Donatella Versace Guest Edits 'Baroness' Magazine With Sarah Baker Holiday 2019 Campaign

Donatella Versace Guest Edits 'Baroness' Magazine With Sarah Baker Holiday 2019 Campaign

Donatella Versace adds the role of guest editor of the new Baroness Magazine to her Holiday 2019 resume. Founded by art and creative director Matthew Holroyd and Dazed & Confused editor in chief Isabella Burley, the glamazon magazine is also inspired by “scandalous celebrity sisters the Kardashians”. The magazine, writes Crack, “is putting female deviants back in control.”

Donatella collaborated with Sarah Baker on a new art project — anchored in Baroness and an accompanying six-part video campaign— for the 2019 holiday season.

Baker and Helena Christensen, dressed head-to-toe in Versace, are the main protagonists in the print and video narrative which includes a wedding party where the bride, played by model Meghan Roche, wears an Atelier Versace dress and the wedding gifts span from a pair of Chain Reaction sneakers to the Virtus bag. Jonathan Saxby and Simonas Pham join the cast. for images and video lensed by Edith Bergfors and Milo Reid.

Not even Telemundo could’ve thought of a more twisted and fabulous story, says mitú.

Frida Kahlo 'Portrait of a Lady in White' Sells for $5.8 Million at Christies Latin America

Frida Kahlo, Portrait of a Lady in White (c. 1929). Courtesy of Christie's Images Ltd. via ArtNet

Frida Kahlo’s ‘Portrait of a Lady in White’ (c. 1929) carried a pre-auction estimate of $3 -$5 million. The painting sold Wednesday at Christie’s Latin American art sale in New York for more than $5.8 million, making it the second-highest price ever paid for a Frida Kahlo painting. Her ‘Dos Desnudos en el Bosque (La Tierra Misma)’ (1939) sold for over $8 million at Christie’s in 2016

A visitor looks at “Portrait of a Lady in White” at the Frida Kahlo Retrospective at Martin-Gropius-Bau on April 29, 2010 in Berlin. Courtesy of Sean Gallup via ArtNet.

The painting has been maintained in private collections, most recently the collection of Dr. Helga Prignitz-Poda, a Kahlo scholar. One of Kahlo’s few oil paintings, “Recent research suggests that the subject of the portrait is Kahlo’s high school friend Elena Boder, a Russian émigré and an influential doctor. It was previously believed that the sitter was Kahlo’s American friend Dorothy Brown Fox.” writes Forbes.

Baltimore Museum Will Acquire Work Only By Women Artists in 2020

Georgia O’Keeffe's "Pink Tulip" is on view at the Baltimore Museum of Art as part of its 2020 Vision initiative,which will be a year-long series of exhibitions and programs focused solely on female artists. (The Baltimore Museum of Art)

Women artists received a tough love message in a recent survey of art acquisitions by America’s museums. Only 11 percent of art acquired by 26 of America’s top museums for their permanent collections from 2008 to 2018, is the work of women artists.

The Baltimore Museum of Art announced a new drive for women artists, announcing that in 2020, the museum will only acquire work for its permanent collection that is produced by women.

The decision is an attempt by the museum to “truly be radical and emphasize to the arts communities that we are taking this initiative quite seriously,” and “re-correcting the canon,” chief curator Asma Naeem said.

The initiative comes as many museums in Washington and across America prepare to celebrate women artists in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment and women’s right to vote. It’s also expected that the newly Democratic state government of Virginia will ratify the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) early in 2020, pushing the amendment across the finish line with state ratifications. The time is beyond the original ratification dates, and the issue will surely be moved into the federal court system.

Celebrating women artists is great, but just as American women have learned with achieving the ERA, progress is very painful and slow.

“Curators say they struggle to convince their acquisition committees to pay up for work, particularly by older, overlooked female artists, who frequently lack an auction history that might be used to validate the asking price,” the investigative report on museum acquisitions stated.

AOC discovered a perfect example of this reality in our recent post about 99-year-old artist Luchita Hurtado.

“If you think about the word ‘artist,’ there’s a tacit assumption that it’s a male genius who is in fact the artist,” Naeem said. “That can be seen in the fact that we even call these ‘women artists.’ They’re not women artists. They’re artists.”

