The Aesthete’s Wish List: 10 Of The Best Things You Can Buy This August

Covering August’s new drops, restocks, and promising auctions, Something Curated has compiled a list of ten of the most coveted items available for purchase this month, spanning art, fashion, home and more.

Art

Dark Silhouette: Transcendent Kneeler, 2020 || Matthew Angelo Harrison

American artist Matthew Angelo Harrison lives and works in Detroit. His work investigates analogue and digital technologies to explore ancestry, authenticity, and the relationship between African and African-American culture. Inspired by the notion of an “abstract ancestry,” Harrison focuses on collecting relics and symbols of African American culture that can be re-contextualised or re-simulated. In his “Dark Silhouettes” series, Harrison “encapsulates” dissections of African tribal sculptures in subtly tinted resin blocks. Some of the figures, heads and masks come from Makonde and Dogon tribes while others are of unknown origin. Harrison then slices through or burrows holes, with a CNC router, producing unique forms and evoking diverse places and times. Enquire at Jessica Silverman Gallery.

Washing-up Gloves || Wilma Johnson

This unique pair of washing–up gloves comes adorned with hand drawings courtesy British artist Wilma Johnson for House of Voltaire. Johnson is a leading member of The Neo Naturists. The group are an important live art collective initiated in 1981 by Johnson and sisters, Jennifer and Christine Binnie. The group emerged as a part of London’s subculture that arose from the squatting community in the aftermath of Punk and the emergence of the New Romantic club scene and the advent of Thatcherism. During this time a creative energy developed in the UK that sat outside established institutional practices of the time, creating its own network of activities, events, economies and personalities. Available at House of Voltaire.

Accessories

Vintage Bridgeless Sunglasses, 1970s || Christian Dior

Christian Dior is widely considered one of the most famous and influential couturiers in the world. He helped Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent to international fame and was the first to apprehend the lucrative licensing business. In 1969 when the German eyeglass manufacturer Wilhelm Anger and his company Optyl succeeded in acquiring the license from Dior, the French house’s eyewear reached a wide audience and not only the model on the catwalk. As early as the mid-1970s, the Dior eyewear collection was dominating the optician industry and had become an indispensable staple. These striking sunglasses, featuring no bridge and exuding a space age feel, were created during the early years of this fruitful collaboration. Available at 1stdibs.

Jordy Bag || Roop

Roop is the brainchild of designer Natasha “Roop” Fernandes Anjo. Based in the north of England, Fernandes Anjo handmakes all the label’s handbags and accessories using deadstock luxury fabrics. She notes, “When you make a Roop purchase, you’re receiving a one-of-a-kind gem that keeps things fun and exciting!” The Jordy bag is fashion from black satin, black lining and a magnetic closure. Inspired by furoshiki, a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth used to transport clothes, gifts and other goods, the bag takes its shape from this reference. The bag is formed with four knots, which can be pulled on occasionally to tighten, and features a Roop signature, the scrunchie strap. Enquire at Roop.

Fashion

Plamodel Knitwear || Doublet

Japanese designer Masayuki Ino was awarded the 2018 LVMH Prize for his streetwear label Doublet, underscoring the appeal of gender-neutral, casual designs for a new generation of consumers ready to shed traditional labels. Inspired by plamodel sets, this collection of classic knitwear pieces, including a sweater, scarf, hat and gloves, comes tethered in a grid and can be worn all together or detached as preferred. Available at Dover Street Market.  

Corduroy Cropped Puffer Jacket || ASAI

Designer A Sai Ta was born in Britain to a Vietnamese mother and Chinese father—as a boy, Ta’s fascination with fashion was sparked while watching his seamstress mother work and seeing his four sisters dressing up. Ta places his heritage at the forefront of his womenswear label ASAI, alluding to identity, race, and class through a kaleidoscope of vibrant colours. In preparation for the imminently approaching autumn, this green corduroy cropped puffer jacket from the designer is an elegant and practical option, featuring a v-neck, long sleeves, a padded interior, turn up cuffs and front pockets. Available at Farfetch.

Home

Seri Stool, 2016 || Mabeo + Garth Roberts

Designer Peter Mabeo hails from Botswana’s capital Gaborone, where he helms his eponymous furniture studio. A staple at international design fairs and exhibitions with a discerning client list, Mabeo remains a distinct voice in the industry. The Seri stool is a further continuation of the Seri table-top accessories originally launched in 2014 and designed by Mabeo collaborator Garth Roberts. The solid wood stool, as well as the Seri dining table are circular, with the intricate Seri texture having been expertly crafted on both their edges and their legs by Mabeo craftsmen and women in Botswana. Available at Mabeo.

Mugs || Naked Clay Ceramics

Inspired by the natural colours and textures of the earth, Naked Clay Ceramics is a range of quiet tactile tableware in black stoneware and porcelain by artist Carla Sealey. Sealey explains, “I make everything in my studio on an old plant nursery in Bedfordshire using a combination of hand building and slip casting. The pieces are fired with no glaze on the outside so that the feel of the natural fired clay can be appreciated. I hope that tactile connection brings an opportunity to pause, breath and savour a small moment in the bustle of life.” Enquire at Naked Clay Ceramics.

Books

ZUCCINI FEAST. EAT FREE. || The Diggers

The radical community-action and theatre troupe the Diggers distributed free food in Golden Gate Park in 1966 on a daily basis for more than a year. The food was acquired from local grocery donations or via old-fashioned pilfering. Free food was central to the Diggers’ philosophy ‘free because it’s yours’ and inspired many food co-op movements that followed. Collect a fascinating handbill offering praise for the zucchini with one side being an invitation to a ‘Zuccini Feast’, and the other offering a detailed recipe with ‘EAT FREE EAT FREE’ printed throughout. Available at Tenderbooks.

Pancha Tantra || Walton Ford

At first glance, Walton Ford’s large-scale, highly detailed watercolours of animals recall the prints of 19th-century illustrators John James Audubon and Edward Lear. A closer look reveals a complex and disturbingly anthropomorphic universe, full of symbols, sly jokes, and allusions to the ‘operatic’ quality of traditional natural history. In this stunning but sinister visual universe, beasts and birds are not mere aesthetic objects but dynamic actors in allegorical struggles. This updated edition of Pancha Tantra is the most comprehensive survey of Ford’s oeuvre to date, with 40 new works, more than 120 additional pages, and a new essay by the artist. Available at Taschen.



Feature image: Pancha Tantra, Walton Ford (via Taschen)