20 posts tagged "Andy Warhol"
See and Be Scene: Jeannette Montgomery Barron on Her New Book
From Warhol’s Factory to Basquiat’s studio, throughout the eighties, downtown Manhattan was the place for young creative types to be. Photographer Jeannette Montgomery Barron was there, and her new tome, Scene, is a sort of yearbook of the time, documenting the likes of Cindy Sherman, Keith Haring, Francesco Clemente, Willem Dafoe, and more early in their careers. “I was just a fly on the wall,” recalls Montgomery Barron, speaking at Indochine, one of her old haunts. (“It looks almost exactly the same, but there were a lot of drugs happening in the bathrooms back then.”) This afternoon, she’ll sign copies of Scene—which, in addition to the snaps, features personal anecdotes about each artist—at Bookmarc, and starting tomorrow, a select group of her black-and-white photographs will be on display in an exhibition at ClampArt. Here, Montgomery Barron discusses her book, and reminisces about shooting Warhol, working out with Bianca Jagger, and spending time with Basquiat.
How did you find yourself in the center of the eighties New York art scene?
I was just lucky. It’s not that I went out and said, “I want to record every artist from A to Z.” It was more like I’d photograph Francesco Clemente, and he’d say, “You should really go photograph my friend Kenny Scharf.” It was very organic in that way. And, I mean, I knew I could drop a name. I’m sure I said, “Hey, I’m a friend of Andy Warhol. Can I shoot you?” I guess I’d get an adrenaline surge.
In the book, you mention that you could just call up Andy Warhol and ask to take his picture. What were those sittings like?
The first time I photographed him was at the Factory in Union Square, and he wouldn’t even let me out of the outer lobby. When I met Bianca Jagger and we became friends, he warmed up. He never really talked much, but he always made you feel like you were the most brilliant person who said the most profound things. Continue Reading “See and Be Scene: Jeannette Montgomery Barron on Her New Book” »
RISD’s Feeling Fine and Dandy
The dandy: It’s a term we hear on loop, it seems, when it comes to horn-rim-wearing street-style stars and all things bespoke or buttoned-up. But the dandy has a far richer history than the current zeitgeist lets on; one that includes the likes of George “Beau” Brummell—an arbiter of men’s fashion in eighteenth-century England who was known for being “extremely neat”—King George IV, Oscar Wilde, and Andy Warhol (whose paint-splattered shoes are pictured below). On April 28, Providence’s RISD Museum of Art will celebrate the term with the opening of its summer exhibition, Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion.
“As we delved into the subject of the dandy in art, literature, and history on an intellectual level, we felt a strong need to focus on the tangible garments worn by dandies past and present,” said Kate Irvin, the museum’s curator of costume and textiles. The selection runs the full temporal gamut—with current provocateurs such as Thom Browne and Waris Ahluwalia featured alongside more archival names, like Stephen Tennant (above, left), Charles Baudelaire, Richard Merkin, and Malcolm McLaren. As assistant curator Laurie Brewer details, dandyism is as diverse as it is distinct, and it’s not strictly limited to one bracket of dressing. “I am always smitten with the extraordinary feat of what a bespoke suit can be—but I also fully appreciate Rick Owens’ radical take on menswear—hard and romantic, masculine and feminine.” Owens is also featured in the exhibit, lending credence to the sartorial vastness encompassed by the term. Expanding on the subject, the curators concluded, “there may be boundaries and rules that one feels compelled to follow when dressing, but one must always recognize that they are elastic.” Alongside the exhibition comes the release of a corresponding illustrated book, which features essays by the likes of Thom Browne, Glenn O’Brien, and Style.com’s editor in chief, Dirk Standen.
Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion will run from April 28 through August 18 at the RISD Museum of Art .
Baby’s First Warhol
For any Dior-wearing mothers wondering how to coordinate Raf Simons’ Fall ’13 Warhol-print shifts and bags with their baby gear, Bugaboo has the answer. Today, the stroller brand announced that they’ve launched a multiyear collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation—the first installment of which will hit stores in May. Having previously released fashion-forward strollers with the likes of Missoni and Viktor & Rolf, Bugaboo’s debut Warhol project features the artist’s 1946 “Flowers” series and his 1962 “Cars” series. The painterly prints will appear on canopies tailored for the Bugaboo Bee, Bugaboo Cameleon, and Bugaboo Donkey-style baby carriages, and will even grace a little parasol. Where stylish moms are concerned, Mr. Simons’ Warholian wares may have met their match.
Bugaboo’s collection of Andy Warhol stroller accessories ranges from $69.95 to $109.95 and will be available at Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s this May.
Fame For Sale
Art and celebrity, celebrity artists, the art of celebrity—it’s all a big blur. But an intriguing blur, nonetheless. Starting tomorrow, online auction house Paddle8 will play to our fascination with art, celebrity, and everything in between with Somebody, a fame-themed sale. Launching in collaboration with Interview magazine (i.e., the magazine that Andy Warhol—the grandfather of celebrity/art cross-pollination—founded), the auction will offer 40 celeb-centric works by the likes of Richard Avedon, Mario Testino, Richard Prince, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Warhol himself, and more. You can browse the sale, and its famous faces, until it ends on March 27.
French Castle, American Story
2013 marks the fortieth anniversary of Le Grand Divertissement è Versailles, the runway battle royal that took place in 1973 between French fashion houses (Givenchy, Dior, Ungaro, Yves Saint Laurent, and Pierre Cardin) and American designers (Halston, Oscar de la Renta, Anne Klein, Stephen Burrows, and Bill Blass). Held as a fundraiser to restore the palace, the evening was attended by everyone from Andy Warhol to Princess Grace of Monaco, and, in addition to a bevy of couture, featured performances by the likes of Liza Minnelli and Josephine Baker (above).
But aside from being, perhaps, the most epic runway spectacle to date, Versailles marked the first time African-American models took a prominent place on the European fashion stage. Last night, in honor of the anniversary, and in celebration of Women’s History Month, the Fashion Institute of Technology hosted a screening of Deborah Riley Draper’s 2012 documentary, Versailles '73: American Runway Revolution. And the historic event’s stars, like Pat Cleveland (below, right), Billie Blair, Norma Jean Darden, and Bethann Hardison, among others, turned out for the film and a lively panel discussion. Continue Reading “French Castle, American Story” »