"Island Life" by Grace Jones & Jean-Paul Goude
A revolutionary synergy, shaping pop cultures view on the body and femininity
by Philippe Lagrange
"ISLAND LIFE" ALBUM COVER BY GRACE JONES (1985)
JEAN - PAUL GOUDE IS A FRENCH ILLUSTRATOR, PHOTOGRAPHER AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER, WHO ROSE TO POPULARITY IN THE 1970S, WHEN WORKING AS THE ART DIRECTOR FOR ELLE MAGAZINE. THIS ARTICLE WILL FOCUS ON HIS CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH TRUE FASHION ICON, SINGER AND ACTRESS GRACE JONES AND MORE PRECISELY HIS WORK FOR GRACE JONES’S ALBUM COVER “ISLAND LIFE“. ARGUABLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE COALITIONS BETWEEN TWO ARTISTS, JONES AND GOUDE CAME TOGETHER TO VISUALISE A COLLECTIVE OF HER MUSICAL WORKS UP UNTIL THE YEAR 1985. THE COVER CAN BE DESCRIBED AS A HUMANOID TROMPE D’OEIL, WITH GRACE POSITIONED IN AN UNACHIEVABLE POSE, WHERE THE HUMAN BODY IMITATES A PLASTIC SCULPTURE. THIS ARABESQUE POSE WAS ONLY ATTAINABLE THROUGH PHYSICALLY MERGING 12 PICTURES INTO A MONTAGE AND THEREFORE CREATING A SURREALIST SILHOUETTE, WITH UNCLOCKABLE SEEMS THROUGH AIRBRUSHING. THE INSPIRATION CAME FROM JEAN - PAUL GOUDE’S LOVE FOR BALLET AND HIS ADMIRATION OF GRACE’S STRIKING LOOK, WHICH UP TO THIS POINT HAD NEVER BEEN SEEN LIKE THIS BEFORE. IN HIS BOOK “I’LL NEVER WRITE MY MEMOIRS“, GRACE JONES’S FORMER HUSBAND DESCRIBES HOW GOUDE WAS SEEKING TO EMBODY „THIS BRUTAL, ANIMALISTIC ENERGY THAT WAS PART DISCO, PART THEATRE OF CRUELTY, TWO LUCID WAYS OF REPRESENTING AN APPETITE FOR LIFE.“
PORTRAIT "NIGHTCLUBBING" (1981)
PORTRAIT "NIGHTCLUBBING" (1981)
SKETCH AND COLLAGE FOR "NIGHTCLUBBING" BY JEAN - PAUL GOUDE
"HEADS" BY DAVID BAILEY ROSS
HOW DAVID ROSS USES WATERCOLOUR TO DISTORT THE HUMAN FACE AND BLURS THE LINES BETWEEN ABSTRACTION AND EMOTION
by Philippe Lagrange
DAVID BAILEY ROSS IS THE ART DIRECTOR AND DESIGNER BEHIND THE ONGOING SERIES OF WATERCOLOUR HEADS, WITH 36 PIECES PRESENT IN HIS GALLERY.
THIS ARCHIVE IS AN ONGOING WINDOW INTO HIS CREATIVE PROCESS, CAPTURING THE PERSONALITIES AND SELF EXPRESSIONS OF FACES THROUGH AN AQUARELLE WATERCOLOUR PAINTING TECHNIQUE, IN WHICH HE PAINTS ON A WET SURFACE. THIS WET TECHNIQUE IS UNPREDICTABLE, AS PAINT BLEEDS AND PAPER DISTORTS. HE WORKS QUICKLY IN COLLABORATION WITH HIS MEDIUM, TO EMBELLISH A PORTRAIT ON PAPER. HIS INSPIRATION COMES FROM SCULPTURES, PHOTOGRAPHY AND MAGAZINES, OFTEN INCLUDING GROUPS OF SUBCULTURES, THAT CHALLENGE SOCIETAL NORMS AND EXPECTATIONS. DAVID WANTS THE VIEWER TO BE UNABLE TO TELL, WHERE HE WORKED AND WHERE IS HANDS HAVE BEEN, WHICH RESULTS IN PORTRAITS STRIPPED AWAY FROM HUMANITY. NONETHELESS, THEY STILL CARRY A SENSE OF FAMILIARITY, EMOTION AND COMPOSURE WITH A PURPOSEFUL USE OF COLOUR.
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