Painting Inside the Machine: Image-Making in Fashion Environments
Within the walls of a fashion brand, aka in-house, painting exists in a context where the terms of fine art or exhibition dissolve. To be clear, painting mentioned here is not associated with big budget, high profile artist collaborations such as Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama for Louis Vuitton, Peter Doig for Kim Jones-era Dior or even David Zwirner-represented Josh Smith for Givenchy by Matthew Williams. This focuses on rare instances where painting is integrated into production systems such as brand headquarters, creative departments, e-commerce studios or off-site editorial locations. In the business cycle of (corporate) fashion, images, much like clothing, are made to move at volume, circulate at speed and disappear at the end of the season. If painting finds its way within this cycle, it is primarily at the command of the machine, before authorship and oftentimes before attribution.
Historically rare, a handful of impactful artists have developed their crafts inside fashion systems. Barbara Kruger got her start at Condé Nast for Mademoiselle magazine as picture editor and designer, setting the foundation for authoritative, persuasive design elements used in her language-based, billboard-sized installations. Commercially-trained Andy Warhol had some of his first illustrations published in Glamour editorializing his art for women's shoes—a distribution method that undoubtedly informed his philosophies on repetition, mass-production and desire. And then there's Man Ray, with long-term contracts at various publications and brands such as Vogue, Cosmecil and Schiaparelli. With his work, high fashion began inheriting Surrealism as a lens through its photography, presentation and overall energy. At some scale, commercial environments cracked the door open for individuals with a point of view, reliability and sensibility that the industry could trust enough to extract from. That high-level trust, not easily earned, allows for even the most avant-garde visionaries a bit of autonomy within these systems. Today, this way of working may be a bit more common, with contemporary artists like Angela Wei, Jared Buckhiester and Andrew Agutos navigating fashion-adjacent spaces, contributing a vision within the machine and using those production-driven constraints to inform their fine art practices.
Andrew Agutos. Untitled Adriana Lima / BCBG #4, 2017.
Painted on inkjet canvas featuring campaign image by Peter Lindbergh.
Instead of being the final work itself, painting becomes an activator for process. In art, the gesture — traditionally a drawing to capture movement or essence — is its own practical method. In fashion, art itself becomes the gesture. The entire act of painting is used as a tool to help translate or direct the audience towards a grander vision. Therefore, painting functions as another piece of swipe on the mood board, color study next to fabric prints or texture sample for editorial backdrops. Its impact lies in the contribution it makes within an entire production, whether or not it is published as consumer-facing material.
For any house or brand, the grandeur of its DNA lives in its record of images. Many moving parts are working towards the cohesiveness of the image and its ability to be circulated effectively, while keeping up with the demands of a rapid fashion calendar. Painting, on the other hand, traditionally functions in a mode of contemplation against a singular vision within the context of a specific moment in time. Inside the machine, painting has to understand its role to balance both aspects of output.
Andrew Agutos. Hand-painted / digital animations for Guess Jeans Fall 17 Campaign ft. Camila Cabello.
When the paintbrush is still not swift enough as an enrichment tool next to the pristine fashion images, at times the filter reverts to lo-fi. The revival of film in the digital age has been prominent, with much of today's primary content produced with preliminary tools such as 35mm point-and-shoot and Polaroid cameras. These photos parallel sketches, providing an immediate and versatile alternative to image-making in the studio. Much like Andy Warhol's 'factory' process, this rapid form of producing images allows artists such as Andrew Agutos to extend work outside the machine. These images often become source material for more elaborate paintings and projects. With an art object quality of their own, the Polaroids move on to be exhibited and collected as singular works, or reproduced in books and publications.
Andrew Agutos. Danielle Herrington for A$AP Rocky x Guess? Jeans SS18 Collection. 35mm photograph.
Andrew Agutos. Dina Kovlovska for BCBGeneration 2016 Editorial. BCBGMAXAZRIA. 35mm photograph.
This rapid, lo-fi mode of image making transcends into published outlets outside of high-definition, glossy fashion magazines. Zines and self-published books have been the underground platform for high-end fashion photographers and models for decades now. In this sector, the beautifully polished is seen in more gritty, accessible tones—the likes of DIY printed material from the worlds of graffiti and skateboarding. Exemplified in 81 Polaroids (2023), Museum & Co.'s first published book, several Polaroids shot inside of shiny fashion headquarters take on a new life and purpose. Some of these same fashion Polaroids served as source material for paintings on canvas, demonstrating the ability of gestural, process-based imagery to evolve into fully realized artworks that live in and out of the fashion system.
Andrew Agutos. Iliana Chernakova for BCBGeneration 2016 Editorial. BCBGMAXAZRIA. Polaroid photograph.
Andrew Agutos. Untitled (Iliana), 2016. Acrylic, charcoal, spraypaint on canvas.
Andrew Agutos. 81 Polaroids, 2023. Published by Museum & Co.
Painting's strength is in its nature to adapt between systems—perhaps one of the reasons why it has endured many eras. It can align with the rhythm of continuously moving systems such as fashion, and slow down outside of them. It knows when and how to fluctuate its grasp for attention, from Fall Collection showroom to white cube gallery.
Andrew Agutos. Untitled Fashion, 2015. Acrylic, latex, charcoal, collage, spraypaint on canvas.
Andrew Agutos. REDЯUM, 2023. Oil stick, acrylic, enamel, gesso on found poster mounted on wooden panel.
Andrew Agutos. Candice Swanepoel, 2018. Victoria's Secret Corporate. Polaroid photograph.
Painted on inkjet canvas from BCBGMAXAZRIA HQ.