The Church’s liturgical calendar is complex when it comes to saints. The calendar has only 365 spaces, about 52 are preempted annually by Sundays and there are other solemnities (e.g., Christmas). There are some saints whose feasts are observed universally throughout the Church because of their broad-ranging significance, e.g., Sts. Peter and Paul or St. Boniface. There are saints whose observances are memorials and others who have optional memorials. There are also some saints whose commemoration is limited to the liturgical calendar in a given country. It’s not that they are insignificant; it’s that, in a Church that has had more than 2,000 years of producing saints and limited calendar space, they might be more significant in certain places. This occasional series will introduce saints on local calendars who might not otherwise be known to Catholics in the United States. Why not tell us what you think of it in the comments section?
Many saints started life in the military: St. Martin, St. Ignatius, St. Camillus de Lellis. Add to that list St. Albert Chmielowski, sometimes called Brother Albert. Don’t confuse him with St. Adalbert, the 10th-century martyr who is patron of the Czechs and Poles.
Brother Albert was born in 1845. In the 19th century, there was no Poland: the country had been divided by the Austrians, Prussians and Russians so that, from 1795-1918, it was erased from European maps. Brother Albert was born in that part of Poland seized by the Russians.
His father, who worked as a customs inspector on the border, died just short of Albert’s 8th birthday; his mother, just short of his 14th. His maternal aunt raised him. At age 10, he went off as a cadet to school in St. Petersburg. Later, he would pursue his education in a polytechnic school near
Unlimited is Art Basel’s pioneering exhibition platform for projects that transcend the classical art fair stand, including large-scale sculptures and paintings, video projections, installations, and live performances. This year, 76 projects have been selected by the Art Basel Selection Committee, and curated by Giovanni Carmine, who has done excellent work and has given space to works that not only represent messages of meaningful topics like climate change and sustainability but also diversity, fun, lightheartedness which we all want more of in recent times. For the most part, these projects are being shown for the first time at Art Basel.
Here are some highlights:
Environnement Chromointerférent, Paris 1974/2018, Carlos Cruz-Diez
Environnement Chromointerférent by Carlos CruzDiez is an immersive, participatory environment that reveals the changeable, ambiguous nature of color. The projection, which remains in constant motion, renders both the spectators and objects transparent as they virtually change shape. Viewers take on the dual role of ‘actors’ and ‘authors’ of this chromatic event that unfolds in real space and time. When staring at shadows on the walls, the spectator has the sensation of moving in the opposite direction to the lines of colors, resulting in a dialogue between the ‘variable’ of the chromatic interferences and the ‘constant’ of the shadows on the wall.
Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez (1923-2019) was a pioneer of contemporary art and renowned for his contributions to the theory of color. Cruz-Diez proposed color as an autonomous and evolving reality that takes place in space and time, without anecdotes or references, in a continuous present.
Environnement Chromointerférent, Paris 1974/2018 Carlos Cruz-Diez
Doubt by Water 2003/2008, Roni Horn
Language is an integral part of Roni Horn’s practice, and the concept of ‘doubt’ reoccurs throughout her body of work. The artist states, ‘Questions gather around moments of doubt – that’s
It matched photos of of the models wearing shirts in two different poses and generated images of that shirt from other angles. Then it took images of the clothing from the merchant and fused them with images of Google’s model via generative diffusion models to produce multiple, diverse images of the clothing. The result? A wide array of remarkably real-looking images of the clothes you want to buy.
Now, when searching for shirts—maybe you’re in need of a new going-out top?—you’ll see a “Try On” badge next to applicable clothing items. Clicking that opens up a list of models to scroll through. All 40 female models are included for every shirt, so you’ll see multiple models for each size. That’s especially helpful, since two people can wear the same size but be shaped differently, causing clothes to look very different on each of them.
Obstacle Course
Courtesy of Google
Within this new shopping experience, you can see guided refinements. If you’re looking at a shirt on the model you’ve selected, but you want a version that’s more affordable, or like the shape but want it in a different color or pattern, you can select a few options from dropdown menus and Google will output similar options.
Of course, you probably shop for clothes directly on the brand’s website, and this feature will work only within Google Shopping. If you find an item you like, you’ll have to do a Google search for it to see if it’s available.
And there are a few kinks to be worked out. If you search for a shirt, it includes images for all sizes, from XXS to 3XL, even if that brand doesn’t offer all those sizes. Unavailable sizes are grayed out. Also, women’s sizes are a crapshoot. While men’s sizing tends to
Maeve, a 24-year-old transgender woman (who asks TODAY.com to omit her last name for privacy) calls her mother her “biggest advocate,” buying her Barbie dolls and validating her identity in other ways as a child.
At school, Maeve hung out with girls. “I was viewed as a weak boy. Being called ‘a girl’ was meant as an insult but I didn’t take offense.”
Maeve came out on three different occasions — as gay, gender fluid, and finally transgender.
At 17, Maeve contributed two drawings for Ferraiolo’s book, one of which landed on the cover of volume two.
