Love for Valentino

Published by Taschen, the book is edited Armando Chitolina and co-written by Matt Trynauer from Vanity Fair and Suzy Menkes of the  International Herald Tribune. The 738-page, coffeetable-size hardcover book contains more than 1,000 photos plus a rare portrait of Valentino and comes in an ornate red box. The book follows Valentino from his beginnings in Rome in 1959, to adding a client list that included the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn, as well as modern-day celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Lopez.

The book is Bt49,900 and is available at Playground on Thonglor.

Full of art

Artistic director Thierry Raspail and curators Stephanie Moisdon and Hans Ulrich Obrist are seeking to write a new chapter in the history of contemporary art with their 2007 Lyon Biennial, which opened on September 17.

Participating artists are being asked to answer the following question: "Who, in your opinion, is the artist who best represents this decade?" Artists in this circle include curator Hu Fang and artist Cao Fei, curator Hou Hanru with artists Omer Ali Kazma and curator Pi Li with artist Liu Wei as well as art historian Yves Aupetitatllaot and multi-disciplined artist Una Szeeman.

A second circle is composed of 17 other artists, each a system intended to define the decade in progress. Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija is among the group, which also includes Rem Koohaas, Trisha Donnelly, Markus Miessen and Josh Smith. For the Biennial Rirkrit will relocate some films from their usual venues, such as cinemas, to a different, yet-to-be determined place.

The Biennial runs until January 6 at various venues in Lyon, mainly La Sucriere, an abandoned warehouse that is being converted into a public art space.

For more information visit www.biennale-de-lyon.org.