Antonio Lopez Celebrates Fashion, Warhol, & 80's Pop Culture
How much more appropriate to start my first blog post than with the man who inspired my career…The first time I saw Antonio Lopez’ illustrations was while indifferently browsing through an old Vogue magazine on a hot summer day in 1982. I had always had an interest in fashion and knew I wanted to “be” a professional artist, but was scrambling with which direction to go. It was this Puerto-Rican born, New York-based genius, colors literally jumping off the page…who inspired me to seriously consider becoming a fashion illustrator.
With his tastes admittedly leaning more toward Madonna/Michael Jackson, than the Goth and New Wave music I was probably listening to at the time, there was just something about these random celebrity portraits and flamboyant watercolour sketches that grabbed me. Long before digital illustration, his works, to me, represented raw talent, brilliant artistic vision, and a natural ability to turn mundane fashion drawings into “art.”
His personal life was as colorful as Andy Warhol’s, having lived in Paris during the 70s. He was the creative catalyst behind the careers of Jerry Hall, Jessica Lange, & Grace Jones. Also a gifted photographer and filmmaker, he whimsically captured the mood and pop culture of the 1980s in each of his creative endeavors.
After a 20-year career in the arts, Antonio succumbed to AIDS in 1987. He was only 44, but his life and art continues to inspire.
"In the world of illustration, his contribution is superior to the efforts of all other fashion artists of his era." —Karl Lagerfeld
In his own words… “Don’t waste a minute of your life dreaming of what you want to be; just be it.”
The Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia is running a retrospective of his work, “Antonio Lopez and the World of Fashion Art,” through May 5.
http://www.scadmoa.org/2013/exhibitions/antonio-lopez
0 comments: