the clutch is in our top five favourite products - EVER.
Alongside the luxurious leather clutch sit three pumpkin pins, one yellow, one red and one white. Packaged beautifully we think these are going to be very, very popular!
It has been a joy seeing this custom collection come to life with a gallery we adore. We are all wishing we could jet to LA for a sight at those glowing pumpkins but for now, we will just live through the internet.
Please contact us if you would like to discuss your own custom project, we would love to hear from you! Or if you would like to tell us about your Yayoi Kusama experience, we are also all ears!
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Let's go to Italy, meet us there?
The latest Louise Bourgeois exhibition Studio Trisorio, Naples launched in March and is showing through until June 17, 2017. If you can get there we say "fallo". That means "do it" in Italian.
Voyages Without a Destination is an exhibit of four bronze sculptures and 34 drawings, half of which have never been exhibited. The viewer is invited to bare witness to the artists poetic journey through 1940-2009, with human emotions at the forefront.
We have worked with Louise Bourgeois and her foundation, the Easton Foundation, since 2003 and love to follow her footsteps as she continues to have massive impact as an artist.
You can shop our Louise Bourgeois collection here.
]]>We were thrilled to work on this collection with PAAM and can't wait to see flamingos, flies and smiling suns dominate social media feeds world wide!
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It was a privilege to see our Guerrilla Girls collection continue to shine in 2016!
You can watch the video here.
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