Burberry Car Seat, Fendi Roof Dress Up Primp My Ride Subculture
"Burberry BMW"
Nadine Johnson PR via Bloomberg
"Burberry BMW" (2011) by Luis Gispert shows a car interior embellished with the signature Burberry pattern, part of his exhibition "Decepcion."
"Burberry BMW" (2011) by Luis Gispert shows a car interior embellished with the signature Burberry pattern, part of his exhibition "Decepcion." Source: Nadine Johnson PR via Bloomberg
"Sprouse Gouse"
Nadine Johnson PR via Bloomberg
"Sprouse Gouse" (2011) by Luis Gispert. The work is a car interior done up with Louis Vuitton logos, part of the exhibition "Decepcion" at Mary Boone Gallery.
"Sprouse Gouse" (2011) by Luis Gispert. The work is a car interior done up with Louis Vuitton logos, part of the exhibition "Decepcion" at Mary Boone Gallery. Source: Nadine Johnson PR via Bloomberg
"Fendi Caprise"
Nadine Johnson PR via Bloomberg
"Fendi Caprise" (2011) by Luis Gispert shows a car interior embellished with Fendi logos. It will be part of his exhibition "Decepcion" at Mary Boone Gallery, opening on Sept. 8 in New York.
"Fendi Caprise" (2011) by Luis Gispert shows a car interior embellished with Fendi logos. It will be part of his exhibition "Decepcion" at Mary Boone Gallery, opening on Sept. 8 in New York. Source: Nadine Johnson PR via Bloomberg
"Maricela in LV"
Nadine Johnson PR via Bloomberg
"Maricela in LV" (2011) by Luis Gispert. The work shows a woman in a flamenco dress made with Louis Vuitton fabrics. It will be part of his exhibition "Decepcion" at Mary Boone Gallery, opening on Sept. 8 in New York.
"Maricela in LV" (2011) by Luis Gispert. The work shows a woman in a flamenco dress made with Louis Vuitton fabrics. It will be part of his exhibition "Decepcion" at Mary Boone Gallery, opening on Sept. 8 in New York. Source: Nadine Johnson PR via Bloomberg
Artist Luis Gispert was photographing lowriders a few years ago when someone told him to check out a Cadillac Escalade with its interior redone like a Louis Vuitton bag designed by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.
The car’s owner “had no clue who Murakami was,” Gispert said. “He just liked the brand and the colors.”
Gispert soon switched to shooting this other subculture, and the results will be on view at Mary Boone gallery as part of an exhibition next month titled “Luis Gispert: Decepcion.”
For two years Gispert traveled around the U.S. in search of these people whose sense of automotive bling was less “Pimp My Ride” than “Primp My Ride.” They borrowed from the designs of luxury brands such as Vuitton, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana.
In Detroit, Houston and Los Angeles, he climbed into the backseat and captured the logo-heavy interiors with a large- format camera. Some car owners wore hand-made clothes or accessories to match their autos, so Gispert shot them as well.
“They had a level of obsession with their projects that I could recognize,” said Gispert. “Artists feel the same way in their studios as these people do in their garages.”
The tanned 39-year-old spoke in his own studio, in the Bushwick section of the New York borough of Queens, where smaller versions of the exhibition prints lined the walls.
One interior was emerald green, with the seats and side panels covered by cartoonish green-on-black text spelling “Louis Vuitton Paris” in chaotic repetition. A mosaic of colorful Fendi logos covered the ceiling and console in another, while the seats and visors were powder blue.
‘Giant Purse’
Can plaid be bling? The auto interior tricked out with the signature geometric patterns of Burberry Group Plc (BRBY) seemed to suggest as much.
“When you are inside the Burberry car, it’s like you are driving in a giant purse,” Gispert said.
The images are enlarged to actual size, about 55-by-90 inches. Each has the same backseat vantage point: You are looking at the front two seats, dashboard, windshield and two side windows.
“All these brands represent high style, high fashion,” said Gispert, examining. “It becomes a class thing.”
Adding to the surreal effect, Gispert placed the cars against stunning landscapes seen through the front window: Louis Vuitton appears to be soaring over an Alpine lake; Fendi looks out onto a snow-covered mountain range; Burberry is suspended above a desert.
Shady Characters
His human subjects ranged from working-class men to shady characters whom he suspected were drug dealers.
A woman in heavy makeup wears a flamenco-style dress made with the Vuitton pattern. Each of a man’s Timberland boots has a different lining, one with Dior logos, the other with Gucci ones.
“They are not concerned with reading Vogue, following the runways or even copying what’s in stores,’ said Gispert. “It’s a fantasy they want to create.”
The photographs come in an edition of six, each priced at $25,000. The show runs Sept. 8 through Oct. 22 at 745 Fifth Ave.; +1-212-752-2929; http://www.maryboonegallery.com
To contact the reporter of this story: Katya Kazakina in New York at kkazakina@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.
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