The third chapter of the Artycapucines Collection adds six more names to Louis Vuitton’s list of leading contemporary artists, who have flexed their creative muscles on the iconic Capucines bag.
Named after Rue Neuve-des-Capucines, where the maison’s first store opened in 1854, each Artycapucines will be released in a limited edition of 200 pieces.
Zeng Fanzhi
A fervent admirer of Vincent van Gogh, the Wuhan-born painter’s 2017 series of portraits for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam combined his style of swirling line patterns with the renowned Dutch painter’s signature technique, evoking Van Gogh’s brushstrokes, use of colour and artistic vision. For this Artycapucines, his reinterpretation of a Van Gogh self-portrait is immortalised with over 700,000 meticulous embroidery stitches.
Gregor Hildebrandt
The Berlin-based artist’s striking graphic reinterpretation succinctly reflects his work – distinguished for its black-and-white aesthetic and inventive use of vinyl records – which led him to establish his own music label, Grzegorzki Records, in 2018. The vinyl record’s grooves endow a subtle yet surprising textural effect to the LV signature gracing this Artycapucines’ screen-printed leather.
Donna Huanca
“I want the experience of my work to create a surreal moment similar to a hallucination,” the Chicago native once said of her interdisciplinary practice spanning painting, sculpture, video, sound and scent. Awash in a dreamy spectrum of blues, her Artycapucines enthrals with imaginative hand-painted embroideries featuring a kinky twist – the top handle is anchored to the bag in the form of body piercing rings.
Paola Pivi
A reinterpretation of her previous irreverent work depicting a leopard taking a stroll among dozens of cappucinos, the Italian multimedia artist’s Artycapucines is enriched with complex leather marquetry and gold-leaf gilding. Characterised by her studies of animals and their representations, her work adopts anthropomorphic gestures to recontextualise their characteristics and behaviours.
Huang Yuxing
Born and based in Beijing, the painter’s striking portrayal of a fantasy landscape on this Artycapucines captures his oeuvre wonderfully. His work constructs images of lakes, forests, mountains, rivers, sunrises and sunsets from the expressive realism of traditional Chinese gongbi painting, punctuated with electrifying fluorescent hues he calls the “colours of our generation”.
Vik Muniz
Starting as a sculptor in a career spanning over 30 years, the São Paulo-born artist has worked in different forms of media and had even served as artistic director for the 2016 Paralympics’ opening ceremony. This Artycapucines is a playful representation of the random materials he uses in his creations, most notably his renditions of Pablo Picasso’s Woman Ironing and Jean-François Millet’s The Sower that were produced with household waste obtained from Rio de Janeiro’s dump.
(All images: Louis Vuitton)
This story first appeared in the October 2021 issue of Prestige Singapore.
Jacquie Ang
Jacquie Ang is the fashion editor. She subscribes to Martin Margiela’s desire for anonymity — her place stays behind the camera. When she’s not dreaming up ideas for shoots, geeking out over the details behind runway collections, or deciphering real life’s influences on fashion, she plays toy photographer on Instagram.