‘Portrait of an Artist: Conversations with Trailblazing Creative Women’ by Hugo Huerta Marin © Prestel Verlag, Munich · London · New York, 2021, is a remarkable new book bringing you face-to-face with an incredible selection of pioneering women who have reshaped the creative industries. Published by Prestel on October 19th, the book features world-famous women all photographed and interviewed by Mexican artist Hugo Huerta Marin. Hugo is a multi-disciplinary artist and graphic designer whose work centers on gender and cultural identity.
Since moving to New York in 2012, he has collaborated with cultural institutions in the United States and Mexico, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Hugo works as art director to Marina Abramović, with whom he has collaborated internationally, and who is also featured in his new book. These unseen candid images and ground-breaking interviews will be published for the first time.
From legendary visual artists Yoko Ono and Tracey Emin to groundbreaking musicians like Annie Lennox and Debbie Harry, and fashion giants such as Miuccia Prada and Diane von Fürstenberg, this collection of original interviews and Polaroid photographs of almost 30 trailblazing women spans creative industries, nationalities and generations to bring together a never-before published collection of leading voices. Hugo Huerta Marin shines a light on diversity and individuality in the arts by featuring women from around the world including English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs, award- winning French actress Isabelle Huppert and renowned Japanese fashion designer and founder of Comme des Garçons Rei Kawakubo.
In total, Hugo Huerta Marin has spent seven years and countless journeys to the homes, studios, theatres and galleries of these incredible female artists, capturing their portraits and stories in the places they felt comfortable. Inspiring and revealing, this collection of interviews and photographs gives readers an unparalleled connection with some of the most fascinating women working in the arts today.
Portable in size to reflect its intimate content, ‘Portrait of an Artist: Conversations with Trailblazing Creative Women’ creates both a portrait of each individual woman and – collectively – a powerful portrait of the impact of women on the creative industries.
Below is a preview of some of the women featured, and what they shared with Hugo about their creative work:
Diane Von Furstenberg
“When I first started, I never thought about a brand. Suddenly, I had huge success. I was so young and I became the brand. You become bigger than yourself and therefore, you inspire others. The minute you start inspiring others is great because it is not about ego or titles anymore. Instead, it’s about “’If you can do it, I believe I can do it too.’ And that is my mission in life.”
FKA Twigs
“I think that if you’re making honest work, it will naturally speak of the times… Pain and trauma play a big part in my work. Again, it’s hard to pinpoint it, but I feel comfortable exploring it: It’s not something I feel the need to shy away from. I don’t find it uncomfortable to explore things that don’t feel good, and there is often something quite intense about that.”
Carrie Mae Weems
“I’ve used photography as my launch pad and it has taken me into the world — not that I am a documentary photographer—but I am deeply interested in looking at things, people, architecture, social situations, cultural phenomena … I am deeply curious about the world. I have always been looking at it. Photography allows me to move through it as a kind of participant-observer.”
Yoko Ono
“I think doing something that has already been done is a waste of time. Artists are not here to repeat themselves, but to do something totally new, so they can give something different to the audience.”
Shirin Neshat
“When I see a great work of art, or a film. It restores my faith in the power of art. A good friend of mine once gave me a list of film masterpieces to see and said: ‘Make sure you write down the date and hour you watch these films, because your life will never be the same again.’”
Cate Blanchett
“I don’t consider art to be political. I think the way art is disseminated and dissected, viewed, and processed can ultimately be political. I think art is a provocation — a provocation to have dangerous conversations. Of course I have political beliefs, but I think it is dangerous for artists to speak only to people who think like them. I have often lived in places where there have been few people who share my worldviews or politics. You know, that is my one and only problem with Berlin. Oh, my God! There are so many Australians there making art (laughs).”
Debbie Harry
“There is a great tradition in the arts to have a swing of the pendulum. And then that becomes the counterculture. It’s a way of energizing a society, and it also has to do with up-and-coming artists. It’s a very magical function and an energizing force. That is why people flock to it, you know, because it gives them a sense of purpose, or a sense of life. And sometimes it’s good and interesting and exciting work. I don’t know if it’s the case for all of society, but it’s true certainly for people who want to have a little bit more edge in their lives, and then it is eventually incorporated into the rest of society and it becomes accepted. It does take a while for things to be part of the generally accepted way of life, or style, or art, or music, or whatever it is, and I guess that is the beauty of it.”
You can get a copy of ‘Portrait of an Artist: Conversations with Trailblazing Creative Women’ by Hugo Huerta Marin by clicking HERE.
