Posts from the “Dazed” Category

Andrew Kung: The All-American

Posted on September 3, 2019

Austin © Andrew Kung, styling by Carolyn Son

Lim © Andrew Kung, styling by Carolyn Son

The “American Dream” is a myth packaged, peddled, and sold to those who prefer appearance to truth. Scratch the surface of the fantasy, and the horrors of systemic oppression emerge. No one is truly safe from the nightmare, despite how much they may choose to assimilate into a culture that is not their own. In the words of African-American writer and activist Audre Lorde: “Your silence will not protect you.”

First-generation Chinese-American photographer Andrew Kung is speaking out with The All-American, a limited edition book that features portraits, made in NYC and LA in 2018 and 2019, of his friends, like Alexander Hodge from HBO’s Insecure, wearing clothing made exclusively Asian fashion brands like sundae school, Prabal Gurung, PRIVATE POLICY.

“When you think about an ‘All-American,’ you think about a prototypical white man who is an attractive, built, outspoken, confident man who plays sports and is admired by all women – the model American citizen representing what ‘success’ looks like,” Kung tells Dazed.

“Asian-American men, on the other hand, have always been classified as ‘other’ – desexualised, emasculated, perceived as passive or weak, and most of all, invisible. No matter how hard we try to fit in, we are never ‘American’ enough — reinforced with questions and statements from everyday people like ‘Where are you really from?’ ‘Your English is actually really good,’ and, “You’re really good looking for an Asian guy.’”

Kung has had enough. Inspired by photographers like Larry Sultan, Kung began to create narrative images exploring universal themes of the human condition. He added a fashion component to the project as a reminder of how rare it is to see Asian-American men modelling ideals of beauty and style in our image-driven world. Here, Kung reflects on the importance of controlling the narrative to create images the offer a new space for exploration of Asian-American identity today.

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Kris © Andrew Kung, styling by Carolyn Son

Categories: Art, Books, Dazed, Fashion, Photography

Shikeith: Rude / Emergencies

Posted on September 3, 2019

Shikeith, Rude/Emergencies Image courtesy of Shikeith and ltd Los Angeles

Like Gordon Parks before him, African-American artist Shikeith has chosen the camera as his weapon of choice, taking aim at the historic depictions that have altered minds and souls for generations through a campaign that has simultaneously denied, exploited, criminalised, fetishised, and appropriated black manhood and desire.

Hailing from North Philadelphia, Shikeith understands the remedy lies in the power of imagination to queer the image of black masculinity, reclaiming ownership of the narrative and its representation while making it illegible so that it cannot be easily read and consumed by the insatiable appetite of western hegemony. Using photography, video, and sculpture, Shikeith is creating a new visual lexicon that at once reveals as much as it hides, provoking a profound emotional response that is almost ineffable while it sits right on the tip of the tongue.

In the new exhibition Rude / Emergencies, opening 14 September at ltdlosangeles, Shikeith takes us to the very edge by transgressing boundaries in search of a deeper truth that lies beyond the false images imposed on black boys from the very day they are born. His is a desire that transcends the body in which it lives, yet fully embodies the vessel as a portal between realms. Here, Shikeith shares his journey, embracing his own tongue to reconcile being a black man in America to move forward in the world.

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Shikeith, Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops. Image courtesy of Shikeith and ltd Los Angeles

Categories: Art, Dazed, Exhibitions, Photography

Cowgirls of Color: Hard Ride

Posted on August 19, 2019

From left: Peyton wears shirt and denim dungarees Wrangler, shoes her own. Dawn wears plastic fringed vest, printed shirt and jeans LRS, hat, scarf and earrings her own, boots Vic Matie Photography Fumi Nagasaka, Styling Roxane Danset

Long before culture fell (back) in love with the yeehaw agenda, Cowgirls of Color had been living it. The group met on the black cowboy scene, where they had watched men ride together for years, when in 2014, one of the cowboys’ fathers decided to start an all female team. Just five month later, they landed an invitation to the historic Bill Pickett Rodeo, the prestigious all-black, invitational touring event. Now they ride together while also training the next gen of rodeo stars.

