HOLZER – LANG: ALPHABET

“I SAY THE WORD/I SAY YOUR NAME/I COVER YOU/I SHELTER YOU” – Jenny Holzer for Helmut Lang.

Central to the 1990s, Helmut Lang belongs to a generation of effacement. Seeking to abolish fashion, he began by disappearing. No spectacle: clothing. No shows: seances. Technical materials, countless pockets, a sliver of skin: utilitarian and erotic. Transparent and invisible, Lang reframes clothing, atomizes fashion.
In its fine meshing, the brand realizes its most striking act of communication with the artist Jenny Holzer: a radical declaration.
Ex-Collab, celebrated for occupying Times Square, Jenny Holzer is read everywhere and seen nowhere. Her material is text: orders, epiphanies, slogans – Truisms, Inflammatory Essays, Laments.
A truism is a truth so obvious, that it needs no author.

4 dates, 1 movement.

1996, Venice – Vienna meets New York.
The artist Jenny Holzer and the designer Helmut Lang fill a white cube with one fragrance and three sentences.
“YOU ARE THE ONE/YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DID THIS TO ME/YOU ARE MY OWN”
Declarations of love? of ownership? the start of a fruitful partnership.

1998, SoHO.
The duo redefines the shop as space. Clothing gallery, art shop – the tills are hidden, there is nothing – nothing but clothing.

2000, 80 Greene St.

Large-scale perfume campaign: no model, no slogan – a black poem on white paper: “I BITE YOUR LIP/I BREATHE YOUR BREATH.”
Lang makes fashion a text, Holzer a text, fashion.

January 7th, 2015, Sperone Westwater Gallery.
Lang left fashion ten years ago – his first art show opens tomorrow. In the prodigious space lie masses of “fabric confetti”, a cluster of the archive the designer shredded upon his departure.
Helmut Lang destroyed clothing – only forms remain.

“I RUN FROM YOU/I SLEEP BESIDE YOU/I SMELL YOU ON MY CLOTHES/I KEEP YOUR CLOTHES”.

Helmut Lang archive. long sleeve t shirt, padded silk velcro vest. 1999

Helmut Lang. Jenny Holzer

Helmut Lang. Jenny Holzer.

Helmut Lang. artwork by Jenny Holzer. art dir. Marc Atlan.jpg

Perfume Ad Campaign. artwork by Jenny Holzer. art dir. Marc Atlan.jpg

Helmut Lang campaign. photo unknown. 1992

Helmut Lang campaign. photo unknown. 1992

Helmut Lang. First Look. by Walter Pfeiffer. 1984

Helmut Lang. First Look. by Walter Pfeiffer. 1984

Helmut Lang Perfume Ad Campaign. artwork by Jenny Holzer. art dir. Marc Atlan

Helmut Lang Perfume Ad Campaign. artwork by Jenny Holzer. art dir. Marc Atlan.

Helmut Lang, Jenny Holzer, Shop Interiors. Store Concept by Richard Gluckman

Helmut Lang, Jenny Holzer, Shop Interiors. Store Concept by Richard Gluckman.

ARNO. by Jennu Holzer. Florence, 1996

ARNO. by Jennu Holzer. Florence, 1996ARNO. by Jennu Holzer. Florence, 1996

HELMUT LANG PARIS. phot. by Jenny Holzer. paris

HELMUT LANG PARIS. phot. by Jenny Holzer. paris

Nipple Tank. Helmut Lang Menswear. 2004

NIPPLE TANK. Helmut Lang Menswear. 2004

jenny-holzer--with-you-inside-me-comes-the-knowledge-of-my-death

Helmut Lang Ad. by Jenny Holzer. 1989.

  • COOPER X 12
    « Dressed up like a million-dollar trouper/Tryin’ hard to look like Gary Cooper/Super Duper – Puttin’ on the Ritz »
  • OUTER POCKETS
    « It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that sewn-on pockets, and pockets hidden within the lining, became standard in clothing… »
  • INNER POCKETS
    « They are designed to meet the needs and habits of the wearer, evolving over time to accommodate changing lifestyles. »
  • STRIPES: PIN, PENCIL, CHALK, AND ROPE
    « A variety of the ‘pinstripe’ often found in shirt cloth but rarely in suit cloth is the ‘pencil stripe’ »
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