By Panama Harris
Jenny Mörtsell is a pale Scandinavian beauty with blue eyes and plaited brown hair. A recent transplant to Gotham, Mörtsell originally hails from Stockholm, Sweden, where she studied printmaking and graphic design. Dressed to the nines in her gray Wayfarers and marinière tank top, she seems to fit right in here in New Yorker. One almost wouldn’t suspect that she’s one of the more talented illustrators in print today.
By Corey Scott Arter
“If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.” -Richard Avedon
Artists are abundant, but game-changers are far and few between – and that’s what Richard Avedon was, a game-changer. He wasn’t just one of the most prolific photographers of the 20th century, he was a visionary that danced his way through life, charming each subject and capturing beauty in a completely original style.
In the 1940s, Avedon got his start with publications like VOGUE and HARPER’S BAZAAR, at a time when the entire fashion photography paradigm was centered on capturing stony, expressionless models. Avedon defied the conventions of the era – he brought a breath of fresh air by showing models lively, animated, and energetic.
Avedon’s foremost protégé Andrea Blanch gave VIRGINE the honor of sharing her insights on her experience and mentorship with the late visionary, whom she lovingly refers to as ‘Dick’. Blanch is largely regarded as “the woman who knows how to capture a woman.” Her work has been featured in numerous publications, including Details, G.Q., 6 different editions of VOGUE (including American VOGUE), Elle, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, New York Times Magazine and Rolling Stone.
Photo by Andrea Blanch - Inside Andrea's Refrigerator, New York - Source: AndreaBlanch.com
Photography by Ryan Yoon
Styling by Hissa Igarashi
Written by Corey Scott Arter
“Let me assert my firm belief, that the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” -Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The fashion industry has and continues to pride itself on innovation and tireless evolution. So much of what fashion stands for is well intended: beauty, imagination, and determination to move forward.
The aughties (2000-2009) saw the rise of numerous fashion-inspired television shows and movies, from Sex and the City to Project Runway. At least one thing became very clear: fashion, along with technology, claimed center-stage. As we begin to define the next decade, we can all be assured that there are some very large, perhaps uncontrollable, forces at play.
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By Max Fierst
John Baldessari’s art is a panoramic theater of painting, photography, text, and video. His promiscuous use of many media was rare in the early 1960s when Baldessari began making his groundbreaking work. Multi-media studio practice has become commonplace among contemporary artists, at least in part because of the pervasive influence of the 80-year-old Californian, the poet of verbal images and visual puns.
Baldessari said he hates categories. He is a “conceptual artist,” a term to which any conceptual artist will object. In the purest sense, conceptual art is an oxymoron, since all artists make things no matter how “conceptual.” Even performance artists, whose work is temporary, living sculpture, leave some evidence behind of their “happenings.” Otherwise, without some object to live on after the art event is over, all would be forgotten.
