20 October 2009

A Reason To Go To New York

Gigi Gaston was the prototypical 60s French pop star. Her life was full of the dramas which seem to plague only the rich and famous; her Gypsy family’s escape from Bulgaria, an affair with her stepbrother, her rise and fall up the pop charts, a marriage that ended in infidelity and murder.

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In 1974 Normal Mailer wrote, “Could this Black Flower with a voice like Piaf have guessed that when she bloomed into a teenage singing idol for post-war European youth, and later became the Continental fashion icon and sexy French pin-up girl on the bedroom walls of the hippest kids, that the future would strangle her dreams of normalcy, like the protagonists in one her romantically fatalistic songs? No, of course not. Because the characters of Greek tragedies are always the last to know their fates.”

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The only problem? She never existed! She's the brainchild of artist Josh Gosfield who invented her entire existence. The ephemera, the stories, the persona... all fictional.

Genius, no?

*Gigi Gaston: The Black Flower will be on view October 22nd through November 25th, 2009. Steven Kasher Gallery is located at 521 W. 23rd St., New York, NY 10011.Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 to 6pm.

14 comments:

Bree said...

How tragic! She is so beautiful!

AlicePleasance said...

Definitely genius! And that cover of Stop magazine is so funny!

corrie said...

Oh nice, I've got to check out the show!

eithlinn said...

Good one!

Mandi Johnson said...

haha! I was wondering how I had never heard of her. :)

The Greedy Seagull said...

Oh cool, thanks for the heads up- I'll have to go take a look!

jasmine said...

haha, this is so great. that's anna karina in the first picture, no?

Laurel said...

Oooh do you think he coined the name together from 'Gigi' and 'Gaston' in the 1957 movie Gigi?

Hmmm

Looks like an amazing show!

x

LincolnTaft said...

very interesting.

looks like an interesting show...

Karafina said...

how crazy! thanks for posting! Ill be in nyc next month, wil definitely check out.

Vintage Dress said...

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also, i just started posting daily outfits a week or so ago. Would you take a look at my blog and leave me a comment and let me know what you think so far? It'd mean a lot from a seasoned blogger like yourself!

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www.thevintagescene.com

jesse.anne.o said...

Wow, that's pretty insane. I will definitely check this out since I work right near there.

Let me know if you're visiting NYC and want to grab a coffee (I don't know if you remember me from my old blog so hopefully that's not insanely weird to say!).

MOUSEVOX VINTAGE said...

genius, indeed!

xoxo

Meghan said...

hahahah- this post was a mind f*ck.lol. Love it! So fascinating.