A couple of days ago I went to an exhibition at Musee des Arts Decoratifs, the spotlight was on a great french artist, Jean-Paul Goude. He is an illustrator, graphic designer, photographer, choreographer, director of TV commercial...and a lot more. A word can not describe this man, but I guess it is safe to say he is a genius. He is behind some of the TV commercials we see of top brands, think Prada Candy.
What caught my interest in his work was the fact that they reflect different societies and cultures.
He did a manual form of photoshop by cutting and pasting his images, before the term photoshop came to be. And I noticed his love for African women...or should I say dark skin. These women were not only his "partner' but also his muse.
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| Radiah Frye |
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| Mia Frye for Galeries Lafayette |
Radiah was an American model Goude met and she followed him back to Paris with her daughter. As a model, she was height challenged so Goude created some insane platform heels for her:
Then Radiah introduced him to Grace Jones, and he left her for Gracey (Lesson learnt: never introduce your boyfriend to your friend...haha). And just as the previous women, Grace Jones became his muse and focus of artistic attention.
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| Grace Jones |
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| Grace Jones for V Magazine, Jan 2008 |
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| Farida Khelfa |
Farida Khelfa was (and still is) a tall and beautiful Algerian woman with long hair. She was Goude's partner and of course muse in the 80's. She is today a style icon often referred to as an example of french elegance.
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| Farida and Azzedine Alaia, 1984 |
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| Looks like Janet Jackson |
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| Jimi Hendrix |
Finally, Goude married an Asian woman called Karen. I sum it up to say he is really a unique artist who has managed to stay relevant all these years, and still is just as amazing at the age of 71.
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