Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Line of Influence: Portraits of Central Saint Martins


Christopher Kane, Oil on Canvas, 90x180cm, Kings Place Gallery
Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design has played a pivotal role in British fashion for as long as I can remember. Producing the biggest names in the industry such as: Stephen Jones, Giles Deacon and Christopher Kane, it has grown to become one of the biggest design schools in the world. To celebrate the opening of their new university campus at Kings Cross, Janet Lance Hughes (a former BA Fashion tutor at CSM) has painted life size portraits of the college's successful graduates and staff for an exhibition held at London's Kings Place Gallery.

The subjects of Janet's painting have been chosen for their contribution to British contemporary culture ranging from design and art all the way through to performance. Being a fashion blogger, I was immediately drawn to the portraits of fashion designers who, since their graduation from Central Saint Martins, have gone on to become industry leaders in the world of fashion. The lifelike quality of the paintings combined with the at ease nature at which the subjects have been portrayed made it really easy for the viewer to be drawn into the world in which these people, live, eat, breathe and create.

Hussein Chalayan MBE, Oil on Canvas 80x190cm, Kings Place Gallery
It was whilst teaching at Central Saint Martins that Janet had the idea for the project. "I started," she says, "to imagine all the extraordinary individuals who had passed through the doors in the last 50 years or so. I began to think about how our culture has been shaped and enriched by the many inspirational people involved in education and training and what an interesting idea it might be to paint them." In addition to teaching at CSM, Janet Lance Hughes is also a creative consultant to international, luxury brands such as Aquascutum, balancing her time between London and Hay-on-Wye.

Giles Deacon, Oil on Canvas 80x200cm Kings Place Gallery
The exhibition is held at London Kings Place Gallery until the 10th February and the admission is free. For more information about the exhibition, please visit the Kings Place Gallery website or for more information about Central Saint Martins, please visit their website.

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2 comments

  1. Hi Grace,
    Even though I don't know much about fashion, I have a feeling that someday your blog is going to be big. You write such great articles, better than most fashion blogs out there. Keep doing what you're doing, it will all work out in the end!
    Have an absolutely fantastic weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Caity, that is such a touching comment. Thank you so much for your kind words and for your support. It is greatly appreciated. Have a lovely weekend too

    ReplyDelete

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