joseph scissorhands: January 2024

I recently published a post on Dior and how designers there have made the butterfly motif central to their SS Cruise 2024 collection (here). Winged insects appear to be a theme for certain fashion houses this year. How interesting to see that a decade after originally exploring the dragonfly motif in their collections (here), the team at Alexander McQueen have returned to the insect for further inspiration in their Men's SS 24 Pre Collection with a series of stunning dragonfly prints and needle and crystal embroidery. The crystal dragonfly flying across the surface of the jacket (second picture below) is amazing, softening the sharp, masculine tailoring for which the McQueen brand has become renowned to create a highly covetable outfit. The bold, graphic prints of single and multiple enlarged dragonflies also work really well as surface pattern treatments complementing the existing designs from 2013. Reflecting the trend for this insect fashion house Loewe have also produced a range of leather dragonfly products such as keyrings and pin charms to complement their current menswear collection too.

Andy Warhol - Joseph Beuys, 1980-1983

"For those who witnessed them approaching each other across the polished granite floor, the moment had all the ceremonial aura of two rival popes meeting in Avignon." - David Galloway, 1988

Another very strong exhibition at Thaddaeus Ropac this, documenting the meeting of two twentieth century titans of the American and European art worlds in 1979. Both artists were polar opposites in terms of their artistic philosophies and the aesthetic outcomes of their oeuvres, but each recognised the important self-mythology of the other and the respect each commanded within the art world. This is the first time that the portraits have been presented as a solo exhibition since they were initially exhibited in the 1980s. They contain all of Warhol's trademarks - repetition in the imagery, striking colours and the flatness of the screen-print technique, a celebrated subject, and his later use of diamond dust to give a magical sparkle to the celebrity. They present a powerful ensemble when displayed together as a group. I found the individual canvases of Beuys to be the most powerful here as he appeared to have such a haunting piercing gaze. The other exhibition Drawn into the Present: Portraits on Paper running concurrently with the Warhol portraits is a very strong exhibition in itself and features a lovely little imaginary sketch of Warhol on the telephone by Elizabeth Peyton which I couldn't help including (last image below). you may also like to read about Andy Warhol's textiles created earlier in his career (here).