Where was Colette Justine born?
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Colette Justine better known as Colette and from 2001 Colette Lumiere (born 1952 in Tunis, Tunisia) is a French-born, American multimedia artist known for her pioneering work in performance art, street art and her use of photography constructed photograph. She is also known for her work exploring male and female gender roles, different guises and personas and for her soft fabric environments where she often appears as the central element.
Colette Justine
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In 1975 Colette was asked to participate in "Fashion as Fantasy" at Rizzoli's bookstore. In this fashion/art event (co-curated by Frederico Suro), a larger-than-life perforated light box of Colette was featured, while throughout the store and its windows Colette performed as "Ragdoll" with veiled breasts, a Victorian corset, bloomers and boots. Images of her "look" and her habit of wearing and incorporating undergarments began to appear not only in art publications, but also in fashion and popular press: "Art News", "Women's Wear Daily", and "Daily News". References to Colette's look worn in art and life, are still made as having inspired a young Madonna and later Lady Gaga. During this time Colette begun to be referred to as a "walking performance".
Colette Justine
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During this period, Colette's installations with her art and fashion designs were showcased in the windows of Munich's most prominent department stores: Loden Frey and Ludwig Beck (where her couture wedding dresses were available). At the beginning of her stay there May 1986 she was awarded a studio at Lothringstrasse, which she immediately turned into an environment. In Munich her works were shown at the Dany Keller Gallery and in Berlin where she often commuted to exhibit her works. There, Nathan Federowsky gallery presented "Colette and the Russians", which included Colettesized Russian icons. Her haute couture clothes of ruched and crinkled satin and other fabrics were on view at the Boutique DurBruch. A special presentation was held there with models staged inside the store wearing Colette's one of a kind creations. In NYC, the Gallery of Wearable Art carried her evening one of a kind couture and commissioned her to do a window. During her short return to New York in 1986, before going to Munich she had a solo exhibition at Daniel Newburg gallery "Autobiographs" with an after-opening celebration held with a special installation at Area where the impersonator "Zet "posed in a Colette bed. In a group show, Logosimmi, curated by Alan Jones, Daniel Newburg was introduced to Colette's work and gave her a solo show "Autobiographs" the same year. In 1987, in another solo show "An exhibition for dolls" was presented there. A group of upcoming artists; Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, Sinclair Cemin, Wolfgang Stahle, Taro Suzuki and Frank Shroeder also were exhibited at Daniel Newburg gallery.
Colette Justine
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By 1992 Colette returned to New York and made it once again her primary residence, while continuing to travel and exhibit abroad, especially to Munich and Berlin. During that time her art was represented by the Dorsky Gallery where she exhibited new works from the Bavarian adventure and "the figures come to life". In 1990 the Rempire Gallery in SoHo presented "Through the Looking glass" and "Love in ruins /the artist and her Muse"_ The works from "The secret lives of Count and Countess Reichenbach" were featured among other works referring to other muses, friends, and well-known personages: a portrait of Frida Kahlo and a large light box "the bath" with a young Jeff Koons- (made from a still image of her video "Justine & the Boys"). The Persona Olympia" emerged in 1990 in Munich when she was beginning the process of returning to New York permanently. In 1991, her work was exhibited with Joseph Beuys, John Armedledder in the group show "The Invisible Body" curated by Alan Jones at the Rempire Gallery in NYC.
Colette Justine
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During that year, Banco gallery in Brescia, Italy presented "Les actions de Justine"; a mostly blue satin installation with slide projections. She posed as "the Pietà" in it for its opening. In the second room of the gallery, her record album covers, collages embedded in satin, which recorded her life as "Justine" were exhibited.
In 1979 in a store window art exhibition curated by Peter Pakesh held in department stores over the city of Graz, Austria. In her window at K&O, Justine of the Colette is dead Co. posed as a recording star in a white satin environment in her "Victorian Look" promoting her conceptual "beautiful Dreamer Lp" (not yet released). Her music played outside on the streets. Concurrently she transformed one of the large mirror rooms of the Neue Gallery for the exhibition "Masculin Feminin" (curated by Klaus Honnef) as Justine's Disco Punk Church Club. This term has currently surfaced in the music industry to describe current music.
In an installation at Victoria Falls, a vintage boutique on Spring St. NYC, she presented her multimedia spectacle "Ripping myself Off". Clothes she designed, inspired by her image, which had filtered into the commercial world, were displayed inside the store. In its windows she posed as Joan of Arc, in a work entitled "Paranoia is heightened awareness". For its opening a fashion show was staged including the song "Ripping Myself Off" she co-wrote with Albert Crabtree.
Colette Justine
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In 1978 Fiorucci invited her to do an exhibition, which included a sleeping installation performance in the windows of the West 59th Street store in NYC. Soon after, Fiorucci began using live models in the store and Colette's "Victorian Punk Look" became part of the 1980s NYC "Downtown New Wave" world. In 1979 Emilio Fiorucci commissioned her to create a line of clothes for the store. Her "Deadly Feminine Line" was showcased in the windows of the boutique and Colette staged a fashion art performance at the Mudd Club in celebration.
Colette Justine
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In 1990 in an exhibition in Munich at Carol Johnssen Gallery "Visits to the Normal World" Colette began to use the name Olympia. It was the first of seven solo shows at that gallery. In 1991 she presented her Colettesized commissioned portraits in "The Aristocrats"; among the portraits of local aristocrats were Leslie and Dedlef Von Waggonheim, Kiki and Eckbert Von Buehlen & Urbach; and an installation featuring "The Unnunciation". The subject Colette as "the Countess Reichenbach" (with her then boyfriend actor Misha Tregor ("Count Reichenbach") a regular at the Kammerspiele theater in Munich). In 1991
Colette Justine
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In 1978 Colette staged a mock death in an installation/performance at the Downtown Whitney titled "The Last Stitch" part of the "Out of the House" exhibition. She performed her resurrection at PS1 now part of MOMA a few days later as "Justine and the Victorian Punks" (the first in a series of living personas). Justine armed with Colette's vision posed as a recording star, fashion designer, inventor & conceptualizer of products - "The Beautiful Dreamer" (Colette) doll, perfume, beautiful dreamer bed, fashions, lps etc... And was the head of the Colette's estate.
Colette Justine
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Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was born on January 28, 1873, to war hero and tax collector Jules-Joseph Colette and his wife Adèle Eugénie Sidonie ("Sido"), "née" Landoy, in the village of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye in the department of Yonne, Burgundy. The family was initially well off, but poor financial management substantially reduced the family's income, and Colette attended a public school from the ages of 6 to 17. She had a cousin, Genevieve, with whom she was particularly close.
Colette
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In 1977, Colette represented the US in the Paris Bienale, with "Let them eat Cake" reclining in a lavender and salmon color boudoir. She also constructed "Clearance Sale" in the bedroom of Nancy Gillesby Delaage Gallery in Paris. Two other rooms were occupied with Annette Messager's and Laurie Anderson's work. A few weeks later, she was featured in the performance section of the Cologne Art Fair with other artists: Jack Smith, Marina Abramović, Jurgen Klauke, Laurie Anderson and Michel Butta. She lived for six days in her piece "Ancorra Tu" which resembled her living environment in New York City with her personal belongings and art works, and the public could see her room through a light veil.
Colette Justine