After running features on the childhood photos of both famous writers and rock stars over the past few weeks, it might seem like we’re a bit youth-obsessed at Flavorwire lately. But we promise that that’s not the case. We just think that there’s something fascinating about images of cultural icons snapped long before they’d become household names. It humanizes them a bit. And so, today we turn our focus on the art world — specifically, some of the most influential talents of the past 100 years. Click through to peep photos of everyone from a dashing young Andy Warhol (pictured here) to a breathtakingly adorable baby Yoko Ono.
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The work of photographer Roxanne Lowit depicts a vision of New York City that is now the stuff of legend. A fan-wielding Karl Lagerfeld (pictured with an almost baby-faced Anna Wintour) is nowhere near his current whittled down weight. Fixtures of the downtown scene like Andy Warhol, Basquiat, and Divine are all still alive and thriving. The original supermodels are not only in their prime; they’re all sitting at the same table, clowning around. Salvador Dalí kisses the hand of a woman young enough to be his granddaughter. If you’re in the mood for a little envy-inducing time travel, click through for a slideshow of our favorite shots.
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In honor of what would have been Basquiat’s 50th birthday this year, Vanity Fair has posted a slideshow of images from the collection of Kelle Inman, Basquiat’s last girlfriend. The pair met when she was working as waitress at Nell’s; two days later, they were living together. The photo above is a double Polaroid with a triple-profile portrait of the artist, taken in Basquiat’s studio in 1987. Check out more photos here, courtesy of Los Angeles’ LeadApron gallery.
South California rockers Cold War Kids are set to tour this winter in support of their recently released Behave Yourself EP, an up-tempo, psychedelic, raw, and sexy follow-up to their second album, Loyalty to Loyalty. Everyone knows their hooks are masterpieces, but not everyone knows that CWK bassist Matt Maust is an accomplished visual artist as well. Flavorpill’s Shana Nys Dambrot caught up with him on the eve of the Behave Yourself tour to talk, art, music, touring — and how these diverse areas of his life inform one another.
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Painter Matt Sesow just completed the 2009 installment of his yearly project that delivers a fresh news-inspired painting every day in July.
The self-taught, DC-based artist inaugurated the “31 Days in July” project in 2003. Its fast-paced format suits Sesow, whose expressionistic portraits and symbolically rich compositions employ a raw, almost tribal sensibility and rapid, muscular technique. Dense with detail and fraught with emotion, his works combine a brazenly subversive political wit with street-influenced style.
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Artist Kenny Scharf‘s work screams for fun; embracing the color and vivacity of everyday objects, especially confectionery foodstuffs, his pieces incorporate TV and consumer culture iconography to transporting effect. Rizzoli’s gorgeous, hefty new monograph chronicles the artist’s work from the late ’70s, when he was new to the Lower East Side, palling around with compatriots Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, through his astronomical climb in the ’80s, to the current resurgence in the popularity of his work.
Flavorpill’s Jane McCarthy recently gave Scharf a call to hear about his love for donuts, science fiction, and face paint and to get his take on the perennial New York/LA debate. Read More »
Back in 1977, New York was a city in twain, with equal amounts of kvelling (Downtowners: The drugs and poverty!) and kvetching (Uptowners: The drugs and poverty!). For those of us born after those heady and heterodox times, cultural historian Luc Sante describes the scene in his phenomenal essay, “My Lost City”:
“Aside from the high-intensity blocks of Midtown and the financial district, the place seemed to be inhabited principally by slouchers and loungers, loose-joints vendors and teenage hustlers, panhandlers and site-specific drunks, persons whose fleabags put them out on the street at eight and only permitted reentry at six.”
Alongside this less-than-desired demographic and the ashes from downtown’s rampant arson (“By 1980 Avenue C was a lunar landscape of vacant blocks and hollow tenement shells”) bloomed the No Wave cinema (and its famed, same-named sonic analog), a fiercely independent movement that was Beat-ific in a dual sense — its swashbuckling bliss and its Kerouacian belief that “everything belongs to me because I am poor.” Read More »
Next stop for Hadid — Project Runway: Haute-friendly firm ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS unveiled its design today for a flagship NEIL BARRETT store in Tokyo. The concept shifts between masculine and feminine contours, mixing architecture with sculpture, and drawing inspiration from Barrett’s own fashion. It will open next year, just in time to buy a pair of Hadid’s limited-edition shoes for Lacoste. [The Architects’ Journal]
Foster to help nerdy New York kids: British starchitect NORMAN FOSTER has been commissioned for a major renovation of the NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY. Chosen from more than 30 candidates, Foster will create a new circulation library and revamp the basement, making reading rooms for children and teenagers. The renovation is expected to cost $250 million and be completed by 2013. [Artinfo]
London says cheerio to Banksy mural: Last week, the Westminster City Council ruled that a 23-foot mural by the notorious street artist BANKSY must be removed. The mural, ONE NATION UNDER CCTV, portrays a graffiti artist painting the slogan onto a wall while being watched by a policeman with a camera — a criticism of security cameras that have become ubiquitous in London. If they’re smart, they’ll put it on eBay. [NYT]
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