Tali Lennox is an Artist First

Photography by Emman Montalvan

Fashion by Sue Choi

Tali Lennox has two things going against her: her mother is a world-famous singer, and she is inarguably stunning. While these may sound like advantages, to an artist who wants people to judge her for the work she creates and nothing more, it can be a challenge. But the Aquarius, former model, and daughter of Scottish singer-songwriter Annie Lennox has found a way to traverse the often rocky path from celebrity offspring or beautiful bystander into someone the art world takes seriously: she makes good work. “I’m so careful not to put too much out there, and let myself mature as an artist,” Lennox says wisely as if she’s lived much longer than her 26 years. And compared to her contemporaries, perhaps she has. “I’m somebody who has been through a lot – a lot of rage and death, but I’ve also been very lucky,” she says humbly.

While Lennox’s first collection of paintings, which debuted in 2015, dealt with the superficial realities of day-to-day life, her second body of work, which showed to almost entirely positive reviews in September 2019, was a series of heavily symbolic oil paintings of carnival characters and mythical creatures that very much touched on the abstract surrealism of death. The thematic evolution makes sense given its context: in 2015, she and her boyfriend were in a kayaking accident, and while she was rescued, he drowned.

Lennox’s next show will be in March 2020 at Galerie Kandlhofer in Vienna, and while her work will still contain her signature style (“I think my main thing is to confuse people; I like repulsion and wonder,” she says), she plans to once again start anew, as she did for the last show. “So much of what I did for the last show was about escapism and masks and make-believe,” she says. “I think the next series I’m going to go deeper into self-portraiture again. And I think in the past years I just wanted to study other people like a director of a play, but I don’t think there's anything deeper than studying yourself.” Lennox has already begun work on the exhibit for March in her Chinatown studio, where she will spend up to 13 hours a day working if she’s on a deadline. “It was the first building I looked at on Craigslist; it's this pink building that I always wanted to live in. I’m obsessed with nostalgia and it’s so old and kind of falling apart and quite filthy,” she laughs. “And people get quite terrified in the freight elevator!”

That self-described obsession with nostalgia bleeds not only into her choice of studio and what she creates, but how she views her work as well: “We’re seeing so many things because of Instagram and consumerism and clicks, so if a single painting can leave an impression on someone's mind, it doesn’t matter if it's my painting or someone else’s; that’s a really beautiful thing.”

Those born under the Aquarius sign, like Lennox, are known for their independent spirit. L'OFFICIEL teamed up with the famed astrologist Susan Miller to predict what 2020 holds for each Aquarius and all zodiac signs. Lennox and other Aquariuses are preparing for a big year in 2021, so this year is the perfect time to keep it simple with a monochromatic look.

Makeup Lilly Keys (Exclusive Artist Management)

Hair Dritan Vushaj (Forward Artists)

Manicurist Stephanie Stone (Forward Artists)

Producer Mariana Cantú (MC Colectiva)

Technician Assistant Maria Noble

Photo Assistants Carolina Salazar and Kenny Casto

Production Assistant Leon Schrager

Location Dust Studios