Fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez’s work featured at NYC’s Museo del Barrio
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Puerto Rican fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez’s work and some of his unpublished pieces are now being exhibited at the Museo del Barrio in New York, which paid tribute to his three-decade career.
“Antonio Lopez: Future Funk Fashion” opened on Tuesday to the general public and will display nearly 400 pieces, photos and diaries belonging to the artist until Nov. 26.
Lopez’s work shows how he was influenced by the body, music, dancing, street life, graffiti and politics.
He captured famous models Grace Jones and Pat Cleveland, as well as celebrities like Jerry Hall and Jessica Lange, among many others, in his drawings and photographs.
Paloma Picasso was another famous woman who posed for Lopez.
Lopez (1943-1987), who lived with his family in Spanish Harlem for seven years, helped launch the careers of many models.
From 1960 to 1980, his illustrations were featured in top fashion magazines, such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Interview, as well as The New York Times.
Museum curator Rocio Aranda-Alvarado told that from the beginning of his career, Lopez understood how important ethnic and racial differences were, and he became the first fashion illustrator who purposely sought black women and “gave them visibility.”
The Puerto Rican fashion illustrator worked with leading designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Norma Kamali, Valentino, Versace and Missoni, among others.
