William Lemon Turns Faces Into Forests | Flaunt Magazine

William Lemon Turns Faces Into Forests | Flaunt Magazine

Written by Justin Pansacola

William Lemon III is a multi-talented LA-based artist, working in everything from music to fashion to performance art, but he gets most notoriety from his “skin printing” make up work. It's made him a popular get for music videos: Lemon has lent his creative make up talents to Lady Gaga, N.E.R.D., Basement Jaxx, Beck, not to mention Flaunt's cover artwork for Issue 112 in collaboration with the artists Justin Lowe and Jonah Freeman. His latest comes from Alexander, as in the debut solo project of Alex Ebert, the Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros front man. If previously Lemon used skin as a canvas, here he's using it more as a landscape, swapping beards for tiny trees with the help of TEMPTU Pro. It's really best if you just saw the facescapes for yourself:

Alexander "A Million Years" from benjamin kutsko on Vimeo.

You'll be able to see the drawing, art and paintings of Lemon starting May 26 at the Here is Elsewhere gallery in the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.

Newest post for Diane Pernet's A Shaded View On Fashion

Hello,

I've been lagging on posts here, but you can find me sometimes over on the legendary Diane Pernet's site "A Shaded View On Fashion." I've admired her work for years, so its an honor to be an LA correspondent for her site.

As they say, "write what you know." So here is the latest.
xo
J

Dear Diane, Dear Shaded Viewers,
I feel that there are certain artists who tap into "it." They have a talent to organize and communicate a nostalgic mixture of pop, counter-culture and psychedelia with their own point of view. Its capturing the spirit of freedom, "outlaws" and forward thinkers. They trip us up with their psychology. Is the work from then, now, or the future? In more simple terms, I like what I see here. I am happy to encounter the artists and works below that I'd like to share with you.
THE REST OF THE STORY IS HERE

I lived in NY for 1/2 of Feb

Odilon FW 2011. Red twill suit with 1930s antiqued metal fringe. Harold Kuhn & Stacey Clark's taste & design came together on the collection. Photo by Ryan Koopmans

And was preparing for this for much of January.

My dear baby Odilon by Stacey Clark had its first official presentation during NY Fashion Week. Somehow I took on the job of producer as well as PR (I do need a clone), with thanks to my friends Corinna & Michael @ Nouveau-PR for helping with front of house. I am very proud of how far Odilon has come in a very short time :)

More to follow, but I've just started to come up for air. NY is exhilarating and exhausting. Its so much like Japan to me in that the people work hard and play harder! With places open til 4AM, its no wonder people burn out in that city. I'm a night owl, but I think if NY is going to keep the party going til 4, they ought to starting working a couple of hours later as well ;)

I slept 1.5 hours the night before... Me, Alia, & Tavi at the Odilon presentation. I was most impressed by Tavi's combination of old-soul spirit and kindness mixed with youthful keen interest. Her father Steve was very kind as well and obviously has done an amazing job raising his girl (much like another poppa Steve and his wife Betsyn who are Odilon designer Stacey Clark's parents). Tavi's wig was so amazing on her, it seemed so natural. Somehow we are all a tone of it in this photo by Ryan Koopmans.

I could not have made it through the time there without my amazing creative collaborators. Its incredible to have built a team/family you know you can count on like dear Mr. William Lemon III (who has certainly seen me at my worst and my best); the ever talented, chic and serene Alia Raza; behind the scenes detail-oriented & amazing friend Julie DeAnda; spot-on wise & calming Corinna Springer (mentioned above), artful photog phenom Mr. Ryan Koopmans & model wrangler (casting agent) Larissa Gunn. Daily trips to Health & Harmony in the West Village helped with that amazing turmeric ginger juice to ward off the fashion flu. Of course mascot Callie came along for the trip as well, though she certainly prefers the weather in LA to those 15 degree nights in NY.

Oh, & we squeezed in time to make a short film with the AMAZING Hallie Gates as star. What an inspiring young woman! More on that later too.