Artist Emma Kohlmann by Mariya Pepelanova for Eurowoman December 2019

Artist Emma Kohlmann by Mariya Pepelanova for Eurowoman December 2019

Artist Emma Kohlmann @meiow_mix is lensed by Mariya Pepelanova for the December 2019 issue of Eurowoman Denmark. Fashion editor Frederikke Raun styles Emma, who was interviewed in Amadeus Magazine in 2018.

Multimedia artist Emma Kohlmann exists in three different worlds: her quaint, quiet life in Northampton, Massachusetts; her social, gallery-hopping life in New York City and Los Angeles; and the indefinable otherworldly life she has created through her colorful and abstract watercolors. Each world is a telling reflection of Emma’s multifaceted personality and the disparate needs she has in order to fuel her creativity.

Emma’s watercolor world is playful and somewhat naive. It’s balanced, yet completely off-balanced. It’s intrinsically political, unwittingly powerful, and aesthetically stunning. It’s a way for the Massachusetts-based artist to retreat into a figurative world that doesn’t define an ideal form. Fascinated by the idea of constructing things that are beautiful, but are not attached to certain forms of identity, Emma sees the body as political. There are aspects that are visible and others that are hidden. There are parts that are celebrated and others that are obliterated, and she wants all of them to be acknowledged. Driven by her desire to deconstruct what is learned, her lively figures aren’t confined to traditional gender norms, and who or what these figures are is irrelevant. What’s most crucial for Emma is branching out of the typical male canon of nudity, transgressing the image, and remaining absolutely limitless in her presentation of such.

Diane von Furstenberg Holiday 2019 Gathering by Coliena Rentmeester

Diane von Furstenberg Holiday 2019 Gathering by Coliena Rentmeester

Diane von Furstenberg Holiday 2019 Gathering by Coliena Rentmeester

Designer Diane von Furstenberg hosts a pre-Holiday 2019 party, inviting artist Anh Duong, and models Chiara Scelsi, Lameka Fox, Sara Ziff and granddaughter Talita von Furstenberg to join her for a toast to women’s progress. Photographer Coliena Rentmeester captures the good vibrations for Diane von Furstenberg Holiday 2019./ Hair by Gavin Harwin; makeup by Talia Sparrow

Diane von Furstenberg Holiday 2019 Gathering by Coliena Rentmeester

Artist, actor, socialite and friend of many powerful people, France-born Anh Duong joined Long Island East End artists Jack Ceglic, Cindy Sherman, Chuck Close, and ex, Julian Schnabel in “Selfies and Portraits of the East End” in summer 2019 at East Hampton’s Guild Hall. Erin Riley wrote about Duong in How Anh Duong & Other East End Artists are Redefining the Selfie in Hamptons Magazine.

Speaking of her life on the East End, Hamptons Riley wrote:

“When I first moved to the Hamptons, I didn’t really understand the beauty of it,” says Duong, who spent childhood summers in Spain, Italy, and the South of France with her Spanish mother and Vietnamese father. “But over the years, I’ve grown to love it completely. People always talk about the light, and it’s true.”

After her move to New York, Duong became a popular presence on the art and fashion scenes. In 2006 she married architect Barton Hubbard Quillen and moved into an old fisherman’s house in East Hampton. Although the couple went their separate ways, Duong kept the home and converted the barn into a painting studio.

‘Lazy Point’ by Ahn Duong

Meet the Powerhouse Talent Team Behind 'Harriet' Movie: Erivo, Lemmons, Martin-Chase

Essence Magazine interviews Tony-Award winner Cynthia Erivo about her starring role as the fearless abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the highly-anticipated biopic ‘Harriet’. I recall seeing Erivo in her powerhouse performance as Celie in the Broadway presentation of ‘The Color Purple’.

The film, which opened Friday and is discussed in depth in AOC’s The True Story Behind the Harriet Tubman Movie -- An Epic Tale of Fearless Heroism tells the story of a determined 5’1” abolitionist who freed more than hundreds of slaves, including herself. A union spy during the Civil War, Tubman was the first woman to lead a military expedition of its kind in America, when she led soldiers with Colonel James Montgomery to raid rice plantations along the Combahee Rover in South Carolina.

