Last October, Gucci invited established and emerging collagists, painters, multimedia masters, and photographers to put unique new spins on two of its iconic prints. Artists including Amalia Ulman, Ryder Ripps, Ren Hang and Kalen Holloman all contributed works to the remixed art project, collected under the hashtag #GucciGram.
“#GucciGram is a starting point to tell different stories, which are all united by a great freedom,” the brand’s celebrated creative director, Alessandro Michele, said at the time of its launch. “Today creativity is often born and finds its voice in digital media, a vital source of visual culture.”
Gucci has just unveiled the newest installment of its collaborative initiative, one which starts with its new print — the Tian. The print finds its roots in 10th-century “Bird and Flower” paintings that flourished in ancient China. Employing the controlled and delicate techniques of calligraphy, artists of antiquity imagined “chrysanthemums and orchids intersecting with the flight path of doves, parakeets, and dragonflies,” notes technology and culture journalist Kyle Chayka in the project’s introduction. “The all-over compositions always find a balance between action and stillness.”
Michele had already introduced the print in an installation he created for the brand’s recent exhibition at the Minsheng Art Museum in Shanghai — a Tian room inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s iconic installations. #GucciGram’s second iteration encourages today’s exciting Asian artists to put fresh new spins on the Tian’s surreal daydreams. Vietnamese artist Kelbin Lei contributes kaleidoscopic portraits, Yoshito Hasaka turns Tokyo’s skyscrapers into floral cascades, and Indonesian collagist Fajar P. Domingo slices the original design, creating an entirely new context.
As Gucci continues to create new intersections of fashion and art on its increasingly imaginative runways, we’re excited to see how it will broaden the horizons of art and technology off the runway, too. “The most important thing is the way you let people dream about something,” Michele said.
Credits
Text Emily Manning
Images via #guccigram