Rachel Chandler channels Patty Hearst in an Odilon jumpsuit at their presentation. Photo by Ryan Koopmans

Rachel Chandler was also a love during this crazy time and while she's running around working til all hours of the night/morning, she also managed to DJ the Odilon presentation. Thank you Rachel and thank you Ezra Woods for introducing us!

While all work and no play makes one dull, I did take a handful of moments to do what I wanted to do in order to stay balanced--which I do thank Mr. Eddie Peel for advising. Sadly, the fun I had was always last minute, so I didn't get to see some of my dear friends who I always have dinner and time together with in NY over the past 10 years. That was surely something that made me sad :(

MAJOR thanks to TEMPTU (Ava !!!!!) and ION Studio (Natia, Marco, Naomi, & Leonardo!!!!!) for sponsoring ODILON's first time up on the big pedestal of competition that is NY Fashion Week. (Stacey & I also could not have made it through without our own TEMPTU airbrushes! And I had the best haircut ever & a hit of glossy color from ION--done while multi-tasking filling out event insurance forms & a million emails).

Beautiful Stacey & her models. Yes, we chose a lot of red heads for the Persephone meets 1970 collection. Photo by Ryan Koopmans

More later as I said, but Odilon has had great hits all over the web the past 2 weeks on the likes of Refinery 29, Getty Images, Nylon, Sugar, Just Jared, some Canadian newspapers, and more.... I'm keeping those things more updated on my Facebook & Twitter for now. So much to keep up with!

LACMA socializing & fundraising

The always dapper Giovanni Ribisi and a 1400 BC sculpture from Mexico in the newly opened LACMA Resnick pavilion.

William Lemon (L) and Jessica Trent attend the FENDI boutique opening hosted by Chloe Sevigny and in conjunction with LACMA. October 7, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.

(Will wears a vintage suit picked up in Louisiana I'm in vintage Holly's Harp silk jersey, our yet to be named hosiery, Alaia belt...)

More below on the LACMA gala from a couple of weeks ago.

The Unmasking of LACMA’s Resnick Pavilion

An exquisite evening that was perfectly produced, last weekend LACMA unmasked their amazing $53 million dollar Renzo Piano designed Resnick Pavilion. This block of Los Angeles is truly like a time machine, from 40,000 year old bubbling tar pits and fossils at the Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits to colossal basalt heads now on view at LACMA from the Olmec civilization of Mexico, circa 1400 BC. Click HERE for the rest of the story.

Gelila Asefa Puck always wears the best accessory, a beautiful smile, here pictured with the amazing John Baldessari.

Wren designer Melissa Coker in her own label, accompanied by her sweet pal Thomas Whiteside.

Guinevere van Seenus and photographer David Mushegain.

Me in a 1960s vintage gown, Chanel corset belt, & my new ELYSIAN hosiery line hand-painted by my collaborator William Lemon III with Charlotte Eyerman in Lutz & a vintage Whiting & Davis bag.

Will Lemon III @ Eighth Veil. NY Times T Magazine

Excited to have been working for some time with fellow Libra creative inspirer/collaborator Will Lemon III on his show @ Eighth Veil gallery here in LA, as well as some other projects such as the Odilon A/W 2010 film with Alia Raza and a very cool project coming up in the future.

Come check out his closing night performance on the full moon of August 24th @ 8PM! Eighth Veil. 7174 Sunset Blvd. LA

FULL ARTICLE: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/los-angeles-dispatch-will-lemon-at-eighth-veil-gallery/

I can't thank journalist Steffie Nelson and the staff at the NY Times enough. Thrilled with the piece! Thank you! Snippet from the article below:

The comparison was clear at Lemon’s multimedia exhibition, “Parcival vs. the Sun,” which opened recently at the Eighth Veil gallery in Hollywood and attracted artists, architects, fashion designers and stylists, along with friends and collaborators like Devendra Banhart (a guest musician on “VII Acts”), Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk and Paul Hahn, who runs the band’s production company Daft Arts. They all gathered under a series of large canvas tapestries and looked through a limited-edition book printed by the gallery’s publishing house. Lemon’s intricate, colorful designs depicting the quest of the knight Parcival to find his true self included motifs that are echoed in his skin-printing work.

