Inspiration::Boudoir, photography, Javier Vallhonrat, model, Guinevere van Seenus, source, Vogue UK

Inspiration::Boudoir, photography, Javier Vallhonrat, model, Guinevere van Seenus, source, Vogue UK: "






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A wall of Ryan McGinley’s picture at Everybody Knows This...

A wall of Ryan McGinley’s picture at Everybody Knows This...: "

A wall of Ryan McGinley’s picture at Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Team Gallery, New York. Photo Juliana Balestin

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BOYS, by Sølve Sundsbø

BOYS, by Sølve Sundsbø: "

Proenza Schouler clothing has never fallen into the category of androgynous, unisex, or boyish. It rather exudes an essence of calculated femininity, with proportions that hint at the female form in both suggestive and more blatantly sexy ways. Whether it is the gentle fall of a wide leg pant off the hips or the perforation in a fluid leather tee shirt, the body is always present and the clothes a direct reaction to its lines.

So how does one alienate this hallmark femininity and de-contextualise Proenza Schouler’s clothing? Why of course, put it on some boys!

This is exactly what LOVE magazine’s Katie Grand did for A#9, serving up the Spring Summer 2007 collection on three London-based male models. Selecting the tightest bandage skirts and dresses, drainpipe trousers and even a leotard, Katie styled the boys in this simple setting that almost requires a ‘double-take’ to realise the main conceit – serious boys posing in serious girls clothes.

The second touch of irony comes from Katie’s choice of models, particularly London’s man-about-town, cross-dressing DJ Jodie Harsh, replete with blonde wig and smoky eye make-up by Miranda Joyce. The other three boys carry a rather more masculine gravitas though each have their own twist, whether it is Luke Worrall’s blonde pixie hair and black lipstick, Josh Bitelli’s single earring, or artist Danny Fox’s butterfly chest tattoo.

Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø shot this black and white piece with a clean grey and white backdrop, utilising shadow and light to play on the folds of the garments on the male bodies, highlighting both the ways in which the clothes ‘work’, and they way in which they really don’t. Posing the boys in traditional female positions, Sølve further pushes the awkwardness that resounds through the styling, challenging the viewers perception of beauty.

Taking fashion into unexpected places through subversive concepts is one of the most important ways to fully understand its potential as an artistic medium. This shoot proves how gender and traditional notions of dress can be pushed to the limit for unsettling and humorous results.

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David Sherry on Nancy Holt’s ‘Sun Tunnels’

David Sherry on Nancy Holt’s ‘Sun Tunnels’: "

“It is a very desolate area, but it is totally accessible, and it can be easily visited, making Sun Tunnels more accessible really than art in museums . . . A work like Sun Tunnels is always accessible . . . Eventually, as many people will see Sun Tunnels as would see many works in a city-in a museum anyway.” – Nancy Holt, 1988.

In 2009, photographer David Benjamin Sherry visited the site of Nancy Holt’s ‘Sun Tunnels’, an X-shaped cluster of four concrete tunnels in the Utah desert. Each of the tunnels are dotted with holes in the formation of various star constellations, and are positioned to offer different views of the passage of the sun across the sky.

During his visit to the installation, David created the photographic series of collaged C-prints called ’Eye sore sun tunneling with throbbing penumbras’, published in A#9 with his recount of the voyage. The images are ethereal, stark representations of the arid landscape as seen through the mystical tunnels, featuring Hungarian artist Reka Reisinger as his nude subject.

Read his account here:

“Reka and I searched for hours and what seemed light years to find Nancy Holt’s ‘Sun Tunnels’. The desert diamonds of Utah mirrored in our imagination and all sense of direction was lost. We looked east and found west, we drove south but ended north, disoriented. Racing against the sun and with dust bowls encircling around our hovering vehicle, we mysteriously landed in from of Sun Tunnels in the Great Basin Desert on the eve of the Spring Equinox and ran wildly out of our vehicle. Light was beaming through the massive cement structures and us. There was not a soul in sight for hundreds of miles; we laughed hysterically and howled at the setting sun. Alone in the vast desert, extreme solitude and a new form of silence took over. All intentions were lost and we began to see Sun Tunnels as an experience rather than a piece of standing art. They took on a bigger meaning; an escape from society, a meditational retreat for the soul, lungs of the earth, silence, purity and a color cleanse. We observed the sun travel on a warm evening in the American West and were left dazzled, alone in the dark, with our imaginations recharged and running sublime.” – David Sherry.

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Bitter Moon, Camille Vivier & Marie Chaix

Bitter Moon, Camille Vivier & Marie Chaix: "

For A#9, Jack and Lazaro offered their past collections to several of their closest collaborating photographers and stylists to interpret in their own vision of the Proenza Schouler aesthetic. This project resulted in several beautiful stories that each explore a different facet of their work, and this one from Hyères prize-winning photographer Camille Vivier and stylist Marie Chaix is the most sensual and feminine of them all.

Dutch model Sofie Nielander is transformed into a pin-up goddess wearing the Spring Summer 2009 collection, posing in a dark studio – with the full effect of colour-blocked, metallic and sequined garments giving bold impact against the backdrop. Camille shot with a blurry soft focus, giving a dreamy air to the seductive poses and transforming Sofie’s lush curls into an auburn halo around her head. Hairdresser Seb Bascle pulled her frizzy locks into a high quiff and finished it with a rose, as well as parting it on the side for effortless chic. Makeup artist Lili Choi accented the boudoir vibes with a heavy blue eyelid, sweeping cheekbone rouge and a glossy red lip.

Marie wove together an alluring selection of pieces that ranged from seductive lingerie to floor length gowns, injecting fetish elements with a rockabilly vibe – from the cut-out briefs to a ‘doorknocker’ bra, zipped strap tops and pencil skirts. Shoes from the CFDA-winning collection feature also, with their industrially-inspired ’screwdriver’ heels glimmering dangerously in the muted lights. Transporting the collection into the roaring twenties via the heady hey days of the eighties, this story wows with drop-dead glamour.

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