Beyond the Blue Umbrella: Karl Lagerfeld @ The Saatchi.

I came home from Thursday night's class feeling pretty pleased that I'd successfully navigated another week in London, and it was finally my weekend.

Did I mention I don't have class on Fridays or Mondays this term? I don't.

It was eightish, S had dinner ready, and I had my feet up and a glass of wine in my hand faster than I could say T.G.I.T....at which point I logged into facebook. You see, I had planned to hit up the new Karl Lagerfeld exhibit (opening today) at Chelsea's Saatchi Gallery, and then head to the King's Road to find some jeans- until I read said message. The message was reminding me of a Friday workshop for three hours in the afternoon at the school. ARGH!!!

S didn't feel sorry for me, I believe she just laughed. No sympathy.

So I woke up today (slightly grumpy), had some breakfast, grabbed a coffee and headed to the train.

It was a beautiful day at Clapham Junction. This is an ugly station, but it sure looked a lot nicer with the sun shining.

School was actually quite painless as the workshop was filled with a bunch of great people, but the best (as well as slightly frustrating) part was, the teacher let us go at 3pm. I didn't really know whether to be happy, or angry that I'd shown up for one measly hour.

I quickly called S to see if she was done, and if she wanted to kick our initial plan into effect. Into the city I went.

To the Saatchi....

The Saatchi is currently filled with photography, but it was Lagerfeld's work, that we wanted to see as it was opening day. His exhibition was titled, "The Little Black Jacket", and was a celebration of Coco Chanel's iconic piece of clothing. Lagerfeld had photographed countless models, actors, and fashion personalities all sporting Chanel's famous piece. He worked alongside Carine Roitfeld (former editor of French Vogue), in creating the show. It was fantastic, and a brilliant tribute to one of fashion's famous pioneers.

Yes, Vancouverites, it's Josh Jackson.

Also in the Karl exhibit...

As I thought I was merely off for a day on campus, I didn't lug my SLR with me...hence the grainy photos. Sorry about that.

And here's the bonus of visiting on opening day. Free high quality posters of Karl's photos we got to take home with us. It's as if Lagerfeld knew we were forced to work with somebody else's black leather sofas in this new flat...

While the exhibit was well worth the visit, there were a number of other pieces and artists in the gallery that caught my eye.

Portraits by American artist, Katy Grannan. All titled Anonymous. The Gallery brochure suggests that Grannan is attempting to capture the range of prideful individuality in human beings and their common fate. She is celebrating each person's history, their victories, and their defeats.

Have a look...

And some two-piece collages I thought would be neat to try in the classroom. Stezaker spent years gathering images in second hand book shops, and then took x-acto knives forcing two complete strangers to meet.

John Stezaker (Film Portrait Collage) 2008