A Tumblr of the Artist as a Young Man

artist • producer • arts organizer making art happen Et ignotas animum dimittit in artes.

[josefnotjoseph]

Had to capture the sun setting over Prenzlauer Berg while walking through Volkspark this evening. I’m back in Berlin for a bit, where I’ll stop by my friend Arthur Laidlaw’s Cardboard Späti exhibition at the East of Elsewhere curatorial collective’s project space, and check out Roma Armee at the groundbreaking Gorki X—a DaDa-inspired genderpunk cabaret featuring an all Roma/Romani/Romnija cast challenging traditional narratives of Europe’s long-persecuted Roma communities. 

[josefnotjoseph]

I’m in the gorgeous Finger Lakes region of upstate New York for a wedding (congrats, Matt & Lina!) and made a quick pilgrimage to historic Seneca Falls for the afternoon to explore the sites related to the fight for women’s rights to vote.

[josefnotjoseph]

Oh my gaudy.

(Or: Why solve climate change when we can create a caricature of Venice inside a gigantic desert mall?)

[josefnotjoseph]

So excited to Czech out Prague over the next few days.

While I’m here, I’ll be seeing the latest work in the Movement/Architecture international residency series by the all-women Beautiful Confusion Collective.  I’ve also planned some sight-seeing at Prague Castle and the historic Jewish Quarter (it’s called Josefov!), as well as visiting the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art—a museum of contemporary international and Czech art housed inside a former factory in Prague’s Holešovice district—and the hip MeetFactory, a non-profit international center for contemporary art founded in 2001 by the famed Czech sculptor David Černý.

[josefnotjoseph]

“He who would travel happily must travel light.”

— Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French writer (1900–1944)

Loving these images of me, shot on location in Georgetown by fashion photographer Jahns Chavez (fresh off his recent shoot for Urban Outfitters) as part of the Spring 2018 promotional campaign for Quavaro, a DC-based company founded by avid travelers Pial & Cesar Vega, a husband and wife who dreamed of producing stylish, high-quality travel bags for a very fair price -- using fair trade practices.  All Quavaro bags are made by their expert team of locals in Léon, Mexico, a city internationally renowned for its centuries-old reputation of premium leather production and skilled craftsmen.

Quavaro is a brand that focuses on working with not only small and ethical factories, but with factories who treat their employees like family -- which is why I’m proud to be one of the newest additions to the Quavaro family.

[josefnotjoseph]

Here in Copenhagen for the next few days of Cph Art Week, an annual festival of contemporary art exhibited throughout the Danish capital via numerous art fairs -- from CHART Art Fair hosted by the Kunsthal Charlottenborg (featuring an exposition of the most prominent art galleries throughout the Nordic region, accompanied by a series of public talks, cultural events, and architectural installations) and Code Art Fair (the only international art fair in Scandinavia), to indie exhibitions like Orakel at Gallopperiet in the famed Christiania commune and the pop-up galleries housed inside reclaimed shipping containers at the PostBox, a temporary “cultural oasis” developed by the Designerspace collective near Copenhagen’s hip Vesterbro neighborhood.

[josefnotjoseph]

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Hung out at the French ambassador’s residence for his annual Bastille Day party with two icons in journalism: Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, and the legendary Elizabeth Drew.

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Post-lunch portrait session in the riad.

Photographed on May 24, 2017, by Tal Yellin in Marrakesh, Morrocco.

[josefnotjoseph]

Miss Trans Israel Talleen Abu Hanna was in town for Pride on her break from jet-setting as the face of Desigual.  Over dinner in Dupont Circle, she told me about Beit Dror—a crisis shelter for homeless transgender youth in Tel Aviv, where Talleen actually lived when she was thrown out of her house as a teenager after coming out to her family.

I immediately thought of my friend Ruby Corado, who founded Casa Ruby to provide emergency shelter and services to LGBTQ youth in Washington, DC.  I was happy to introduce Talleen to Ruby and some of her residents for an uplifting experience all around.

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From last night's @washblade party for the new @dcbrau #PridePils beer 🌈 🍻

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Paris!  J’adore.

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Marrakesh me ousside how bow dat

Spent an incredible week in Morrocco with creativity-inspiring friends Marie Beltrami and Arielle Dombasle.  Highlights of Marrakesh included visiting the late Yves Saint Laurent’s estate, Les Jardins Majorelles, shopping in the souks at Place Jemâa el-Fna, and exploring the landmark Koutoubia Mosque.  I’ll never forget this first trip to Africa—or the company.

[josefnotjoseph]

Sweaty selfie in the photo booth at the W Hotel (after late-night dancing like a madman to DJ Mark Ronson’s set at a private party thrown by coworking startup WeWork)

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Awkward turtling for Tony Powell and Washington Life magazine.

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TriBeCa, NYC.

DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE

[josefnotjoseph]

A Young Man and His Pregnant Wife in Washington Square Park, N.Y.C, 1965 by Diane Arbus (at the Whitney Museum of American Art)