THE FILM BRIEFLY DEPICTS THE CIVIL WAR MILITARY EXPEDITION THAT FREED AROUND 750 ENSLAVED PEOPLE AND WAS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND TO BE LED BY A WOMAN. (GLEN WILSON/FOCUS FEATURES)

The film is directed by Kasi Lemmons, whose pedigree includes directing the critically acclaimed and award-winning Southern Gothic film ‘Eve's Bayou’ and her 2007 biopic ‘Talk To Me’ about legendary radio DJ Petey Green. She was described by film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon as "an ongoing testament to the creative possibilities of film".

Producer Debra Martin-Chase. is affiliated with Universal Television, a division of NBC Universal Television Group. It was affiliated with the Walt Disney Company from 2001 to 2016. How refreshing to read Martin-Chase’s comments on BlackEnterprise.com, addressing head-on some commentary of the film from black critics, who are “slave fatigued”.

“This is NOT a slave movie,” Debra Martin Chase declares, her passion for her latest production, Harriet, crackling through the phone. “This is a movie about freedom and empowerment. This is a movie that says we cannot control the circumstances into which we are born, but we can control what we do once we get here.”

“A lot of us are waking up every day feeling hopeless and helpless, and this film is a reminder to all of us that we can each make a difference, in our families, in our churches, our communities, our countries, our world,” she says. “Harriet saved herself, members of her family, and countless others. She changed people’s lives, she changed the course of history. This is an action hero origin story. She was a badass!”

AOC is tracking commentary around the film in our long piece from Smithsonian Magazine, anchor for the National Museum of African American History and Culture — including the responses of women writers vs male writers. And for the record, white people should learn from the complex discussion and keep our mouths shut. ~ Anne

The True Story Behind the Harriet Tubman Movie -- An Epic Tale of Fearless Heroism AOC GlamTribal Blog

The ‘Harriet’ trailer gives you an idea of what’s to come from this hyper-talented cast of black women creatives and business executives.

Artist Micol Hebron's Instagram Account Suspended Shortly After FB Censorship Meeting

Digital collage by Micol Hebron (all photos courtesy of Micol Hebron)

A group of about 20 artists, curators, and activists met Monday afternoon at Facebook and Instagram’s New York City office. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss Instagram’s treatment of artists and its impact on their art and livelihoods.

Interdisciplinary artist, curator, and associate professor at Chapman University in Southern California, Micol Hebron has an extensive history of campaigning to free womens’ nipples. Fellow artist Joann Leah was in attendance as an essential bridge between Facebook and artists, having established long-standing relationships with the organization over its censorship of artwork, writes Hyperallergic.

To Hebron, the policy — and perhaps Facebook’s overall approach to gender — lacks nuance.

“The policies that Facebook enacts are essentially policing the bodies and the identities of the users — and are a particular problem who people who are queer or trans … that is my primary concern from the beginning. How does an algorithm know what someone’s gender is? How does a person know what gender someone is by looking at their nipples?”

“Artists that are working with the nude, who censor their own works on Instagram in order to meet their community standards, can be deleted with no recourse because of a lack of a proper appeals system,” Spencer Tunick told Hyperallergic. “The deletion of an artist’s account is like throwing someone’s address book and portfolio into a fire.”

In a note of irony, three hours after the Facebook meeting ended, Hebron’s Instagram account was suspended for posting the image of her and Tunick below, as they prepared to enter the meeting. Being connected at Instagram, Hebron was able to solve her suspension in short order.

For relatively unknown and unconnected artists, the process is far more complicated and potentially career-defining in today’s Insta-world, Hebron acknowledged.

Jennifer Lopez + Shakira Take the Stage Feb 20, 2020 in Miami for Super Bowl LIV

Two giants in the music industry — Jennifer Lopez and Shakira — will take the stage on Feb. 2, 2020 for Super BowlLIV, in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. The two superstars broke the news on Twitter, featuring each other.

