~KANA TOGASHI . . ADRIANA MINOLITI / SAFFRON BK – BROOKLYN / Porn and back.

so, here we go . . .
from KANA’S FLOWER SHOP . . . to PORN !!
in 5 seconds !!
with a quick stop in Buenos Aires, and landing finally in pop star – Japan.
you know, connect the dots – artlovers style !!
hold on to – your seats !!

you just never know what’s going to happen when you walk into a flower shop !!
walk on the wild side, Brooklyn !!

I mean, we were just talking about porn.
and the current, mostly ‘void of’ — state . . in the contemporary art scene. except for:
LISA YUSKAVAGE & her fantasy nudity.
LANDON MORGAN & his water tower tattoo bondage.

SAFFRON FLOWER & DESIGN SPACE
31 HANSON PLACE, BROOKLYN, NY – FORT GREENE


so my friend, KANA TOGASHI . . runs a very cool & very special flower / design shop in Brooklyn.
she also shows art work sometimes, and hopes to show more.
she’s an artist herself, and long story short . . I’ve known her, seriously: as in deeply understood . . . ever since she meet my Kate at LaGuardia High School, back in the late 90s – 2000 years.
Millennials !! kids grow up fast – in New York City.
they are so . . put together, so smart.
so Indie fierce, yet so able to function, & excel from within the system.
the first real digital generation – I wonder if that, has something to do with it ?


I mean, does Grumpy Bert have a fridge for storing flowers . . in his shop, no !!
yep. that’s my reflection in the glass door – busted, lordy. and by – own self.


KANA, and her husband TETSUJI sell the most gorgeous, unusual and fresh flowers. you can custom order, big and little events. they deliver, as well as input on design. they did the remarkable flowers for our show, ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO’ last June.
they are the go-to flower artisans – for many private events, such as weddings y’all – and special events in public places, esp in Brooklyn.
name one, one word: FRANNY’S . . !!


they also design gardens, big and small, indoor & outdoor – corporate & private.
and . . maintain them.
check out: SAFFRON-BROOKLYN
@saffronbk

they are also the go-to florist for many local artists – who actually use flowers in their work, or want to stage photo ops with the freshness of well, come on guys – stay with me, the velvet-y power of . . bloomin’ hyper realist flower . . ‘porn’.
name one: KAREN AZOULAY, who presented the well received . . ‘The Perennial Sunday’ at THE GRECIAN SHELTER, Prospect Park, Brooklyn last August 2, 2015, using flowers custom-provided by SAFFRON.
Karen also used Saffron flowers for her beautiful catalog, ‘Flowers and Their Meanings – A Guide for deciphering’.
see: KAREN AZOULAY project – on the SAFFRON WEBSITE


SAFFRON also sells a curated selection of local D.I.Y. including hand-knit items, ceramics, cutting edge jewelry design items, and . . a few pieces of vintage here and there – just to mix it up.


it’s a bit of a movable feast, quite literally, with the store evolving over time, and changing seasonally, just like the flowers do. Kana opened the store in 2009.


they also sell art, on a casual basis right now – but watch out, world !!
and yes, that’s KANA, peeking out – the ancient ancestor eyes, give her away.


a hand-knit kitty at SAFFRON, made by local artisan, DIY artist/crafter: MIHOKO . . who just happens to be Kana’s mom. love that little pink nose.

I love it so, because it reminds me of MUURZ’s work, her ‘bunny’ sticker.
translate: cutting edge. not just cuddly.
and the street artist GOATBUNNY, from Montreal – too. animals – rule the streets these days. whether in stickers, or in logos. lots of critters, mostly warm & fuzzy – as opposed to predatory / jungle. and esp canaries, and little chickies and, yellow ducks. hello . . Abe Lincoln, JR.
a lot of them are riffs off traditional Japanese woodblock print art, the flatness, the line work – meets Snoopy by way of Looney Tunes, if . . you know what I mean.

it’s also super funny, and great. how some of the really far-out and yet unrecognized artists of my generation – are finally getting some time in the limelight, thanks to people like Kana.
skills. and imagination.
way ahead of the pack. and I’m not just talking about Outsider Art. Mihoko, and I – could have been sticker artists – if born in a future tense.
I coulda been a sticker artist – put that on my tombstone.

ps: MIHOKO means RICE FLOWER, and KANA means . . vegetable flower, so. so sweet. and so . . apt.