Beyond blazing a trail for black cowgirl representation and sporting achievement, Cowgirls of Colour is space for community, support and good old fashioned fun. “We would train cookout, line-dance, sit-around, and have a good time,” says fouding member, Selina ‘Pennie’ Brown. “When I started riding, I saw all the therapeutic benefits of horse culture, (introducing) them to kids who are dealing with trauma. I’m not looking to be a rodeo champion; I am looking to create them.”

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From left: Dawn wears fringed jacket and shirt Coach 1941, trousers Hyke, hat and jewellery her own, boots Vic Matie. Selina wears shearling coat Dsquared2, denim shirt and trousers Off-White, hat and boots her own. Crystal wears puffer jacket with fringing and dungarees Moncler 3 Grenoble, plaid shirt Off-White, t-shirt John Richmond, hat and boots her own. Brittaney wears knitted cape Miu Miu, denim blazer LRS, denim shirt Levi’s, jeans Wrangler, hat and belt her own, boots Vic Matie. Kisha wears nylon gabardine jacket with mohair Prada, shirt Coach 1941, trousers PT Pantaloni Torino, hat, earrings and boots her ownPhotography Fumi Nagasaka, Styling Roxane Danset

Categories: Dazed

The Historic “Battle of the Legends” at The Met

Posted on June 21, 2019

Malik Mugler, photography Benjamin Lozozsky

Fifth Avenue was set aflame as hundreds gathered at the footsteps of The Met to watch six icons of the ballroom scene in a vogue battle for the history books. Dubbed “Battle of the Legends: Vogueing at the Met,” this first-of-its-kind showcase was held to celebrate Pride and Costume Institute exhibit, Camp: Notes on Fashion — just hours before the season premier of season 2 of Pose.

“When we got to a ball, we will hug you but when its time to battle, it’s time to battle!” announced Jack Mizrahi, co-founder of House of Mizrahi, who emceed the evening’s festivities decked out in a custom-made mauve Dapper Dan ensemble complete with knee-high Gucci socks.

The competition was judged by no less than Vogue’s editor in chief, Anna Wintour, who donned a Versace “Vogue” print top and long red flowing skirt. Wintour was joined at the judges’ table by ballroom icons José Gutierrez-Xtravaganza, Father of the House of Xtravaganza; Sinia Alaia, overall mother of House of Alaïa; and the Legendary Mother Lola Mizrahi as well as queer icons Twiggy Pucci Garçon, executive producer of Kiki; Our Lady J, executive producer and writer for Pose; and Jordan Roth, president of Jujamcyn Theaters.

The competition for the title of “Legend Slayer” was fierce. Ballroom favourites Bootz Prodigy, Omari Mizrahi, Ty Ebony, Malik Miyake Mugler (replacing the originally announced Dashaun Lanvin), Asia Balenciaga and Tamiyah Miyake-Mugler took the stage in a series of three semi-final rounds before Malik Miyake Mugler and Asia Balenciaga faced off in the finals.

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Tamiyah Mugler, photography Benjamin Lozozsky

Jack Mizrahi, photography Benjamin Lozozsky

Categories: Art, Dazed, Manhattan

Marc Jacobs Introduces THE Marc Jacobs

Posted on May 30, 2019

All clothes, shoes, and accessories THE Marc Jacobs Photography Cruz Valdez, styling Emma Wyman

Marc Jacobs is sitting in the showroom of his Spring Street offices in New York, vaping, and thinking about something which, for almost four decades, has been a hallmark of his work. “I like something old, something new, something borrowed,” Jacobs says with his natural effervescence. “A mix: high and low – when people with style don’t dress head-to-toe off a runway, they incorporate pieces that work for them into their own language and tell their own story with their clothes.”

It’s a sensibility that has inspired and guided the designer throughout his career, perhaps most notably in the controversial (and recently reissued) SS93 grunge collection for Perry Ellis that put him on the map – and got him fired. Inspired by what he saw on the street, the designer took a $2 thrifted shirt and had it remade in $300-a-yard silk, before hitting up Converse to make Duchesse satin sneakers. “I grew up in a time when young people wore bits of army surplus like thermals and t-shirts, went to vintage stores and had one or two pieces of designer clothing if they could afford them by saving money,” he surmises of his approach.