Maeve drew the answer to “What makes you sad?” illustrating herself with long rainbow-colored hair. Behind her, people yell “Bitch,” ‘Ugly” and “Ew” in her direction.
A slur is written in bold letters on the top of the page.
“People said this to me all the time,” says Maeve. “They tried to find anything synonymous with monstrous or deserving of hate.”
“The rainbow hair means ‘This is something beautiful about myself that no one can take from me,'” says Maeve.
Maeve also drew her answer to “What do you want to be when you grow up?” which was a mother. Her drawing of a mom hugging her child was used as the cover image for the book’s second volume.
“I simply want to be a mother of a happy family,” she wrote alongside the drawing. “I won’t be lonely and will be needed/wanted and loved.”
Now, Maeve dreams of becoming a mortician or a death doula, a person who gives emotional support to those
Editor’s note: Some of the images in this story include harsh language that may be offensive.
Tony Ferraiolo always understood who he was, even if he wasn’t always believed.
“I knew I was transgender from around the age of 5,” Ferraiolo, a certified life coach and author in Connecticut, tells TODAY.com. “I remember my brother and I taking off our shirts while playing outside and my mom screaming, “Put it back on! Only boys take off their shirts.’ When I said, ‘I am a boy’ she said, ‘No you’re not, you’re a girl.’
“At the time, no one used the word ‘transgender,'” he notes. “The first time I looked in the mirror after having top surgery (as an adult), it took my breath away.”
Ferraiolo wanted to help transgender children live more authentically so he created a support group for teens to connect about their experiences at home and in school.
“No one was doing this,” he says. “I had to wing it.”
Ferraiolo recalls the first meeting in which two transgender teens showed up. “Angel, a 16 year-old, snuck her ‘girl clothes’ into a backpack,” he says. “She changed into those clothes for the meeting, then with a big sigh, dressed in her ‘boy clothes’ before leaving.”
“A lot of the kids did that,” he says. “It broke my heart.”
After growing demand, Ferraiolo created more groups: One for parents of transgender children and a workshop where kids expressed themselves through art.
“I wanted parents, educators and mental health providers to understand what these children were going through or at least get a sense of their pain,” says Ferraiolo. “Creating art is how I got away from self-harm.”
In 2015, Ferraiolo compiled many of
Still, her career as an artist wasn’t a foregone conclusion. After leaving Heathfield School in Berkshire, she enrolled at Bristol University to study art history, but after realizing she was “really bad at writing essays,” dropped out after less than a year. Eavesdropping on a stranger’s conversation in a café about the Charles Cecil atelier in Florence turned out to be “life-changing.” She googled it, realized “this is exactly what I want to do,” and in 2015 headed to the prestigious painting school, where she spent the next four years. It’s an experience she describes as “tough, and probably a bit weird, but I loved the discipline and the complete madness of the whole thing. People would leave all the time as it was quite hard, but I just love that it really teaches you how to paint.” She left in 2019, but success was slow to follow. “Most people who go to Charles Cecil leave and do portrait commissions. But if you’re not really, really good, then you’re never going to make it. And I wasn’t very, very good,” she says matter-of-factly. It’s a statement many would disagree with, but she insists: “I was very slow, and so I found it very difficult.”
And so she went to Sierra Leone for five months and came back to Suffolk just as lockdown was about to hit. “And I just kind of gave it up. I was like, God, this is so tough, maybe I’ll do something else.” It was a year before she started painting again “just for myself,” with social media ultimately leading her back to the art world. “Everyone was on Instagram and looking at work, and that’s when people were like, ‘I really like this,’ and I actually started selling stuff.” During that time, she also
It’s time for Mom to be celebrated. Whether that translates to your grandma, aunt, mother-in-law or sister, taking the mother figure in your life out to brunch is a wonderful (and tasty) way to give thanks. With Mother’s Day around the corner (May 14) we’ve got these exceptional South Florida destinations for you to choose from. Reservations are highly recommended.
Café Boulud
Mom will love having brunch at the historic Brazilian Court Hotel Palm Beach, and Café Boulud’s classy interior and delightful backyard surely delivers! The restaurant, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, offers a spring-inspired Mother’s Day menu by Executive Chef Dieter Samijn and Executive Pastry Chef Julie Franceschini. Open your appetite with Sweet Petite Oysters and Antonius Oscietra Gold Caviar, followed by starters like the Green Gazpacho, Pea & Mint Salad or the Hand Cut Steak Tartare and entrées like French Toast, Seared Diver Scallops and Prime Beef Striploin. For a sweet ending, order the Lemon Cheesecake or decadent Chocolate Cake.
Where: 301 Australian Ave., Palm Beach
For more information, visit cafeboulud.com.
Fiola
A meal at one of the most celebrated Italian restaurants in town is always a smart choice. For Mother’s Day, Fiola offers a brunch menu featuring Cobia Ceviche (Leche de Tigre, Habanero, crispy chickpeas), Ricotta & Lemon Pancake (Florida strawberry compote, whipped mascarpone), Swordfish Milanese (Meyer lemon, capers, Jimmy Nardello peppers, cucumber, fried egg) and Delmonico Steak & Eggs (pancetta, ossobuco sauce, wild ramps Zabaglione). Finish on a sweet note with Florida Key Lime Pie, Profiteroles, Fior di Latte Gelato or Marchesi Valrhona Chocolate Terrine.