so, the store was closing, and we still had a lot to talk about – so we moved over to Kana’s place in Bushwick.
that’s ADRIANA MINOLITI. Kana calls her Adri, she’s just arrived for a 2 week visit from Argentina, and she’s an artist . . whom Kana has known for quite some time. I got the feeling right away, even though she was so low key, that there was a bigger picture just around the corner, the tip of the iceberg, as they say.
and, long story short: yes.


this was an early painting by ADRIANA on Kana’s wall.
one quick glance at her IG – and you can see how far – her work had come.


new work by ADRIANA MINOLITI – via Instagram @minoliti
check out: @minoliti

and OMG – there it was: ABSTRACT PORN . . . . on her website.
I can’t explain, it’s just a full-on CGI animation.
you have to just watch it – for yourself !!!!!
if you missed that link: ADRIANA MINOLITI – ABSTRACT PORN VIDEO CLIP – ON HER HOMEPAGE

I mean, here I was, I had just walked into a flower shop & I was hot on the trail, unknown to me . . of what I had just written about – the day before: NUDITY, and . . BONDAGE.
I mean how often do things line up like that.


bench by ADRIANA MINOLITI – photo via artist
this piece wasn’t typical of her work, one reason it grabbed my attention, but, besides the beautiful forms, gorgeous light, and function – it dialoged with me and the recent work . . NYC-based PETER SUTHERLAND . . had exhibited in London. those concrete minimalist benches with the far-out desert landscape photo screens.


and then this project from her 2015 show: ‘PLAYPEN’, 2015 – curated by CARLOS HERRERA.. at the CENTRO CULTURAL RECOLETA in Beunos Aires – jumped at me. so, retro.
image also from her website.


retro, did someone say: retro ?!!
meanwhile back in Kana’s apt, ADRIANA told me she was into . . RETRO PORN !!
and, she pulled out a zine she had made.


I was . . speechless.
Yuskavage to Landon Morgan to .. Adriana Minoliti.
the classic . . art world ‘bread crumb’ trail – unfurls.


retro porn collage – by ADRIANA MINOLITI.
wow, suddenly I was confronted by more naked art in 2 days, than I had seen in years.
at one point it was all over: Soho, Chelsea, uptown.
from JEFF KOONS to THOMAS RUFF . . to JOHN CURRIN.


that got us starting to talk about the bondage art that’s all over the IG, esp the riffs . . on traditional Japanese bondage art.
Lordy, if KANA doesn’t pull out . . the LINDA YAMAMOTO – BOOK !!
apparently, besides the traditional ‘art’ forms – it’s quite the norm for young Japanese music pop stars to put out what amounts to glamorized selfie – nudie . . books.
often quite racy, well it’s naked photos, duh . . including a little ‘bondage’.
in a word: dig that plastic – covered body.
‘LOVE HOTEL’ – by MARIKO MORI does come to mind.
her expression – is priceless.
someone else can write . . the Masters thesis.

well. it’s not so far fetched. one word: KARDASHIANS.


from flowers to porn. what can I say. hop, skip & just a jump away.


the ‘girl’ next door.
the girl in the flower shop. and, the girl from Buenos Aires.
hop, skip. and jump.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

Adriana Minoliti is currently represented by the AUGUSTINO FERRERIYA GALLERY – in Puerto Rico, and that’s where she’s heading to, after New York.

Adriana
is also a part of a (famous) woman’s art collective based in South America: PINTORAS.
yep, check them out: Pintoras on the web,
and . . PintorAs on FB

SAFFRON FLOWERS & SPACE DESIGN . . will selling FLOWERS at MAGASIN POP-UP . . a monthly event organized by CASEY McVIKER, at BAR MATCHLESS in Brooklyn – 557 Manhattan Ave, just off McCaren Park . . in the band room.
a yard sale & DIY / artisan showplace . . in a bar – love it !!

it’s this Sunday Jan 24, 2016 / from 12 noon until 9 pm.
that is, if it don’t get . . snowed under.
fingers crossed.
it will happen monthly, anyway. so let it snow, or let it . . not.
see: @magasin_popup
see: BAR MATCHLESS

not, not. KNOT.
art is a big big knot, right now. fine art. porn art. photography. calligraphy. design. social media. DIY. CGI. stickers. water towers. street art. traditional art. global art. flower art. digital art . . to egg shell stickers. canvas to kits. ephemeral to carved in stone, burned into buildings, and flicking on your screens all night long.
and in the heart of that knot – ?
all roads lead to . . Brooklyn.
Brooklyn is the new Black.
Brooklyn is the new . . SILK Road.