Saturday, December 22, 2018

Gucci pre fall 2019


Here’s the deal... Raf got canned because the numbers dropped enough that he wasn’t worth the expense of having him combined with the stock dropping and dragging down the mothership so now we have the boy wonder of Gucci who could be next … take note… this bubble will burst sooner than later and the only throne he will be seated on is a toilet!
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge
The clothes are as usual absurd, sensorially overloaded and what’s worse is that maybe at the beginning it was shock and awe that morphed into some pseudo fashion statement but now it looks so forced and so intentionally unappealing that the fashion victims might revolt. Notice there is very little monogrammed Gucci canvas… almost every handbag is leather and when you break it down, yes there are things to wear but there is nothing new here except the irrational and purposefully ugliness and visual joke of it!
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge
There is no need to really review this as the images speak to all that has been said … it is another great season for thrift shops and of less than attractive models that are only heightened to look even more unattractive. The tide will turn and suddenly when Kering takes a financial hit there will be no more wonder boy who will be radioactive with his Johnny one note goulash of fashion. 
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge
This season is just a continuation of the same old same old since the day he took the reins... so what’s new, where’s the new, where’s the aspiration what is there for the victims to drool over? 
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge
So I say Alessandro … be very careful and Mr., Mr. Bizzarri... Take heed… the door of entry is also used as an exit. The days of mondo bizarro may be over sooner than you anticipated!

Friday, December 21, 2018

meet Ben Veronis ... the accidental photographer


For many of us of a certain age, we find ourselves at a crossroads which usually entails reinvention or adding one more rite of passage to our individual lists. The occurrence might not actually be due to age but in fact might be a choice rather than a necessity. Having myself been in both situations Ben Veronis is of particular interest to me as he not only chose to reinvent himself but he picked up roots and moved cross country and to begin his new “book”... not just a chapter!
click image to enlarge


For some reason, those of us who have been part of the fashion business in some way, shape or form never really leave it but instead we reimagine ourselves in a whole other capacity employing creative abilities or skillset that we may never have known we possessed. Ben found his hidden or latent talent was behind the camera and with his lifelong experience in men’s fashion; it became a logical decision to concentrate on men as his subject of choice after trying out other areas of interest.  I might add here that Palm Springs is certainly rife with male pulchritude of every age and in endless variety!
click image to enlarge
click image to enlarge


 What you will read is that we are all on own particular journey and some of us are constantly evolving and reimagining ourselves with great success. As you can “see” Ben is still on his life’s journey and from the sound of it, he couldn’t be happier and is mastering his new found ventures with great results. So no more of my words... now it’s time for his... Here is Ben Veronis in HIS words…
click image to enlarge
click image to enlarge


Jeffrey Felner: Can you catch us up as to how you arrived at your present position?
Ben Veronis: Becoming a photographer was one of those unintentional things that happened along the way. the fashion industry was my previous  lifelong calling  but I sold the company  before moving from New York to Palm Springs .when I arrived  in California, I had to reinvent myself since I no longer had that connection to the fashion industry. I had always dabbled in various forms of male oriented art, whether it was menswear, fashion illustration or painting, but I had never tried my hand at photography. I began with real estate photography which worked out quite well, and then gradually turned my lens toward the male figure, and eventually opened a photo art gallery in Palm Springs. Ironically it turned out to be the medium that I should have pursued all along. It is the only “place” where I feel the results come so close to matching my expectations and standards.
click image to enlarge
click image to enlarge

JF: If you could choose what or who would be your dream collaboration / collaborator and why? … Plus you juggle 2 careers... preference? And why?
BV: My dream collaboration would probably be to work with some of the male models that I admired so much in my early days of fashion. Of course, I would need a time machine to make that happen since neither they nor I would be quite the same as we were 30 years ago, but they are still an incredible influence on me years later; Walter Schupfer, Marcus Able, Jeff Aquilon, and Todd Irwin to name a few.   In my professional life I have always juggled various, often divergent skills. I think I just have very separate right and left brain functions that I need to indulge in these various skills in order to feel complete. I’ve always been quite good at anything aesthetically-oriented…and at the same time many things scientifically oriented. So I have just learned to live with being “creatively bi-polar” and always have my hands in different pots.