Reminder: this was decades before must-have $900 trainers, back when the idea of high-end casual was still a novelty – a notion Jacobs took to new levels when he introduced Marc by Marc Jacobs for SS01. At the time, he was setting trends both at his own label and Louis Vuitton – where he went on to introduce ready-to-wear in 1997 – and getting promptly ripped off in the process. With a debut collection featuring girlish rainbow glitter belts and plastic cherry hair ties alongside military-esque button downs, smartly tailored blazers, and denim mini skirts, the new, lower-priced MBMJ elevated the ordinary, putting youthful fun and irreverence firmly on the NYFW runway.

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All clothes, shoes, and accessories THE Marc Jacobs Photography Cruz Valdez, styling Emma Wyman

Categories: Dazed, Fashion

The Portrait is Political

Posted on May 9, 2019

texas isaiah, “Capricorn Moon Saturn” (2016)Photography texas isaiah. Courtesy of BRIC

Portraiture is a political act. Who gets to be represented and revered, passed through the channels of history and power long after they have left the Earth? Who gets to have wall panels written in their name, their lives detailed while their likeness becomes a commodity available for purchase, view, and mass reproduction?

With the advent of photography, the portrait became democratised, creating space for those who were marginalised, misrepresented, or erased – though it is only in recent years that the art world proper has begun to make space.

“There is a mirror that is being held up to the art world in so many different ways; it seems like we are poised on the brink of some really big change,” says Jaishri Abichandani, one of the artists featured in The Portrait is Political at BRIC OPEN, Brooklyn.

The Portrait is Political brings together the work of artists pushing the portrait into new realms, using a collaborative approach to generate the social capital and social justice for the LGBTQ artists, subjects, and communities of Brooklyn.

Organised into three parts, the show includes Jasmine Blooms At Night, Abichandani’s jewel-like paintings of South Asian American feminists; Dear Los Angeles, Love, Brooklyn, a series of photographic portraits of black individuals by texas isaiah; and The Other Is You: Brooklyn Queer Portraiture, curated by Liz Collins, with Anna Parisi, and Sol Nova, a group show that exclusively features LGBTQ artists and subjects.

“One thing portraits have been doing for centuries is celebrating people and who they are, showing a person in their chosen environment as they feel best, most true, and their clearest self,” Collins says – a testament to the genre’s power to elevate and transform the way we look at the world. Here, Jaishri Abichandani, texas isaiah, and Liz Collins share their insights into how to use portraiture to create a political impact.

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Jaishri Abichandani, “Urooj Arshad” (2018)Artwork Jaishri Abichandani. Courtesy of BRIC

Naima Green, “Untitled (Riis)” (2017). Archival inkjet printPhotography Naima Green. Courtesy of BRIC

Categories: Art, Dazed, Exhibitions, Painting, Photography

Dawoud Bey X David Hammons

Posted on May 8, 2019

David Hammons in his Harlem Studio, 1984. Gelatin silver photograph (24”x20”) Photography Dawoud Bey / courtesy of Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago and Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco

The New York art world has long operated on heavily stratified lines, placing white men at the centre of commercial representation and institutional investment. For the better part of the 20th century, it marginalised or erased the work of anyone else, forcing artists outside those narrow demographic to fend for themselves – or infiltrate from within.

Linda Goode Bryant decided to do just that when she opened Just Above Midtown (JAM) in the sweet centre of the city’s gallery district in 1974. Located at 50 West 57 Street, JAM was unlike anything that had come before – or since.

JAM was dedicated to black artists exclusively when no one else was. Goode Bryant elevated black arts at the pinnacle of power and prestige by presenting the most innovative and unconventional conceptual work of the time. By showcasing the work of artists such as Dawoud Bey, David Hammons, Lorraine O’Grady, Howardena Pindell, Adrian Piper, Lorna Simpson, and Ming Smith, Goode Bryant created a space where a new generation of black artists could connect, commune, and collaborate.

JAM exhibitions sharpened the cutting edge, pushing possibilities of art. For Greasy Bags and Barbecue Bones, his first solo show in 1975, David Hammons glued black hair to fat-drenched brown paper bags from a fried chicken spot, embracing the materials of black culture while simultaneously subverting the soulless commodification of art.