Where: 1500 San Ignacio Ave., Coral Gables
For more information, visit fiolamiami.com.
Leku
This buzzed-about restaurant will whisk Mom straight to Basque Country in Spain. Housed in the Rubell Museum, its indoor and outdoor setting is adorned with
We are strangers, even to ourselves.
That seems to be the message of “hong-souvenirs”Souvenirs,” the New York debut of Brooklyn-based artist Eunnam Hong now on view at Lubov NYC, which leaves a lingering aftertaste of unease with viewers, as familiar surroundings feel subtly changed, filled with hidden desires and latent potentials.
Hong herself is the model for each of the subjects—or “characters” as she calls them—in the 10 acrylic-on-linen works on view in the exhibition. Sometimes she stands in the scene alone or is twinned, and in one case she appears as a set of five characters each sporting a handkerchief.
While the artist is recognizable in these paintings, the works are not self-portraits in any traditional sense. Instead, Hong appears in exaggerated, almost awkward poses, donning costumes that feel plucked from the films of avant-garde director Wong Kar-wai or the glossy pages of fashion magazines. Opulent wigs with platinum or brunette curls sit atop her head in almost every painting, taking on the appearance of characters in their own right, an octopus of hair, almost.
Hong paints in a studio in her Park Slope home and a familiar eye will recognize certain architectural attributes of the neighborhood’s brownstones—prewar moldings, high ceilings, outlet covers thick from layers of paint. Looking from painting to painting, one can begin to get a sense of a space, filled with midcentury furniture, that feels real, concrete, and personal, if not completely cohesive.
The femme figures positioned throughout the canvases however feel decidedly more illusory, figments of the imagination.
Eunnam Hong, Myth (2023).
Over the past two years, these peculiar and provocative images have enticed interest from art world insiders and collectors. But ascendence in the art world hasn’t come easily for Hong.
Born in Gangwon-do, South Korea, Hong dreamed of
Hurray for Buttons Day 2023: Hurray for Buttons Day is observed annually on May 9. A button is a small knob or disc used with a buttonhole or loop to fasten an article of apparel. It is also used to describe a circular metal or plastic insignia with a stamped design or printed slogan. An example would be a campaign badge. Made from a curved shell, the earliest known button dates back to 5000 B.C. in the Indus River Valley. Not until the 13th century did buttons serve as fasteners, and both buttons and buttonholes originated in Germany before expanding across Europe.
HISTORY OF HURRAY FOR BUTTONS DAY
Buttons are produced from nearly every material in the globe, ranging from plastic to metal. Their composition frequently reflects the prevalent materials of the time period in which they were created. Hard plastic, metals, minerals, and wood are the most common materials used today. In the past, artisans, artists, and craftspeople fashioned them from raw materials or discovered objects such as fossils, or a combination of both. Currently, facilities manufacture them in vast quantities.
Collecting buttons is very prevalent in the United States. People accumulate buttons for a variety of purposes, including future use, casual collecting, and competition. Button collectors participated in a Chicago-based hobby exhibition organised by Hobbies magazine. Later that same year, they established the National Button Society and hosted the first button exhibition.
In the decade that followed, numerous state and local button societies were established, each holding their own button shows. The National Button Society has more than 3,000 members spread across four continents. It focuses on educational research and exhibitions, the publication of buttons-related materials, and the preservation of buttons’ significance.
HURRAY FOR BUTTONS DAY ACTIVITIES
Start your button collection
In the United States, many people collect
Human Dior sticks to a simple but powerful motto: “Come for the past, stay for the future.”
The resale store and showroom in downtown Dallas specializes in Japanese and designer clothing and is staffed by young local artists, creatives and stylists.
“We make sure we hand-select each piece with a specified customer in mind,” says Angel Gallegos, lead store buyer and stylist. “We also like to introduce new brands to bring something new to the community.”
The store is like a treasure chest of distinctive garments. Racks of clothes cover much of the showroom. Sneakers, hats and an assortment of other accessories are displayed on shelves.
Over the years, the clientele has grown from friends, family and area residents to well-known musical artists including Yves Tumor, Cuco, Trippie Redd, Diplo, Omar Apollo and the Kid Laroi. Designers have included Hysteric Glamour, Raf Simons, Balenciaga, Undercover and Off-White.
Other resale stores like Buffalo Exchange emphasize sustainability, but Human Dior follows a different path. It’s part of the luxury brand resale culture popular among youth interested in fashion, fashion history and styling.
For some people, says Human Dior manager Brittany Valenzuela, clothing is an art form. Her clients collect clothes the way others do art.
Human Dior’s brand is well-recognized and influential in urban Dallas neighborhoods. Stickers of its logo — a heart with a cross inside and on top — are stuck on the walls of dive bars, clubs and just about anywhere owner Jon Hinguanzo has partied. The logo represents his big heart, Hinguanzo says, and also appears on T-shirts, hats and