Artist and design pioneer Stephen Sprouse may no longer be with us physically, but you'll see more of his work in January, 2009 than you may have ever before thanks to a retrospective show at the Deitch gallery, a new limited edition Book
by Rizzoli and a new tribute collection from Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton.
Above: Marc Jacobs new 2009 tribute Collection for Louis Vuitton
Stephen Sprouse (1953-2004) was one of the most influential fashion designers of his time and a key figure in the dynamic mix of punk rock, wild style graffiti, and street influenced fashion that characterized the downtown New York community in the early 1980s. He was one of the first to build on the influence of Andy Warhol to create a fusion of art, music and fashion. He continued on a course that disavowed any division among these fields throughout his career.
Rock on Mars, a retrospective exhibition of the work of Stephen Sprouse, will transform Deitch Projects’s 18 Wooster Street gallery into a realization of Sprouse’s rock and roll futuristic vision. The exhibition at Deitch will introduce Sprouse’s extraordinary pop-influenced paintings to the larger art audience. His paintings of iconic rock and roll imagery including stacks of loudspeakers, Sid Vicious with his pants down, and an Iggy Pop crucifixion, have rarely been seen.
The show will also include a selection of the video works made to accompany his runway shows, examples of his fabric and furniture design for Knoll, and fifty of his most influential fashion looks, as well as the following nine images:
Above: Stephen Sprouse, Self-Portrait, Early Years, Courtesy Sprouse Family Archives
Above: Stephen Sprouse, Debbie Harry Cut Out Dress Polaroid, Courtesy Sprouse Family Archives
Above: Stephen Sprouse, Debbie Harry Green Dress Polaroid, Courtesy Sprouse Family Archives
Above: Stephen Sprouse, Speaker Painting, Courtesy Sprouse Family Archives
Above: Stephen Sprouse, TV Sketch, Courtesy Sprouse Family Archives
Above: Stephen Sprouse, Scan Line Sketch, Courtesy Sprouse Family Archives
Above: Stephen Sprouse, Iggy on the Cross, Courtesy Sprouse Family Archives
Above: Stephen Sprouse, Fall 1984 Sketch, Courtesy Sprouse Family Archives
Above: Stephen Sprouse, Patty Hearst Painting, Courtesy Sprouse Family Archives
Rock On Mars
Deitch Project Gallery
January 09, 2009 — February 28, 2009
18 Wooster Street, New York
The Louis Vuitton Tribute Collection:
In conjunction with the exhibition project, Marc Jacobs has created a new collection for Louis Vuitton, inspired by Sprouse’s famous collaboration with Louis Vuitton in 2001, which featured the classic monogram bag scrawled with Stephen Sprouse graffiti.
The new limited edition Stephen Sprouse – Louis Vuitton collection will be available in Louis Vuitton stores worldwide from January 9, 2009, the opening date of the exhibition.
Here's a sneak peek of the 2009 tribute collection:
The 2009 tribute collection will be available at Louis Vuitton boutiques worldwide beginning January 9th.
The Book by Rizzoli:
The Stephen Sprouse Book
by Roger Padilha and Mauricio Padilha will be published in January of 2009 by Rizzoli. It will include many never before seen works of art, photographs, sketches and interviews with many of Stephen's colleagues, friends, and family and pay tribute to his extraordinary career.The authors:
some images:
Contributors include Marc Jacobs, Debbie Harry, Teri Toye, Polly Mellen, Tama Janowitz, Chris Stein, Anna Sui, Kate Moss, Iggy Pop, Baby Jane Holer, Tammy Toye, Elizabeth Saltzman, Andre Balaz, Annie Flanders, Kim Hasteiter, Karen Bjornson, and works by Andy Warhol, Scavullo,Steven Meisel, Patrick DeMarchelier, Joshua Jordan, Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin,Mert and Markus Atlas, Paul Palmero, Andre Rau, Raymond Meier, Greg Gorman, Barry Hollywood, Guzman, Marc Hispard, Bob Gruen, Rainer Horsch, Donald McPherson, Doug Meyers, Dan Lecca, Lisa Stein, Michel Haddi, Roxanne Lowitt, Richard Pandiscio, Roberta Bayley, Mike Reinhardt, Max Vadukul and many more.
The Limited Louis Vuitton edition of the book:
The special limited edition version with graffiti LV cover, shown above, will be available exclusively at Louis Vuitton Boutiques worldwide beginning January 8th.
Visit the "we love stephen sprouse" site for videos, images, facts and more all about Stephen and participate by using the 'scrawl the wall'; writing on the wall in Stephen Sprouse style graffiti.
Stephen Sprouse passed away from heart failure on March 4, 2004 (his NY Times obituary can be read here) at the young age of 50 but clearly he continues to inspire artists, fashion designers and more.