It was everything for which JAM stood for. Liberated from the restraints of content and form, black artists could soar into the stratosphere, creating work that now, 45 years later, is being recognised in a special tribute Linda Goode Bryant’s JAM Gallery at Frieze New York, curated by Franklin Sirmans, director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

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David Hammons, Bliz-aard Ball Sale I, 1983. Archival pigment photograph (44”x33”) Photography Dawoud Bey / courtesy of Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago and Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco

Categories: 1970s, 1980s, Art, Dazed, Exhibitions, Manhattan

Phil Knott: Didn’t Know You Cared

Posted on May 8, 2019

In the early 2000s, British photographer Phil Knott photographed Amy Winehouse at the very outset of her career, before the world discovered the majestic talent swaddled in the addiction and pain that fuelled her art — and the tabloids’ bloodthirst. Dead at the age of 27, Winehouse had become a symbol of the fallen woman, denied redemption for bearing her wounds and scars openly, without shame.

Years after her death in 2011, Knott rediscovered the photographs he made of Winehouse and organised an exhibition of 27 prints for Didn’t Know You Cared to honour the life and legacy of a singular talent whose light was extinguished far too soon. Knott’s encounters with Winehouse predate her rise and fall, giving us a glimpse of a pure, innocent soul bound for a tragic destiny.

Knott, who has photographed everyone from Aaliyah to A$AP Rocky over the past 30 years, almost named the exhibition “Amy, I Love You” – a sentiment that is infused in every one of his photos. With the images now on display at New York City’s MixdUse Gallery until June 9, Knott shares his encounters with Winehouse and provides a portrait of the artist as a young woman on the cusp of fame.

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Categories: Art, Dazed, Exhibitions, Music, Photography

Camp: Notes on Fashion

Posted on May 7, 2019

Ensemble, Jeremy Scott (American, born 1975) for House of Moschino (Italian, founded 1983), spring/summer 2018; Courtesy of Moschino. Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019

Last night, in New York City, the likes of Billy Porter, Ezra Miller, and Janelle Monae brought it to the pink carpet, as the camp-themed 2019 Met Gala got underway.

On Thursday, the exhibition itself – Camp: Notes on Fashion – opens to the public at The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters in NYC. Bringing together four centuries of OTT fashion and art, the show uses Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on Camp to frame the ways designers have embraced camp’s tongue-in-cheek spirit in their métier.

If you have plans to be in the city before the end of September, Notes on Fashion is a must-see. And if you don’t, here are five reasons that needs to change.

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Camp: Notes on Fashion. Photo courtesy of The Met

Categories: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, Art, Dazed, Exhibitions, Fashion

Richard Corman: Basquiat – A Portrait

Posted on May 3, 2019

In June 1984, Jean-Michel Basquiat was flying high in his downtown studio at 57 Great Jones Street. He had just come off his first solo exhibition at Marry Boone and featured in the MoMA’s inaugural re-opening show, an international survey of the most important painters and sculptors of the moment.

Enter the then 30-year-old photographer Richard Corman, who had completed a two-year apprenticeship with Richard Avedon. On assignment for L’Uomo Vogue, Corman would spend an hour with Basquiat creating a series of incisive portraits of the artist as a young icon, just published in a new, limited edition book titled BASQUIAT: A PORTRAIT,

This was Corman’s first encounter with Basquiat, who started leasing the studio from Andy Warhol in 1983. “I hope it works out,” Warhol says in his diaries on August 26. “Jean Michel is trying to get on a regular painting schedule. If he doesn’t and he can‘t pay his rent it’ll be so hard to evict him. It’s always hard to get people out.”

Spoken like a true Factory owner.

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Categories: 1980s, Art, Books, Dazed, Manhattan, Photography

The Dazed100: Stephen Isaac-Wilson

Posted on April 30, 2019

Still from a music video for Klein ft Kahlia Bakosi: With U

London-based filmmaker and artist Stephen Isaac-Wilson creates exquisite, intimate works that centre marginalised communities on screen. “I have a desire to reimagine and devise alternative realities for black and queer people, and also to subvert what and who we consider ‘cool’ and ‘beautiful’,” he says. His work has been shown at the Barbican, Serpentine, and the Tate Britain, where his film Day Dream, an intimate portrayal of love, desire, and intimacy, was created in response to, and screened at, the Queer British Art 1861-1967 exhibition.

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Stephen Isaac-Wison

Categories: Art, Dazed