Frist Center To Present UK Artist Claire Morgan’s First Solo Exhibition in the United States

“Claire Morgan: Stop Me Feeling” February 10–May 7, 2017

For Claire Morgan’s first solo exhibition,“Claire Morgan: Stop Me Feeling“, in the United States, The Frist Center for the Visual Arts (919 Broadway in downtown Nashville, Tenn.) will present recent works exemplifying the internationally acclaimed artist’s ecologically minded artistic practice. In her intricate and beguiling installations, sculptures, paintings, and works on paper, Morgan stages dramatic encounters between humans and nature that capture both the elegance and beauty of life, but also the senselessness and shock of death.

Claire Morgan. Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds, 2016. Triptych: taxidermy residues, salt, graphite, and mixed media on paper on canvas, 55 1/3 x 89 in. Courtesy of Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Paris, St. Moritz. © Claire Morgan

“Claire Morgan: Stop Me Feeling“ was organized by the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in collaboration with Galerie Karstn Greve and is supported in part by the Friends of Contemporary Art, Metro Nashville Arts Commission, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and now living in Newcastle, England, Morgan has lived many years in industrialized urban centers and has maintained an abiding interest in how animals adapt to the artificial conditions of our making. For her suspended installations and sculptures, she combines organic and inorganic materials and taxidermy to create works that explore the complexity and fragility of natural processes and animal life forms. Her painstaking work involves the collection of found objects, including seeds, insects, and torn bits of plastic, which she then uses to construct three-dimensional works of grids and geometric shapes. Caught up in the webs created by those materials are birds, deer, foxes, and other animals that live alongside humans.

Morgan finds the animals after they have been killed by cars, pest control, or pets, or have died from natural causes. “The reverence with which she preserves the dead animals through taxidermy sharply contrasts with the carelessness of other humans toward them while they were alive,” says Frist Center curator Trinita Kennedy. “Morgan is an exceptionally sensitive and acute observer of the creatures that live in our midst, and her novel constructions open our eyes to both their beauty and our own destructive ways.”

Claire Morgan. Within You Without You, 2015. Dunnock (taxidermy), torn colored polythene, nylon, and glass, 29 x 24 3/8 x 24 3/8 in. Courtesy of Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Paris, St. Moritz. © Claire Morgan

At the center of her cabinet sculpture Within You Without You, for example, is a small taxidermized dunnock surrounded by countless shreds of polythene shopping bags, the ubiquitous plastic product stubbornly resistant to biodegradation. The brown feathered bird is typically camouflaged in its natural setting of trees and brush, but stands out vulnerably amid the artificially colored litter.

Claire Morgan. If you go down to the woods today, 2014. Muntjac (taxidermy), butterflies, torn polythene, nylon, and lead, 118 x 118 x 98 1/2 in. Courtesy of Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Paris, St. Moritz. © Claire Morgan

The spectacular installation If you go down to the woods today will occupy its own gallery in this exhibition and includes one of the artist’s largest taxidermy specimen to date. It depicts a muntjac—a type of small deer that has become particularly numerous in the United Kingdom in recent years—that is about to become lost as it follows fluttering butterflies into a forest of orange polythene.

Claire Morgan. Clusterfuck, 2015. Carrion crown (taxidermy), flower seeds, leaves, insects, fragments of polyethylene, nylon, and glass, 30 3/4 x 24 1/4 x 24 1/4 in. Courtesy of Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Paris, St. Moritz. © Claire Morgan

Morgan’s tragicomic titles riff on lines from pop songs, books, or simple words or phrases lifted from everyday language. Within You Without You is a reference to the George Harrison song “Within You Without You” on the Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, while If you go down to the woods today is a lyric borrowed from “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic,” a strangely ominous old children’s song that warns “you better not go alone” into the woods and it’s “safer to stay at home.”

Travel Business News: Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. Completes Spin-off of Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations

Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations Begins “Regular Way” Trading On The New York Stock Exchange

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) (“Hilton”) has announced the completion of the spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (“Park”) and Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. (“HGV”), resulting in three independent, publicly traded companies.

Park and HGV began “regular way” trading on the New York Stock Exchange on January 4, 2017, under the ticker symbols “PK” and “HGV,” respectively. Hilton also effected a previously-announced 1-for-3 reverse stock split, and will continue to trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “HLT.”

Hilton is a leading global hospitality company, comprising more than 4,800 managed, franchised, owned and leased hotels and timeshare properties with nearly 789,000 rooms in 104 countries and territories. For 97 years, Hilton has been dedicated to continuing its tradition of providing exceptional guest experiences. The company’s portfolio of 13 world-class global brands includes Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Canopy by Hilton, Curio – A Collection by Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton by Hilton, Tru by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Home2 Suites by Hilton.

The company also manages an award-winning customer loyalty program, Hilton HHonors®. Hilton HHonors members who book directly through preferred Hilton channels have access to benefits including an exclusive member discount, free standard Wi-Fi, as well as digital amenities that are available exclusively through the industry-leading Hilton HHonors app, where Hilton HHonors members can check-in, choose their room, and access their room using a Digital Key. (Visit www.hiltonworldwide.com for more information and connect with Hilton on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn and Instagram.)

Hilton will continue to be led by Christopher J. Nassetta, president and chief executive officer (CEO). Kevin J. Jacobs will continue to serve as Hilton’s executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) and Michael W. Duffy will continue to serve as Hilton’s senior vice president and chief accounting officer.

