Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld In Istanbul

Last week in Istanbul, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld staged Nicolas Pol's first art exhibit in Turkey, EPEKTASIS, in collaboration with Demet Muftuoğlu Eşeli and Alphan Eşeli of ISTANBUL '74. Special thanks to Alper Yilmaz who had the good fortune to meet Vladimir at the show and kindly agreed to share his personal photographs of the event. Visit style.com to view Vladimir's own photos from Istanbul.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld photographs © 2012 Alper Yilmaz. All Rights Reserved.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld Opens Neverlodge

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld certainly has a knack for shaking up the New York art scene, opening his latest exhibit last night at 22 East 71st Street in New York, an elegant neo-Italian Renaissance mansion designed by C.P.H. Gilbert, owned by Aby Rosen, and currently listed for sale with Sotheby's for a cool $50 million. Titled Neverlodge, the show focuses on 40 new works by French artist Nicolas Pol priced between $40,000 and $60,000, most of which are either sold or on hold.

I love the description from the official press release: "Transforming the palatial home into a den of standardized iniquity, Pol’s new body of work exists in a realm where sin and forbidden fantasies have been commoditized as carnivalesque. Part brothel, part ticketed amusement park, Pol’s Neverlodge captures both its subjects and onlookers within a participatory whirlwind of pleasure and suffering. Yielding imagery of high fashioned demons, faux corporations, reductive physics and wanton whores, the artist transposes his manic narrative onto the canvas within the web of a layered acrylic assault. Pol puts forth sarcastic and sadistic observations on abstract expressionism, figurative sculpture and mass production as he interweaves high and low culture into a bloodied frenzy."

Among the glamorous guests were Carine Roitfeld, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Giovanna Battaglia, Stavros Niarchos, Jessica Hart, Alexandra Richards, Marjorie Gubelmann, Nicole Miller, Alexander Acquavella, Alexander Tisch, Alexia Elkaim, Ashley McDermott, Attilio Brillembourg, Bara Tisch, Claude Wasserstein, Corice Arman, Cynthia Rowley, Dustin Yellin, Eric Eisner, Fabiola Beracasa, Gherardo Guarducci, Ginevra Caltagirone, Henry Allsopp, Honor Fraser, HRH Princess Firyal of Jordan, Jeisa Chiminazzo, Lady Liliana Cavendish, Larry Gagosian, Maria Bell, Matthew Mellon, Nick Cohen, Nicolas Poniatowski, Pietro Quaglia, Rashid Johnson, Renee Rockefeller, Richard Evans, Richard Sachs, Sante D'Orazio, Sean MacPherson, Serge Azria, Simon de Pury, Stacey Bendet Eisner, Tamara Mellon, and William Bell. Neverlodge is on display in New York through 16 March, 2012, and travels next to Istanbul.

View an interview about Neverlodge with Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld and Nicolas Pol conducted by Forbes.

Carine Roitfeld photograph © 2012 Brent Murray. Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld and Nicolas Pol photographs courtesy of artsgrantsfinder.com, axesmundi.blogspot.com, haberturk.com, and newyorksocialdiary.com

Roitfeld Presents Pol's "Sick Atavus Of The New Blood"

On Thursday night atop the Gramercy Park Hotel, Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld celebrated another success in the New York art world, the opening of "Sick Atavus of the New Blood," the latest show by French artist Nicolas Pol. Vladimir explains that the title of the exhibit references "the morbidity and violence that undergirds every one of Pol's rough strokes. Yet it also belies a technological paranoia, both in the sci-fi reference of 'Atavus,' and the 'new blood' that springs forth." Pol calls it “a pompous and pseudoscientific title, 'atavus' being a Latin word that nobody uses.”

The works by Pol were presented in a Soho warehouse space followed by an elegant dinner at Gramercy Terrace. Among the art lovers in attendance: Carine Roitfeld, Christian Restoin, Giovanna Battaglia, Joseph Altuzarra, Brian Atwood, Yigal Azrouel, Victoria Bartlett, Derek Blasberg, Francesco Carrozzini, Lisa de Kooning, Sante D'Orazio, Douglas Friedman, Stephen Gan, Douglas Hannant, Michelle Harper, Amanda Hearst, Genevieve Jones, Natalia Kills, Lorenzo Martone, Jennifer Missoni, Andrej Pejic, Mario Sorrenti, Stefano Tonchi, Giambattista Valli, Viktor & Rolf, and Julia Von Boehm.

How was the party? According to the Wall Street Journal, it sounds perfect:

But when the subject came up that a reporter happened to enjoy karaoke, Carine Roitfeld, Mr. Restoin Roitfeld's mother and the former editor of French Vogue [sic], said she did, too. We asked her what her karaoke song was. "I like 'You're so Vain,'" she said. And with that, Ms. Roitfeld and the reporter sang several verses of the Carly Simon tune a capella. As the singing grew louder, a few guests glanced askew. Some others joined in. It was very "My Best Friend's Wedding," if the movie had been directed by Helmut Newton. Needless to say, it wasn't a moment anyone will likely forget, even if they'd already downed a few Jello shots."

Other international exhibits of Pol's work that Vladimir curated were "The Martus Maw" (New York, 2009) and "The Mother of Pouacrus" (London, 2010). "Sick Atavus of the New Blood" runs through May 22 at 560 Washington Street, Bay 37E. To see more of the evening, visit the photo gallery or watch this fascinating video in which Vladimir and the artist discuss the art, the philosophy at work, and the New York scene.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, Carine Roitfeld, Christian Restoin, Giovanna Battaglia photographs courtesy of J.T. White/151Studios.com and © 2011 Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com and © 2011 Billy Farrell Agency (BFA)

Restoin-Roitfeld Shows Pol In London

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld opened a new exhibit featuring Parisian artist Nicolas Pol last week at The Old Dairy in London as part of the Frieze Art Fair. In typical Roitfeld fashion, the private opening party for "Nicolas Pol, Mother of Pouacrus" looks to be glamorous yet fun... check the photo gallery for evidence. I might add profitable as well: every painting sold by the evening's end, even those created merely hours before by the artist.

Asked for his inspiration for one of his paintings, Pol politely replied that he had used the idea of a virgin prostitute,"I began to see her as a hermaphrodite, masturbating, surrounded by sex toys. I just love the idea of the possessed skeleton fucking itself." Vogue Paris editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld glowingly refers to Vladi's work: "Tonight is all about the art of my son, and I am just a proud mother." "Nicolas Pol, Mother of Pouacrus" runs from October 15 to November 5; be sure to stop in to view the art that Pol describes as his invitation to see painting as witchcraft before all the pieces are tucked away in private collections by their enchanted buyers.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, Nicolas Pol, Carine Roitfeld, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Robert Konjic photographs courtesy of independent.co.uk and © 2010 Conde Nast. All Rights Reserved.

Roitfeld Shaping Art

Mindblowing—check out this video of Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld's latest show, "The Martus Maw" by Nicolas Pol, including the construction of the gallery, the installation of the art, and the opening and closing of the exhibit all in under 2:17. It's hard to convey how brilliant this is, you simply must see it.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld's "The Martus Maw" installation film still courtesy of joelfitzpatrick.com