Photos By Gail
African American designer Ann Lowe (1898 – 1981) learned to sew from her dressmaker mother, Janie Cole, and her grandmother, Georgia Thompkins. One of her earliest pleasures was crafting fabric flowers, a skill that became one of the defining characteristics of her beautifully constructed occasion gowns for debutante and brides. This Evening Dress designed by Lowe for A. F Chantilly (1968) presents a terrific example of this skill.
Photo By Gail
Christopher John Rogers (b. 1994) created his eponymous Brooklyn-based brand in 2016, designing elegant pieces for the effortlessly chic individual. The designer draws inspiration from a variety of sources, from the vintage atmosphere of built spaces of the mid-to-late 20th century to modern artists, including John Chamberlain and David Hammons.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Christopher John Rogers, Look 39 Knit Dress
All Photos By Gail
Twice annually — in the spring and then again in late summer — New York’s Public Art Fund installs a new site-specific artwork in Central Park’s Doris C. Freedman Plaza, and it’s always fun and exciting to see that the next sculpture will be. However, with the recently- installed Parabolic Light, a translucent magenta obelisk by artist Fred Eversley, New Yorkers will get to enjoy its reflective glow for an entire year!
Continue reading Eye On Design: Parabolic Light By Fred Eversley in Central Park
All Photos By Gail
The role that adornment plays in identity formation is central to Tiff Massey’s multimedia artistic practice. I Remember Way Back When was included in her 2019 exhibition, Proud Lady, which explored black women’s lives through artworks centered on hair. Continue reading Pink Thing Of The Day: I Remember Way Back When By Tiff Massey
All Photos By Gail
Like many feminist-aligned artists in the 1970s, Faith Ringgold embraced collaboration as a politically significant part of her practice. Ringgold’s primary collaborator was her own mother, the fashion designer and dress maker Willi Posey. Mrs. Jones and Family (1973, also known as Mrs. Jones, Andrew, Barbara, and Faith) was created with Posey, who designed and sewed garments for many of Ringgold‘s mask sculptures throughout the 1970s. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Mrs. Jones and Family By Faith Ringgold