Jul 8, 2021, 1 PM , Online Program

In Conversation: Huguette Caland and the Art of Fashion with Emily Bode, Cynthia Merhej and Tiffany Jow

Join us for a conversation with The Slowdown's Executive Editor Tiffany Jow, American designer Emily Bode and Lebanese designer Cynthia Merhej. Presented in conjunction with our current exhibition Huguette Caland: Tête-à-Tête, this conversation will explore the expressive potential of fashion—from garments that tell stories and communicate personal narratives, to perennial wardrobes that test and reinterpret stereotypically conventional modes of dress. Inspired by Caland’s own approach to fashion as a way of moving through the world and defining her body on her own terms, Jow, Bode, and Merhej will take the artist’s wardrobe of irreverent caftans as a starting point.

Huguette Caland: Tête-à-Tête is the artist's most comprehensive solo museum exhibition. Bringing together works on paper and canvas from the past five decades—as well as caftans, mannequins, sculptures, and notebooks on and in which she wielded her pen—the exhibition shows how Caland used the candidness and mutability of the medium of drawing to challenge traditional representations of sexuality, the body and desire.

Tips for a Successful Zoom Session
- Log in 5-10 minutes before the workshop begins to avoid any technical delays.
- Use a desktop or laptop for the best image quality. A tablet will also do, but on a smartphone, the image may be too small.
- Make sure you have a stable wifi connection before the workshop begins
Documentation
- The Drawing Center tries to share its programs as widely as possible, which means recording our programming and making it available online. By attending the event, you consent to audio recording and video recording and its/their release, publication, or exhibition.

Emily Bode

Emily Adams Bode was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. After studying in Switzerland, she moved to New York and graduated from Parsons School of Design and Eugene Lang College with a BA/BFA dual-degree in menswear design and philosophy. After gaining inspiration while working for brands such as Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs, Bode launched her namesake brand in July 2016 with a menswear collection made from globally-sourced antique fabrics.
Huguette Caland

Huguette Caland was the only daughter of the first president of the Republic of Lebanon, Bechara el Khoury. She began painting at the age of 16 under the private tutelage of Fernando Manetti, an Italian artist who resided in Lebanon. At the age of 20, she married Paul Caland, the nephew of the publisher of a pro-French daily Le Jour.

By 1964, she had lost both her parents, and shortly after her father’s death, Caland created her seminal painting, Red Sun. Later that year, she enrolled in the fine arts program at the American University of Beirut where she studied painting and drawing. In 1970, she moved to Paris and it was there that she began to explore themes of sexuality and desire in her work. This includes her series Bribes de Corps or “body bits,” in which isolated and interlocking body parts resemble landscapes. In 1979, she was commissioned by the fashion house of Pierre Cardin to create a line of high-fashion caftans. In 1987, Caland settled in Venice, California, where she built the home and studio of her dreams. The artist lived between there and Beirut until her recent death at the age of 88 in September 2019.
Cynthia Merhej

renaissance renaissance is designed by Cynthia Merhej. As a third generation female designer, her aim is to expand her family’s heritage of connecting women through couture. After studying Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins in London, she returned to Beirut in 2016 to found the brand from her mother’s atelier. It has since caught the attention of international stylists, press, and buyers.The brand was a semi-finalist for the prestigious LVMH Prize as well as the Fashion Trust Arabia Prize.

Credits

Free online programs are made possible by The Cy Twombly Foundation.

Education and Community Programs at The Drawing Center are made possible by the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc. Major support is provided by the Evelyn Toll Family Foundation. Additional support is provided, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.

Tips for a Successful Zoom Session

Documentation

Credits