Johnny Dufort for the Louis Vuitton ‘Celebrating Monogram’ Project

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Louis Vuitton Celebrating the Monogram

An incredible list of designers celebrate the Louis Vuitton monogram with a special one off collection. Christian Louboutin, Cindy Sherman, Frank Gehry, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Newson and Rei Kawakubo “radically, personally and playfully” reimagine the iconic intertwined LV in unique form. In the spirit of the 1996 centenary collection which featured the work of  Helmut Lang and Vivienne Westwood among others, punchbags, contemporary backpacks, travel trunks and more will be available to purchase. Here, Saskia de Brauw, Julia Nobis, Liya Kebede and Freja Beha Erichsen get up close with the goods

“Neü Sex” by Sasha Grey - Book

Sasha Grey, rising adult film and pop-culture star, takes control in her new monograph Neü Sex, moving out from in front of the camera to behind it, turning the lens on the wild world she inhabits. “When I first got into the adult industry, I decided to take my photography much more seriously. I started taking a camera with me to capture my experiences on set, so it was a moment in time, a memory for myself—not the video that would be seen by thousands of people. On days where I was physically unable to capture an image, Ian, my fiancé, became my third arm. He understands my aesthetic, or lack thereof. Ian is a photographer, yet the work in this book is quite different from his usual style. When you are so close with someone, there is a shorthand and true understanding of what the other person is trying to accomplish. If there’s something I am physically unable to photograph, I can say one word and Ian can assist me with my vision. Ian can capture intimate moments with me that nobody can fabricate, because of our relationship. The strong sense of familiarity eliminates all boundaries between the subject and the photographer. “Documenting myself has almost become a necessity.  “There are so many photos of me, taken by other people, that aesthetically I have no control over. Documenting myself allows me to reflect on the day, on the feelings I am having at that second. When you work in the entertainment industry, there are always surprises; there certainly isn’t one day that is similar to the last. Personally, it’s important to embrace this and appreciate it every day. “Still images vividly capture emotion, a second in time that can be left open for interpretation by the viewer and the creator. I am inspired by the work of Cindy Sherman and Nan Goldin. Sherman’s work continues to inspire me to develop certain characters. I figured if I am on set I might as well take advantage of my surroundings, and document my life in an exciting, untraditional manner. I look back at photos, and see how much I’ve grown, how my opinions have changed, and how they will continue to change.” 

Available now from Amazon.

CINDY SHERMAN’S UNTITLED FILMS AND STILLS AT THE MOMA

Cindy Sherman is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential artists in contemporary art. Throughout her career, she has presented a sustained, eloquent, and provocative exploration of the construction of contemporary identity and the nature of representation, drawn from the unlimited supply of images from movies, TV, magazines, the Internet, and art history. Working as her own model for more than 30 years, Sherman has captured herself in a range of guises and personas which are at turns amusing and disturbing, distasteful and affecting. To create her photographs, she assumes multiple roles of photographer, model, makeup artist, hairdresser, stylist, and wardrobe mistress. With an arsenal of wigs, costumes, makeup, prosthetics, and props, Sherman has deftly altered her physique and surroundings to create a myriad of intriguing tableaus and characters, from screen siren to clown to aging socialite.

Bringing together more than 180 photographs, this retrospective survey traces the artist’s career from the mid-1970s to the present. Highlighted in the exhibition are in-depth presentations of her key series, including the groundbreaking Untitled Film Stills (1977–80), the black-and-white pictures that feature the artist in stereotypical female roles inspired by 1950s and 1960s Hollywood, film noir, and European art-house films; her ornate history portraits (1989–90), in which the artist poses as aristocrats, clergymen, and milkmaids in the manner of old master paintings; and her larger-than-life society portraits (2008) that address the experience and representation of aging in the context of contemporary obsessions with youth and status. The exhibition will explore dominant themes throughout Sherman’s career, including artifice and fiction; cinema and performance; horror and the grotesque; myth, carnival, and fairy tale; and gender and class identity. Also included are Sherman’s recent photographic murals (2010), which will have their American premiere at MoMA.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Sherman has selected films from MoMA’s collection, which will be screened in MoMA’s theaters during the course of the exhibition. A major publication will accompany the exhibition. The exhibition is organized by Eva Respini, Associate Curator, with Lucy Gallun, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Photography, The Museum of Modern Art.