Previously, the only Latin performers to take the Super Bowl haltime stage are Gloria Estefan (in 1992 and 1999 and as part of Miami Sound Machine in 1995) and Enrique Iglesias alongside a slew of other artists in 2000.

"Throughout the years, Pepsi has had a strong heritage in music, working with a range of artists from Britney Spears to Ray Charles to Beyoncé. The Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show has become one of the most iconic and anticipated music performances of the year, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome Jennifer Lopez and Shakira to the stage," Todd Kaplan, Pepsi's vp of marketing said in a statement. "These two remarkable artists are setting a new precedent for what this show can become, and we’re confident that this will be an incredible performance for the ages."

"We’ve been working closely behind-the-scenes with our longstanding partners at the NFL, and now alongside [Jay Z] Roc Nation to bring these mega superstars together. It is a testament to our partnership and commitment to push the envelope of what is possible," Adam Harter, senior vp of Sports, Media and Entertainment for Pepsi also shared.

U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s New Poetry Collection Brings Native Issues to the Forefront

U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s New Poetry Collection Brings Native Issues to the Forefront

Seeing Joy Harjo perform live is a transformational experience. The internationally acclaimed performer and poet of the Muscogee (Mvskoke)/Creek nation transports you by word and by sound into a womb-like environment, echoing a traditional healing ritual. The golden notes of Harjo’s alto saxophone fill the dark corners of a drab university auditorium as the audience breathes in her music.

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Harjo grew up in a home dominated by her violent white stepfather. She first expressed herself through painting before burying herself in books, art and theater as a means of survival; she was kicked out of the home at age 16. Although she never lived on a reservation nor learned her tribal language, at age 19 she officially enrolled in the Muscogee tribe and remains active today. Though she has mixed ancestry, including Muscogee, Cherokee, Irish and French nationalities, Harjo most closely identifies with her Native American ancestry. On June 19, the Library of Congress named her the United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold that position; she’ll officially take on the role next month.

Central Park Women's Suffrage Monument Redesigned to Include Sojourner Truth

For nearly a year, the proposed Central Park statue honoring women’s suffrage in America has been plagued in controversy. It’s difficult to believe that in 2019, planners of the monument could be so tone-deaf to the race-related arguments swirling around America’s women’s rights history.

The Women’s March 2017, organized by a group of women who refused to honor legendary women’s rights Hillary Clinton, after her defeat by Donald Trump, signaled a new day for setting the record straight — the truth and also new lies and distortions — about the history of American feminism.

The original design by sculptor Meredith Bergmann visually elevated two prominent white women — Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton — over a scrolling list of 22 other women, seven of them women of color. AOC disagrees with the complaint that Anthony and Stanton were metaphorically “standing’ on the other women.” But they certainly look like boss ladies at a time when younger people are rejecting hierarchy and white superiority, along with a nonexistent recognition of the contributions of people of color — and slaves specifically — in building America.

For context, there is NO statue of any nonfictional female of any skin color in Central Park and around New York, writes the New York Times. The park currently features no historical women but statues of fictional girls like Alice from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Juliet from William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet.’

While a new visual of the proposed statue to be erected on Central Park’s Literary Walk by 2020 is not available, it’s a miracle that the proposed design was aborted at all. Women including Gloria Steinem helped turn back the design against the nearly insurmountable rules and regulations that defined its artistic creation initially and the legitimate controversy that ensued.

“Our goal has always been to honor the diverse women in history who fought for equality and justice and who dedicated their lives to fight for Women’s Rights,” Pam Elam said in a statement. The president of the Monumental Women’s Statue Fund, the group financing the sculpture, added: “It is fitting that Anthony, Stanton, and Truth stand together in this statue as they often did in life.” via Hyperallergic.

Related: Central Park Women's Suffrage Monument by Sculptor Meredith Bergmann Unveiled AOC She

The Fierce Pride and Passion of Rhinestone Fashion | We Spend Time With Mickalene Thomas

The Fierce Pride and Passion of Rhinestone Fashion | We Spend Time With Mickalene Thomas

Contemporary artist Mickalene Thomas is best known for her large-scale paintings of black women posed against boldly patterned backgrounds and adorned with rhinestones. Illustrative of the artist’s signature style, her 2010 Portrait of Mnonja depicts a striking female figure reclining on a couch.