 
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge


JF: If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why? 

BV: My choice of 5 dinner guests would be something like: Julia Child, who of course would have prepared the dinner (even though I am a very good cook myself!). Diana Ross, who was a very early influence while growing up, and inspired the sense of “drama” that I try to bring to my photography. My partner, Chris Gilbert, who is always with me and has been for over 30 years. One of my very favorite models, Matt Dealy, who not only is beautiful in a male model sense, but is the most caring, creative and kind human being I think I’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering. my dear friend Cathy Paul, who has been a long time good friend  and who is endlessly interesting being that she  can converses on any subject in a social setting. One final guest would also be Herb Ritts, because he was such an influence on me photographically in terms of light and shadow and we also share the same birthday, August 13.
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge


 JF: You are both provocateur and story teller; which aspect of your career do you think most defines you as an artist and why?
BV: I have learned quite a bit about the photographic process in the 3 years I have pursued it, but I am always learning and always striving to achieve more and to understand my own style which is never apparent to me. One thing that I have realized recently about photography is that it is not always just a pose, or the lighting that makes a great photo, but it is somehow making a connection with the model and bringing that to the final photo. Usually I meet my model and then work with these guys for only 2-4 hours; I have to get to know them, and capture them in an artistic way in that very short span of time. I have also realized that just that initial choice of model informs a lot about the ultimate final feel of the photo.
click image to enlarge
click image to enlarge

JF: Is there any part of your career that you could rewrite and why?
Add caption
BV: One of the ultimate challenges for me is how to convey the model in a sexy way because I think my photos inherently are all about sexiness.  I always want to do it in a way that fits with who they are as a person. I never try to push them too far, but at the same time I like to get them to go right up to the edge without pushing them over.
Ultimately with photography I feel like I am moving on from being a “one great dramatic photo” kind of guy, to telling a complete little story in 12-18 shots…Almost like frames from a movie that appear as still images; that is my current goal. I think one of my very recent shoots of model Connor Field is pretty good at conveying this new direction.
click image to enlarge


Sunday, December 16, 2018

Mel Odom: celebrate GORGEOUS


40 years of Art, a celebration … Mel Odom: Gorgeous
Mel Odom by Robert Mapplethorpe

For those who missed the glory days of printed media it can be said that some of the greatest artists and illustrators of the 20th century were hatched and represented on a regular basis on an international stage; It might have been l’Uomo vogue or Blueboy, Linea Italiana, Interview, when it was of the moment, or GQ when it was the bible for menswear. Illustration and the artwork of artists like Mel Odom, George Stavrinos, Richard Bernstein, Antonio Lopez, and Tony Viramontes was everywhere including your daily newspaper when illustration was the preferred visual method of advertising especially in newspapers. Those years were explosive and life altering in so many ways that none of us could have ever predicted.
click image to enlarge

Mel Odom’s Illustrations during the Seventies and even today are unique in style and immediately identifiable. Besides his stunning technique they have a mystery and mood that transforms the viewer to magical sometimes surreal place. Mel is iconic within the Illustration world.”  Richard Vyse, illustrator, artist, portraitist
click image to enlarge

I have known Mel as an acquaintance for most of those 40 years so it gives me great pleasure when my peers can be lauded and celebrated for their accomplishments and of course when I get to interview them. One of my favorite expressions is that one has to look back to see what’s ahead and so with that in mind, here is Mel Odom in his words…..

BTW: The opening reception for “Mel Odom: Gorgeous” is January 10 from 6 – 8pm at 508 W 26 St. ste 9C ….dan@danielcooneyfineart.com
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

Jeffrey Felner: Can you sort of give us a brief run down as to how you arrived at your present station in life; you
Mel Odom: I grew up in a very small town in North Carolina. My father was a mailman and had a tobacco/peanuts farm with his sisters.  My mom stayed home and took care of my older brother and me.  I had a good life there with friends, playing in the woods and enough alone time to play with dolls and draw.  Drawing was my favorite thing to do.  My being able to draw became my identity throughout my school years and when I went to college to study illustration at Virginia Commonwealth University. I was fortunate enough to live in London for a couple of years after college studying music and working on an illustration portfolio; life in London saved me from being a total hick when I moved to NYC. 

