Imagine this: You’re living in the Midwest.
Okay, close your mouth and unroll your eyes.
Try again.
You’re living in the Midwest…
You have a gorgeous and precocious child.
He grows up to be the star quarterback of his high school football team and senior class president.
He gets accepted to Yale.
You can’t afford to pay for Yale.
He tells you not to worry about it; that he can take care of it.
His good looks enable him to sign with a modeling agency in NYC.
He gets jobs for major labels such as Ralph Lauren and J. Crew.
He puts himself through Yale, majoring in Studio Arts.
He graduates in 1989.
By the mid-1990s, he is recognized as one of the most significant artists of the late 20th century.
Sound easy?
Not really.
Matthew Barney reminds us that it’s not always easy.
Art is hard.
Fashion is hard.
Hard provokes us, pushes us, makes us vulnerable and raw.
Who wouldn’t want it any other way?
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Matthew Barney, still from The Cremaster Cycle
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J. Crew advertisement
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Balenciaga Couture