Visitors, who find their way to the high-ceiling third floor gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, consistently gather round this painting, fascinated by its bright colors and drawn to its subject—an elegant and poised African-American woman.

“She is owning and claiming her space, which is very exciting,” reveals the artist in a 2017 SAAM interview. The woman’s crossed ankles are perched on the sofa’s armrest, and her fuchsia high heels dangle over the edge. Her right hand rests on her knee and her fingers evoke a dancer’s enviable combination of strength and grace. Exuding an air of power and sophistication, Mnonja literally sparkles from head to toe—her hair, makeup, jewelry, clothes, fingernails and shoes all glisten with rhinestones.

Selah Marley Pops Into BKLYN Studios May 3-4, 2019 With 'A Primordial Place'

Selah Marley Pops Into BKLYN Studios May 3-4, 2019 With 'A Primordial Place'

Selah Marley opens an art quickie ‘A Primordial Place’ , on view at BKLYN Studios In New York City from May 3rd until May 4th, noon to 8pm. BKLYN Studios is located at 445 Albee Square West, Brooklyn NY 11201 in Citypoint.

Frida Kahlo Has A New York Moment With New York's Spring Style Issue + Brooklyn Museum Show

Illustrator Malika Favre’s latest project is the cover art for The New Yorker’s Spring Style Issue, and it’s a beauty. For Frida Kahlo lovers, Favre’s references are unconsciously obvious in ‘Spring to Mind’, her seventh cover for the magazine. Interviewed by Françoise Mouly, Favre explains how her minimalist style exploded into an effusion of color and floral shapes.

The inspiration was Frida Kahlo’s iconic look. I wanted to retain the energy and vibrancy of her paintings and the strength of the woman herself, hence the looser strokes and the explosion of color. This cover may be flamboyant, and it does use organic shapes, but it’s still in tune with my aesthetic approach. My work has a lot to do with colors and shapes, and this piece is another way to experiment with combining those things.

ONE OF FAVRE’S EARLY SKETCHES FOR THE COVER, AND HER SNAPSHOT OF A MARKET IN MEXICO CITY. MALIKA FAVRE

The use of Frida Kahlo inspiration for the New Yorker also relates to a new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. The show is not a major exhibition of Kahlo’s paintings with only 11 out of more than 350 objects. Rather ‘Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving,” is a recapitulation of her life through personal possessions — her clothing, jewelry and favorite objects. The selection of the rich skirts and blouses from the Oaxacan city of Tehuantepec and her statement jewelry that were so key to Kahlo’s substantative style are intrinsically embedded in her art.

Writing for The New York Times, Jason Farago reminds us in Frida Kahlo’s Home Is Still Unlocking Secrets, 50 Years Later: “Hard to imagine she once worked in shadow; when she had her first New York exhibition, in 1938, Vogue preferred to name her “Madame Diego Rivera.”’

Diane von Furstenberg + Painter Ashley Longshore Unveil 37 Large-Scale Portraits Of Extraordinary Women

Many younger fashionistas might not know that designer Diane Von Furstenberg has a long history as a feminist supporting women’s rights, feminist activism and women’s-focus philanthropy + small business development. In honor of women’s history month, the creator of the wrap-dress is bringing her feminist credentials to her D.V.F. flagship store in lower Manhattan, in a major art collab with Ashley Longshore.

Unveiled in time for International Women’s Day on Friday March 8th, DVF and Longshore, a 43-year-old Alabama native who is currently based in New Orleans, have created 37 large-scale portraits, intended to celebrate extraordinary women. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Michelle Obama, and Gloria Steinem.  The entire show will reside in Von Furstenberg’s Washington Street store through May.

In 2018 Longshore was the first female artist to exhibit at Bergdorf Goodman. Known for vibrant, embellished paintings that reference pop culture, writes Vanity Fair.

“To me, color is just so comforting, it makes me feel alive,” she said of her creative process in a recent interview. “I love that playfulness, I’m drawn to that like a moth to a flame.” 

