25 Mar Antonio!

The Danziger Gallery is celebrating the work of famed fashion illustrator and photographer Antonio Lopez with a series of his Kodak Instamatic photos. As skilled with a camera as he was with a sketch pad, he illuminated a world of models, designers, actors, writers, photographers and other denizens of the arts. Antonio was a beloved figure within the realm of fashion and art both in America as well as Europe. His coterie included Pat Cleveland, Jerry Hall, David Bailey, Jessica Lange and Charles James to name a few. Along with his illustrations he captured the modes and mood of the time with his camera, creating iconic images of his friends and colleagues in fresh, innocent and dashing ways that were inventive and sexy while maintaining a certain innocence.

Dressing up and going out were an excuse to snap some shots that, while appearing casual, were artistically executed with a flair that belied the candid result.

The show captures the 1970’s era in all its glamour before the age of air brushing and nearly impossible beauty ideals. The photos show real people looking their best with a joie de vivre that today evokes nostalgia for a simpler past.

For fans of this period, the exhibition is a must see and illuminates a concept that seems a prototype for Instagram. As in so many other ways, Antonio not only captured his world but was also ahead of it.

See Antonio Lopez Photographs through April 28.

Jerry Hall and Adele Lutz, 1974

Grace Coddington, 1975

Tina Chow, 1975

Liliana (for VIVA Magazine), 1977

Jessica Lange, 1974