NYC was very kind to me and I got illustration work right away. I met interesting people and managed to climb the publishing “food chain” from lurid skin magazines to more established ones like Playboy and TIME.  I worked for several years with Blueboy while exploring my personal sexuality in print as well as in front of the whole world. I suspect my work ethic saved me from the excesses of New York City but even so, I left a portion of my hearing at Studio 54 from nights spent on the dance floor. In 1980 my commissions to illustrate book covers led me to become the go-to artist for the burgeoning genre of gay literature; dozens of covers, then for all sorts of fiction followed … I had an actual career.

By 1991, bored a bit by illustration, and in need of an all-consuming passion, I designed a fashion doll for adults, “Gene Marshall’, a fictional movie star of the 40s and 50s.  She was launched commercially in 1995 and within one year she was second only to Barbie on the newfangled Internet. She was a huge success and occupied my time to the exclusion of illustration, except for illustrations of Gene.  She was a lot of work and a lot of fun and after ten years with Ashton-Drake Galleries, Gene changed companies for five beautifully fashioned years with Integrity Toys where she “retired” in 2015.  Truthfully, I was afraid that if I didn’t return to my drawing and painting then, I might never go back to it.  I loved doing Gene, but the travel and compromise was exhausting.  ‘Coaxed back into pictures three years later’, Gene Marshall returned for five more years in the spotlight as a ball-jointed resin doll with JAMIE show. This past January, appropriately enough at a Palm Springs convention, Gene retired once more ‘to move to a private life in Italy’… or that’s what I’ve decided.
click image to enlarge

JF: If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why?

MO: Aubrey Beardsley would be my first choice as He’s always been my favorite artist. He was a genius, flat out and His influence on modern art is just being understood. He produced a lifetime’s worth of work by the time he was twenty five. I would LOVE to invite the amazing actress Cate Blanchett, and seems likely to be an equally amazing person; she’s funny and brilliant without being grand about it. Georgia O’Keeffe though I imagine she would be fairly quiet but intense. I think the other two guests might be my now deceased parents because I have so much I’d love to tell them … or Oprah, she’d be a blast to meet and talk to!!!  or Idris Elba!
click image to enlarge

JF: There is another part to your life besides the art can you explain and expand on what that entails?

MO: I have a great private life; my husband and I spend weekends and holidays together, sometimes weeks together. We maintain separate residences as I’m good alone since I need it to work. My husband Charlie and I have been together for 25 years and married for five. We really love being together; he’s from the Bronx and I’m from Mayberry so we’re very different in a way that works. Having amazing friends is something that enhances us both. 
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

JF: If you could collaborate on any project of any kind with any one of your choice, who and what would it be and why?

MO: I want to work with a brilliant book designer who can create a book of my life’s work. It’s been decades since the last one and I’d like to be involved with the process of building a monograph that is a more a comprehensive examination of my oeuvre.  I always hear a clock ticking!
click image to enlarge

JF: I’m curious to know what your feelings are about social media, the upside and downside, and what it’s breeding in terms of the so called famous and influencers?

MO: Well, you’re reading this because of the Internet, so how bad can the Internet be? We don’t know yet.   I was rather reluctant to embrace social media, but once I did, I starting reaping rewards for doing it and meeting interesting people I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise. It can be a good thing…or the opposite.   I just try to not let it suck up too much of my time.  I’m happier drawing or doing something in the real world.

 Every generation has its own form of new celebrity.  When I was a kid it was TV stars, they were the new media stars, not quite movie stars but more familiar and ultimately more powerful.  Sort of like Internet stars of different varieties, they’re in your home. Hell… they’re in your lap! 

I like people who make and do things, artists and creatives.  I don’t follow much of anybody who’s just famous for being themselves; unless they possess incredible beauty … I’m always up for that. Today’s Media is a totally different world than we once knew. 
click image to enlarge
click image to enlarge
Daniel Cooney Fine Art is pleased to announce the first gallery exhibition of illustrator Mel Odom’s drawings titled Gorgeous. The exhibition will consist of approximately 30 small-scale drawings primarily created in the late 1970’s-80’s on board and vellum. These meticulous drawings are executed in pencil, dyes and gouache. Exhibition dates: January 10 – February 23, 2019