If/When you are in Paris between now and February 2nd, you should pop by Colette for artist Max Snow’s latest show, The Lady of Shalott (the title is taken from Tennyson’s poem of the same name). And even if you’re not in Paris or going to be in Paris, you should sit here right now and look at the portraits, because they’re ghostly and beautiful and chock full of classical references. The show notes state that both the poem and Snow's exhibit “serve to raise questions about society and the artist’s role...responding to the conflicting commands to create art inspired by the world and also to live in it.” Well, sure, why not?
It has shades of Snow’s previous work, 100 Headless Women, which depicted female nudes with their eyes obscured by swathes of black paint like Glamour 'Don'ts.' This time, the paint is white and swept thinly over faces and occasionally entire heads, and the "women" in question include some Friends-Of-ITG (oh, hello, Arizona Muse [7], Rebecca Dayan [5], and Vanessa Traina[1,2]).
Speaking of which, Snow's gorgeous portraits of Traina, whom he wed last August, also feature her kind of unbelievable Givenchy bridal gown, which we have loved since we first heard about it (who says you can't have a zip-front wedding dress? Certainly not Ricardo Tisci). So get an eyeful of that, while you're at it.
Check out Max Snow's The Lady of Shallott at Colette (213 Rue Saint Honoré, Paris) from January 7-February 2.
Pick up a copy of the exhibition's book here.
