Artist/Rebel/Dandy at RISD - Last Chance!

Patrick McDonald at the opening of Artist/Rebel/Dandy, April 2013

The wonderful Artist/Rebel/Dandy exhibit at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum is up only till Aug 18, so I implore you:  GO!

It is a very special exhibit years in the making, the likes of which we won't see again any time soon.  Anyways, make a little road trip to Providence - it's a great town!  Have some clam cakes and a Narragansett beer, then go enjoy the amazing array of suits and artifacts collected to celebrate the history, style, and character of dandies past and present.  You will see three prints there by me!

Enjoy these photos of the opening weekend festivities!  There are a lot more here.

Waris and Natty in front of their ensembles at the exhibit opening.  Suits by Against Nature, naturally.

Tom Wolfe makes a cameo

I looked longing for most of the time at Fred Astaire's white tie and tails.

The gala dinner took place at the historic Providence Public Library

Natty finally got to meet Dr. Andre Churchwell

Favorite photo of the night:  Churchwell's oyster colored dinner jacket. Wow.

Ignacio Quiles and Iké Udé chat after the gala dinner.  

After the tweed ride, out front of the RISD Museum

My portrait of Doran graces the entrance to the main exhibit hall.

Guy Hills and Dashing Tweeds were prominently displayed in this section devoted to tailoring and craftsmanship.  Notice my portrait of Hugo Jacomet on the far right (and below).

And to find out more about the Artist/Rebel/Dandy exhibit check out this great video Andrew Yamato made for A Suitable Wardrobe.

Mr. Yamato and his White Linen Suit

Andrew Yamato, Brooklyn, March 2013

You get the feeling right about this time in July that it will never be cold again, never chilly enough to wear tweed.  You almost give up hope (that comes in August).  Everyone just melts.  Well, let this photo be an inspiration!  How can it get better than a vintage white linen suit? 

The funny part was that it was taken on a very cold day in March.  I think there were still snow flurries happening, but I cajoled Andrew to do some shots outside in that beautiful Edward Hopper light streaming down Grand St in Williamsburg.   With my "summer goggles" on now, sitting at one very warm laptop, it looks every bit a man keeping his cool amidst the headiest days of Summer in the City.

Time to go have a cocktail and not move so fast.

PS - Andrew is a great film maker as well.  Check out this video he produced for A Suitable Wardrobe about the RISD Artist/Rebel/Dandy exhibit

I am Dandy - Uncovered

Massimiliano Mocchia Di Coggiola in his Parisian home graces the cover of I am Dandy

The book that I've been working on with writer Nathaniel "Natty" Adams is now available on Amazon for pre-order in the US!  I am happy and proud to say I am Dandy: The Return of the Elegant Gentleman will be released in Sept 2013 in Europe, and Oct 2013 internationally.

This is the book I have envisioned all along, and that is just an amazing thing.  It is a celebration of originality, style, and character.  And of course, elegance.  There are 57 men profiled in all of their glory over 288 pages of my photographs (most of which have not been published here on the blog), and Natty's writing.  Oh, and the preface is by none other than the legendary Glenn O'Brien.  YES. 

The very ironic thing that did not go unnoticed by Natty and I - to say the least - is that nearly every man we met in the book says they would never call themselves a dandy, yet the title is I am Dandy.  Well, this was a battle we did not win with our publisher.  Let's keep it at that.  Book making is a tough process, evidently.  If we ever get together over drinks I will read to you, dear reader, the "Natty Emails".  But since then, all the things that have been done beautifully and with integrity have begun to outweigh the less than ideal title.  

So that's why the blog here has been pretty quiet...well, also because I got married (!!) in May to the man who first inspired The Dandy Portraits, Kelly Desmond Bray.  

I just can't wait to show you all the book, and sip champagne with you at the book signings and parties!  But meanwhile there are so many more stories to tell, and portraits that didn't get included in the book, that there will be plenty to occupy my days here on the blog for a good long while.  

   

Artist/Rebel/Dandy Exhibit at RISD

Doran Wittelsbach, San Francisco, 2009

Is 2013 the year of the Dandy?

