On Show: El Mundo de Antonio

By Ziyue Gu, Fashion Publishing

Sometimes you think you find a little bit Dalí, sometimes you think you see some Goya, and sometimes you think you find a trace of Braque. But in all, he’s Antonio, a fashion illustrator who earned a name as Picasso of fashion illustration. Antonio Lopez’s works captured the pulse of style from 1960s to 1980s, and were frequently printed in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Interview magazines. Lopez created with various materials including charcoal, watercolor, polarioid film, and more. Together with his partner, Juan Ramos, he once worked with Karl Lagerfeld in the mid 1970s. “Antonio had so many dimensions out there to show,” said an observer who I overheard discussing his complicated identity at the exhibit Antonio’s World , currently on show at The Suzanne Geiss Company, 76 Grand Street. These are a few of the things I pondered after seeing the exhibit:

Without boundaries. In the exhibition, they displayed Antonio’s work in different themes and styles. It was mesmerizing to see he easily switched his colors, from rich to black and white; his lines, from complex to simple. You are in completely different worlds when you move through his work.

Tender. No matter what methods he used to create his paintings, there was always tenderness within it. He focused not only on the general colors and structures, but also on models, whom he allowed to be themselves rather than just be hired “models”. You can feel that tenderness , even though he used strong, bold lines and colors.

Passionate. Antonio’s passion to art and fashion were expressed in these amazing works shown. He presented a world to us with a strong dynamic and free spirit.

Love. Antonio was not just Antonio. The “Antonio” we see was ultimately the products of both Antonio and Juan, who was once his lover, before becoming his best teammate. Antonio might accomplish the “weaving”, but Juan was the one to make it into gold. Their love to art, and to each other, permeate throughout the exhibit.

It is fascinating for me, and for so many other people, to meet Antonio again in the world which has been without him for 25 years.