[...] Money comes and goes so exposure is what an artist must really hope for him and his creations. The connection that put me on the map nationally was the campaign for Cointreau (the liqueur made from mandarin oranges in France). It was an out growth of the Colette series based on a young heiress I secretly adored (though I think her gigolo boyfriend knew). She was a perfectly imperfect statuesque beauty, tha wore a giant sun hat and skin tight dress one day and has since inspired the bulk of the more mystical metropolitan muses I depict in my work (what-ever happened to that woman?).
The impact of the full page ad campaign was made mention of in Adweek, and how it won out over two competing agencies for the account. Several weeks later it was showcased in full color under - BEST - in Art Direction Magazine. Both excerpts are reprinted in these pages (so I'm tooting my own horn, don't shoot me). The next and most recent print exposure I got due directly to that opulent avenue was from of all places The Daily News. Not for my paintings but for my hand painted, high, high-heeled shoes. Cruel-shoes! Painted pumps! ...! Betty Page would be proud. I don't know what ever happened to that ol' B&W muse of mine but any woman gains a new allure from these new creations of mine (or, actually, from any decadent lift). The article is reprinted here and I take no responsibility for it's tabloid like lead in headline. No offense to the writer, Lenore Skenazy; we all have to make a living.
A short note about the shoes. I've always realized that high heels can be ungainly, if not un-politically correct to some women but I've grown to adore the way a woman is lifted to new heights of beauty by them. First I adorned my t.v. with a pair of teal blue shoes a neighbor/friend donated to me and then tried them on my models. "Amazing effect", I thought "...but what else could I do to personalize the picture?". Then I read an article by Lenore Skenazy (of Daily News) in New York magazine about a woman who painted whimsically angry sharks on ladies underwear (I don't know if I'd call a topless dancer's painties 'lingerie', but what do I know?). That gave me the brainstorm to buy some special paint to paint pumps, but I didn't do much about it. And I probably never would have except for an out of the blue intervention.
One day while I displayed my wares an angel appeared. She said she was an activist for the SoHo community board and would I be interested in helping to replace the demeaning depictions of women in the porn store windows with the strong, self assured sirens in my paintings. No argument from me! After they were painted and installed on West Broadway & Canal and Sixth & West Fourth I discovered that said activist, Margaret Setterholm, invented paint. Eureka! The rest is shoe history. Margaret is a genius with paint. The intensity of the color, which helps make my shoes so ...intense, is due to her bio-chemical wizardry. Her concoctions are so ecologically safe that she is coming out with an edible line of paints for children. From fabric to leather, awnings to metal her paint wears and flows better than any ever seen or tried.
In closing, though the streets have been good to me they are only a means to an end, and by no means a replacement for a gallery of my own. I guess I'll have to stop being so picky and let Mary Boone show my work in her gallery sometime soon (she's a lot cuter than Leo Costelli). See you at the opening.
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