When Von Furstenberg explained her concept for the new installation, Longshore said, “She was talking to me about my work and telling me [her] idea about powerful women, fearless women, and I said, ‘Look Diane, I am so in on this. I’ll work myself to death for you for this.’” According to Longshore, von Furstenberg’s did request that the portraits be created without the artist’s signature bedazzle, glitter, and resin. In this situation, DVF felt that these memorable women subjects of great influence and inspiration should stand alone.

Heji Shin's Kanye West's Kunsthalle Zurich Gallery Show: "I Knew People Would Hate This Exhibition"

Heji Shin's Kanye West's Kunsthalle Zurich Gallery Show: "I Knew People Would Hate This Exhibition"

Artist Heji Shin is no stranger to controversy, writes Tom Waite for Dazed.

Shin is currently showing some of her newest works at the Kunsthalle Zurich gallery, with an exhibition featuring nine larger-than-life injet portraits of Kanye West. The two separate prints are pasted together and printed directly onto the gallery’s walls.

Why do people hate the exhibition, according to Shin? “This desire to have art to meet their moral and political standards has always existed. Today, more than ever, art is considered as the ultimate validation.”

The artist’s Kanye portraits express a rebellion to political correctness sweeping the art world.

After meeting Kanye in Chicago, she joined him in rural Uganda, with a generally detached attitude about the rapper’s comments about slavery, his idolizing of Donald Trump or his often incoherent tweets. The actual images were shot in 10 minutes in LA.

Shin’s disinterest in Kanye’s political attitudes changed quickly when I saw people getting really mad. I was interested in how the media portrayed him all of the sudden, “when he expressed his opinion.”

Rising Photographer + Global Humanist Bibi Cornejo Borthwick Doesn't Buy Into 'Flawless'

Rising Photographer + Global Humanist Bibi Cornejo Borthwick Doesn't Buy Into 'Flawless'

Two words pop up in most narratives around the photography of Bibi Cornejo Borthwick: ‘intimate’ and ‘revealing’. Borthwick doesn’t shoot digital, preferring film. Her visual lens is not one of perfection. A quick survey of the Brooklyn-based daughter of fashion designer Maria Cornejo and photographer Mark Borthwick creates a defining image, one that resonates deeply with AOC.

Borthwick’s fashion photography career has moved into high gear in recent months. In the last six months, she’s shot three major editorials for Vogue US — including ‘Personal Best’ for the February 2019 issue, Victoria Beckham for Vogue Australia’s November issue and ‘Coolest Stales’ for WSJ Magazine’s December/January issue.

The activist appeared on the new Dazed 100 list. What got our attention is the Dazed reference to her Bellies project, cofounded with NBA player Wilson Chandler, the unisex sneakers for kids help America’s kids. For every pair of shoes sold, Bellies “feeds a belly”, working to nourish inner city areas while educating communities on the importance of nutrition in a bid to eliminate child hunger in America.

Kaywin Feldman Becomes Director Of National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

Kaywin Feldman Becomes Director Of National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, has named Kaywin Feldman as its new director, replacing Earl “Rusty” Powell III, who has led the National Gallery since 1992 Feldman will be the fifth director—and the first ever female director—at the 77-year-old American institution with annual visitors of more than 5.2 million visitors . Feldman, who has been director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) since 2008, will take up the new position in March 2019.

artnet News writes: “Under her leadership, attendance at Mia has nearly doubled, from around 450,000 in 2009 to more than 700,000 in 2018 to date. She has also expanded the museum’s digital presence—something the NGA has been conspicuously slow to invest in—and championed equity and social justice in the museum’s program. Earlier this year, the museum announced the launch of its Center for Empathy and the Visual Arts, a think tank dedicated to exploring how museums can build a more just society.

She is also not afraid of experimentation. Last year, for example, the Mia unveiled an unorthodox overhaul of six of its 17 period rooms designed to highlight the power structures behind them. (The fact that one of the room’s previous inhabitants was a slave owner was made explicit, as were his ties to the local Native American community.)

As Feldman moves to lead a DC organization mired in partisan politics, her principled, diplomacy skills will be tested fully by Congress and line staff.

