The Accessory Every Art Lover Needs
Architectural Digest
Hannah Martin"I've always wanted to make soft, absorbent artwork," says John Currin, who is known for his wildly provocative figurative paintings. Thanks to the Art Production Fund, he now has. APF—the New York–based nonprofit responsible for the oft-Instagrammed Prada Marfa and for persuading artists to try their hand at everything from water bottles to dinner plates—has tapped Currin and Laurie Simmons to design fluffy beach towels that will make their debut at Art Basel Miami. Guests at the Delano Hotel pool in South Beach will have the opportunity to sunbathe atop Currin's and Simmons's creations during the fair.
Currin, as he often does, looked to the past for his design. "She's inspired by the various Floras from art history, from Botticelli to Rembrandt to Poussin," he says of the golden femme lounging with a bucket of produce, a skeptical expression in her eyes, realized on fuzzy cotton. Simmons, meanwhile, made reference to her 1989–91 "Walking Objects" series, which addresses the still painfully relevant theme of woman's struggle: "It's about brawn and body," she says of the seven-foot-tall photographs. "It's about women hoisting up the artifacts of their life, the domestic objects that they have emotionally and psychologically become enmeshed with." The original leggy prints were set on a black ground, but for this collaboration Simmons transferred Walking Tomato to a backdrop of dappled blue, "as if the tomato had transported from stage to walking along the bottom of a swimming pool."
APF, whose proceeds benefit its public art initiatives, has been reenvisioning the beach towel since 2007, when it partnered with Alex Katz, Marilyn Minter, Richard Phillips, and Rob Pruitt. "It's another way for art to be an accessible part of everyday life," says Casey Fremont, APF's executive director, adding, "By pushing the boundaries of where art exists in the public realm, we strive to make art available to everyone." This year's towel project was sponsored by Kohler, as an act of support for its own respected artist-in-residence program at its foundry in Kohler, Wisconsin.