“These spin-offs are an important milestone in Hilton’s continued evolution as the world’s most hospitable company,” said Nassetta. “The new Hilton is a fee-based, capital efficient, and resilient business with tremendous growth potential around the world. We believe this will result in opportunities for our team members and meaningful returns for our hotel owners and shareholders.”

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: PK) is one of the largest publicly traded lodging real estate investment trusts with a diverse portfolio of market-leading hotels and resorts with significant underlying real estate value. The Company’s portfolio currently consists of 67 premium-branded hotels and resorts with over 35,000 rooms located in prime U.S. and international markets with high barriers to entry.

Park, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is led by Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., chairman, president & CEO. Sean M. Dell’Orto serves as Park’s executive vice president and CFO and Treasurer, and Darren W. Robb serves as Park’s senior vice president and chief accounting officer. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.pkhotelsandresorts.com.

“Today’s transaction positions Park Hotels & Resorts as the second largest lodging REIT and a key player in the market,” said Baltimore. “We believe our size, scale, and high-quality portfolio will enable us to capitalize on meaningful growth opportunities.”

Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. (NYSE:HGV) is recognized within the industry as a leading global timeshare company. With headquarters in Orlando, Fla., Hilton Grand Vacations develops, markets and operates a system of brand-name, high-quality vacation ownership resorts in select vacation destinations. HGV’s 46 resorts are located in premier markets, including the Hawaiian Islands, New York City, Orlando and Las Vegas. The company also manages and operates two innovative club membership programs: Hilton Grand Vacations Club® and The Hilton Club®, providing exclusive exchange, leisure travel and reservation services for more than 260,000 Club Members.

HGV is led by Mark Wang, president & CEO. James E. Mikolaichik serves as HGV’s executive vice president and CFO and Allen Klingsick serves as senior vice president and chief accounting officer. For more information, visit www.hgv.com and www.hiltongrandvacations.com.

“Hilton Grand Vacations is a premier operator and rapidly growing company in the timeshare industry,” said Wang. “We are focused on adding value for our members, continued net owner growth, and delivering a strong return on our capital efficient business.”

The companies were provided financial advice by Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs & Co. and BofA Merrill Lynch, legal advice by Simpson Thacher, Hogan Lovells and Womble Carlyle, and tax advice by Ernst & Young and KPMG.

L’Oréal Paris Debuts New True Match Campaign: Your Skin, Your Story

Diverse Individuals Illuminate L’Oréal Paris’ Belief that “You’re Worth it”

L’Oréal Paris, the #1 Global Beauty Brand in the world, launches “Your Skin, Your Story,” a new campaign for its True Match foundation range, that celebrates the intrinsic worth and beauty of everyone. Inspired by the 33 shades of True Match, “Your Skin, Your Story” champions the unique mosaic of American beauty and L’Oréal Paris’ tenet “You’re Worth It.” From an artist and artisan native to Nepal, to an American transgender model, actress and writer, to a travel and food lifestyle blogger from Hawaii, to a millennial male model of Caribbean descent, each of the individuals featured share their unique heritage and skin story.

In 1994, L’Oréal Paris achieved a technological breakthrough as the pioneer in bringing shade-matching technology to the mass foundation category. Promising to precisely match skin’s tone and texture, L’Oréal Paris True Match Super-Blendable Makeup offers an extensive range of expertly-calibrated shades created to match match the US consumer. Based on depth and undertone with warm, neutral and cool categories, True Match’s exclusive shade-matching system took the guesswork out of finding the perfect foundation. In 2012, True Match expanded its collection with new and improved global-inspired shades. True Match Super-Blendable Makeup now offers a range of 33 precisely calibrated foundations that represent a universe of skin color for our most precise match, 100% guaranteed.

‘Your Skin, Your Story” casts actresses, young creatives, change makers and models, all embodying a strong sense of self-worth and empowerment. L’Oréal Paris global spokeswomen, actress Blake Lively, and models Lara Stone, Alexina Graham, and Xiao Wen Ju are featured along with newcomers model Darnell Bernard and lifestyle influencer Cipriana Quann. Additionally, advocates for progress in body diversity, Sabina Karsson and Marquita Pring along with transgender model and trans rights activist Hari Nef are featured in the campaign.

The first piece of the “Your Skin, Your Story” integrated social, digital and television campaign, will air as a commercial on Sunday, January 8 during the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

“L’Oréal Paris is a brand fueled by a mission to empower everyone to own and embrace their individual beauty and intrinsic worth,” says Tim Coolican, Deputy General Manager, L’Oréal Paris USA. “By featuring a diverse blend of individuals and illustrating their individual skin stories, our new True Match campaign celebrates the power and beauty of feeling comfortable in your own skin.“

“‘Because I’m worth it’ is an iconic belief that resonates with so many, for good reason. Now more than ever, that simple phrase is a powerful reminder to us all as people are coming together, rising up, and standing for their value. We are worth it. We are different shapes and sizes. We are different colors. We are beautiful inside and out. We are kind. We are brave. We are vulnerable. We are flawed. We are perfect. We are worth it. And we each have a story to tell. Which is why I was so moved by the ‘Your Skin, Your Story’ campaign. It’s a beautiful illustration that we are in this together. And we are listening to one another and celebrating each other for both our similarities, and our differences. Now THAT’S beautiful,” remarks spokeswoman, Blake Lively.

Created by McCann New York and directed by Loic Maes and Jonathan Lia of Good Company, the “Your Skin, Your Story” campaign premieres this Sunday and will live on social, digital and in print media in the following weeks.