Kate Irvin and Laurie Brewer, curators of the new exhibit Artist/Rebel/Dandy certainly think so.  But for them it's been more like "The Years of the Dandies".  This is something we have in common, having both been working on parallel projects about dandyism for the last several years.  I was able to meet up with these talented ladies last fall about the exhibit, and am honored to have three large prints included in the show set to open April 28 and on view until August 18, 2013 at the Museum of Art and the Rhode Island School of Design.  It'll be a dandy summer for sure!

The opening festivities are in kicking into high gear - opening gala, dance party, and first tweed run in Providence! Check out their schedule and facebook page for more info.

Massimiliano Mocchia di Coggiola, Paris, Sept 2011 

This exhibit has it's heart in the right place, as far as I'm concerned. For one, the initial inspiration was the late Richard Merkin. And although their focus is on fashion and textiles, which many of the exhibits on dandyism have been, they see the men who wear the clothes as being the driving factor of meaning. The clothes are the artifact of the amazing life lived. The dandy - who is the artist, the rebel - is the revolutionary force driving us forward. They don't try to fit in with anyone else, they don't try to be a dandy, they just are. Their nature is to be on the vanguard, and because they cannot stand to go along with the crowd, they innovate by default. Why did Guy Hills start making Dashing Tweeds? Because he wanted the colors and prints that no one made anymore (or ever!). Again and again this theme repeats in the stories of the men I have photographed.

So all hail the year of the Dandy! Capped off, of course, by my book debut in the fall!

More from the exhibit...Love seeing this vintage shot of Mark Twain in a linen suit next to Massimiliano!

Alvin Langdon Coburn, Mark Twain, 1908. 

Shirt (detail), late-18th century. Linen plain weave with cotton ruffle. 

Les Manteaux, published in Gazette du Bon Ton (vol. 12), 1913. Bernard Boutet de Monvel, illustrator.

Four-piece suit worn by Michael Strange (pseudonym of Blanche Oelrichs), ca. 1928. Brooks Uniform Co., tailor, New York, est. last quarter of 19th century. Wool crepe coat with silk velvet collar, wool crepe trousers, cotton velvet waistcoat, silk plain weave dickie.  

Natty's View

Visiting James Sherwood in Bloomsbury, London

Artist Paolo Canevari in front of his 1940s Japanese hand painted screen, NYC

Night shooting with Winston Chesterfield around his picture perfect neighborhood in Westminster.

The writer, Nathaniel "Natty" Adams, and I have been having a wonderful time on new shoots for the book.  He finds the same joy in discovering amazing characters and stories as I do.  In recent months we have been in high gear, and have been on most of the shoots together, interviewing and photographing at the same time.  It's extra fascinating to be able to hear their stories as I shoot, because normally I'm kind of quiet and focused.  Certainly whole books could be written on individual men!  

Taking a look back at all the shoots as I edit them for the book has raised the question, what do all these men have in common - and, essentially, what defines a dandy for this project?  There are a lot of differences, but seemingly just as many similarities.  I've certainly tried to avoid hard and fast answers in favor of the view of an explorer into a new world.  But the question has come up time and again, and because I've never been able to "answer" it,  it has propelled me deeper into the project.  I've been so immersed, and now I am attempting to try to understand what someone new to the series or concept might think.   I would love to hear your thoughts - if you have just stumbled across this, or have been following from the beginning - what are your definitions, what are your questions, why is it so hard to define?  

All photos by Natty, of course!

London is Dandy

Natty and Winston Chesterfield, London, March 2013

Here on a quick trip to London to catch more dandies and exquisite gentlemen...A good time indeed!

Rory Duffy - Bespoke in Brooklyn

Rory Duffy, bespoke tailor, Brooklyn, March 2013

Just around the corner from me, and a few flights up, is a gem of a Savile Row trained tailor, Rory Duffy, who has recently established himself in New York City.  Andrew Yamato introduced me to the young Irishman, and I had a good time chatting with him about his work and the suit he made that won the prestigious Golden Shears award, all the while drinking a good bit of prosecco.

Rory shows us the suit he made that won the Golden Shears 2009, the UK's highest prize for tailoring.  Oh, just an amazingly crafted frock coat with kilt (!) and waistcoat done in a blue window pane (that Dr. Andre Churchwell might find familiar).  Please, someone create an occasion just so this suit can be worn, and I can attend!



Behind the unassuming brick facade there is a real craftsman at work, and Brooklyn should be glad to have him!