Gucci Celebrates Paige Powell's New Book
At the Gucci Wooster store in Manhattan on April 17, several distinguished individuals, such as Andre Walker, Chiara Clemente, Alba, and Francesco Clemente, among many others, mingled between archived videos of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring that were blown up onto white screens as music reverberated through the crowds. It was a glamorous celebration. A popular affair. It was a warm welcome to photographer Paige Powell’s new three-book set.
The hardcover limited-edition series, in which the photographer lends her name, is a compilation of never-before-seen images from the 1980s in New York. Her photographs highlight cultural, art and nightlife moments of the time and the illustrious names such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Madonna, and Bill Cunningham. It is sold in a set of three with work from Beulah Land, Artists Eating and Animals. The book is available for purchase at Gucci Wooster, Gucci Garden in Florence and through Dashwood books for $295.
At first mention, it could be surprising to hear that names such as Basquiat and Cunningham were featured in her book, but she was friends with them and ran in their circles. She relocated to New York City from Portland in the 1980s and began as the advertising associate and then the associate publisher of Interview. She was one of the first artists to record footage on camcorders. While popular in the New York scene, she decided to return to her roots in 1997 to document rising artists there and work as an animal-rights activist.
However, the launch of her book was a great reason for Powell to return to the city that never sleeps. She hosted a book signing at the Gucci Wooster store on April 18 but for those of you who couldn’t make it, don’t fear. At the same location, a recreation of Powell’s original 1984 installation from Beulah Land in the East Village, which features around 2,500 of her archived photographs, was opened. The exhibit will be open to the public until May 17.