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The custom linen cloak that Will wore in the performance was a collaboration with Cavern Collection

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Erin Garcia is the amazing sound designer Will collaborated with to compose the piece for the performance. Erin is also a drummer in the band Widows. They met last year when Will recorded & co-produced with Erin a cover of David Bowie's "African Night Flight" with Aska Matsumiya for an upcoming Manimal Vinyl Bowie tribute record.

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The exhibition is inspired in part by the senses. Thanks to IZZE soda (we REALLY love the new ginger flavor) and Lorenza Rose for their beautiful contribution to the sense of taste for the opening night beverages.

"DUAL" DIRECTED BY ALIA RAZA FOR ODILON

We screened the short film "Dual" by Alia Raza during Odilon's autum/winter 2010 presentation @ the Eighth Veil gallery in Hollywood last Wednesday to a fantastic crowd of editors, stylists, artists, and the like. We were very pleased with this review of the fall collection by Booth Moore and Adam Tschorn of the LA Times. (check some of the collection and what they had to say here). More to come this week from other esteemed press...

Direction Alia Raza / Featuring Alli Cripe & Annakim Violette / Production Stacey Clark & Jessica Trent / Editing Maximilla Lukacs / Original Score Street Tribes / Creative Direction Jessica Trent / Direction of Photography Shaheen Seth / Makeup William Lemon III / Wardrobe Harold Kuhn / Clothing and bags ODILON

The piece was a collaborative effort of artists, and despite the short turn-around time and the pelting rays of the desert sun, it was one of those experiences where things just flowed well with the group both on site and back here in LA for all of the editing and coordination of the presentation. Of course we wish we could have had more time, done more, shot more, and the ideas keep coming. We ran out to the desert just hours after the 4.8 earthquake where we shot our post-apocalyptic short right on the San Andreas fault by the Salton Sea (about 45 minutes past the ideallic town of Palm Springs). Those shots of dead fish are what line the immense shoreline of what was once a booming resort. I stumbled upon this place 3 or 4 years ago while on a solo soul-searching mission. Not the place to find the meaning of life, but a cool place to shoot.

We made the very dog and vegetarian friendly Ace hotel our headquarters for this trp. (I LOVE the ACE!!) Vita Coco water kept us all hydrated, thankfully!

Click here for more on Odilon and Stacey Clark.

"Dual," a film by Alia Raza, comments on destructive competition with primal, animal-like intimidation as well as cooperative competition for mutual survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Filmed on the San Andreas Fault surrounded by the biological decay of the Salton Sea, artist Annakim Violette plays a character that is the creation of synthetic biology seeking to transinfect and overtake a human played by Alli Cripe. The two battle against and with one another in Odilon's taupe-hued nylon-coated jersey skin suits and stiff hooded shells of translucent nylon-coated spider web organza. The nuclear orange undercoat of a rabbit fur and washed leather jacket grounds the primal human aspect while Odilon's signature ball-bag becomes a weapon. Artist William Lemon III painted the faces of the film's characters to punctuate the cooperation of a new nomadic tribe.

Alia Raza
Alia Raza is a filmmaker and artist based in New York and Los Angeles. Raza's work blends cinema and time-based video, dealing with themes that include self-presentation and its related anxieties, and the influence of contemporary culture and consumerism on self-identity. Her work (which has featured performances by Sebastien Andrieu, Devendra Banhart, Christopher Bollen, Jorge Elbrecht, Karen Elson, Patrik Ervell, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Tavi Gevinson, Liz Goldwyn, Kim Gordon, Elizabeth Hart, Damian Kulash, Lykke Li, JenaMalone, Margherita Missoni, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Chloe Sevigny, Becky Stark, Arden Wohl) has been shown in screenings and events at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Greene Naftali, Moeller Snow, Renwick Gallery, Scope Art Fair, Kreilling & Dodd, LA> www.aliaraza.com