Max Mara Creative Director Ian Griffiths Talks Judy Chicago + Bad-Ass Successful Women

Eye: Max Mara Creative Director Ian Griffiths Talks Judy Chicago + Bad-Ass Successful Women

“I’ve been described as the most influential designer you’ve never heard of,” Ian Griffiths , Creative Director of Max Mara for 31 years told Harper’s Bazaar Australia in an interview published online December 9. Griffiths’ anonymity was about to be blown, when US House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — soon to be Madame Speaker again — wore her 2013 brick red Max Mara coat to a December 11 budget-funding showdown at the White House.

Hours later, Pelosi and her ‘Fire Coat’ were total bad-ass legend as big names clamored to know where to buy her coat. Griffiths stepped out of the shadows to talk his vision for confident, powerful women to Pelosi’s posse. His comments in the Harper’s interview echo the sentiments he expressed in announcing that Pelosi’s coat was headed back to stores in the next collection.

On December 4, Griffiths further defined the Max Mara woman as “successful. She’s made it on her own terms and she wants to be taken seriously.” Those words certainly describe Nancy Pelosi. The designer talked with Town & Country about Max Mara’s collab with Judy Chicago, and their release of a tee shirt to promote the artist’s major retrospective at the ICA Miami.

“As a long standing feminist artist who has found a powerful voice, Judy is the ideal partner for Max Mara—the collaboration is a reminder that classic does not mean conservative.”

One of her seminal pieces, ‘Bigamy Hood’, a painted car hood, served as inspiration for the t-shirt collab with Max Mara. Chicago described the collaboration as “an exciting challenge that required a considerable amount of time, creativity, and drawings.” The resulting design is what Griffiths calls “iconic Judy Chicago” but in a “classic Max Mara palette,” meaning a wearable, but still playfully radical t-shirt. “It underlines the brand’s commitment to the empowerment of women,” Griffiths says.

‘Bigamy Hood’ by Judy Chicago

Architect Sir David Adjaye Curates Artist Lina Iris Viktor For Wondereur.com

Sir David Adjaye curates artist Lina Iris Viktor

Spectacular paintings by artist Lina Iris Viktor are on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art until Jan. 6, 2019. Introduced to her work via Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, further investigation about Viktor brought me to Wondereur.com, an outstanding website curating artists by other credentialed creatives.

New York based Viktor is profiled by Sir David Adjaye, a leading figure in the architecture world, and lead designer of the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. In 2017, TIME magazine named Adjaye as the world’s most influential architect. He was also knighted by the British government in 2017, an opportunity for Adjaye to reiterate the responsibility and potential of architects “to effect positive social change.”

Thelma Golden, the director and chief curator of the Adjaye-designed Studio Museum in Harlem wrote in TIME: “His work – deeply rooted in both the present moment and the complex context of history – has envisioned new ways for culture to be represented and reflected in the built environment. Nowhere is this more evident than in his recent triumph on the National Mall.

"How can a design acknowledge, and embody, the weight of this monumental history and yet transcend it right before your eyes? How can a building be true to the earthbound burdens of centuries of oppression and struggle, while at the same time displaying the faith, joy and triumphs of African-­American life, so that the structure soars into the light?

“In his epoch-making design, David made us aware of those questions and brilliantly solved them, with a singular gesture.”

In his curator’s statement for Wondereur.com about Lina Iris Viktor, Sir David Adjaye describes her work:

“Lina’s work is as evocative as it is strikingly beautiful. Her explorations with gold possess incredible intelligence, drawing out at once powerful connections to global indigenous heritages, opulent futuristic visions of black beauty, and vast philosophical notions of cosmology, geometry, and atomic matter. Her work crosses confidently across a landscape of science, technology, culture and identity with a timeless elegance and a casual defiance that is definitively modern.”

At New Orleans Museum of Art, Lina Iris Viktor Explores Blackness As A Source Of Energy and Creation

ELEVENTH. 2018. LINA IRIS VIKTOR. PURE 24-KARAT GOLD, ACRYLIC, GOUACHE, PRINT ON CANVAS. 65 X 50 IN. COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST, COURTESY THE ARTIST AND MARIANE IBRAHIM GALLERY, SEATTLE