IN GOUDE WE TRUST!
In collaboration with Chanel, Jean Paul Goude presents “In Goude We Trust” at Palazzo dei Giureconsulti, Milan! This exhibition is produced and curated by the eclectic French genius himself and brought to you by sponsorship of Milano Municipality. Jean Paul Goude is many things: photographer, illustrator Filmmaker and so much more! To most art enthusiasts, he is known as the “image-maker”, a title which encompasses all his occupations. This exhibition is celebrating Goude’s 30 years long artistic collaboration with Chanel. This exhibition gives you a sneak peak into the creative process that birthed some of the most successful Chanel campaigns. On top of that, “In Goude We Trust” also features illustration work and career highlights.
When I first entered the hall, I saw a wall on my right and noticed illustrations of the female body. At a first glance, I noticed the nudity. From the second look, I was trying to figure out if all the illustrations were of women. Because of the implicit bias that has been - unfortunately - embedded in me by society, I initially thought the last columns on the left and right ends were of men. Three illustrations on the very left column show three people in blue skin, and the beard and well-built muscles suggested they were men. One the other hand, pictures of the very right column are all in pants suits, which prompted me to think they were men as well based on the stereotype that pants suit and short hair are for men. Nevertheless, when I looked at the overall picture with all the illustrations, explicit female nudity hyper sexualized and denoted the femininity of the entire scheme of that wall. Only then, I was able to look closer; the details of each illustration’s bodyline and the miniscule details in the facial features: every illustration on that wall is of androgynous females.
It was interesting to see how different images put together can have an impact on one’s perception of things. Because of this first installation, I was able to approach all of Goude’s work with the proper perspective, especially the Grace Jones section; an iconic pop singer and Goude’s ex-partner. In most of her pictures, Jones has a deep blue skin and is edited to have a sharp hairline and facial features and an athletic body to bring out the traditionally more masculine look. It became clear, however that he was embracing androgynous femininity and trying to appreciate its beauty.
The next installations were mostly perfume campaigns Jean Paul had written and directed. He made many notable advertisements for Chanel but one of my favorite and Goude’s the most iconic commercial is his first campaign for Chanel, Egoiste(1990)- men’s perfume. In the commercial, Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights drowns the background, and different women passionately scream or mourn at the same man in French as they yelled the same dialogue in the end: “Egoiste!”. It is name of the perfume and also means “selfish” in English. Creating an image that this perfume is for man who is sought after by women. This advertisement won The Golden Lion award at Cannes, and the Illustration at the bottom was part of the initial storyboard Goude drew to design the advertisement. You can see the closed window circled in red, labeled “Egoiste” and how close the initial idea was to the finished product which was impressive.
Perfume commercials, out of all commercials, require extra creativity because unlike clothes or jewelry where potential customers can see how and what the product is going to be, customers cannot smell the perfume from the advertisement. Therefore, the role of the fragrance commercial to create a desirable image of the perfume for the customer. The fact that Goude was able to create not only commercially successful but also culturally iconic commercial that has been talked about and appreciated for past decades demonstrates his ability to capture audiences’ attention and to cater to their desire.
“In Goude We Trust!” is an exhibition that was first presented in The Tokyo Nexus Hall and received notable critical acclaim. If you have time to spare in the remaining days of December, please check out Jean Paul Goude’s own selection of highlights of his career and see more of creative process of Chanel campaign, such as Coco(1992) with Vanessa Paradis, who is forever a Chanel muse. This exhibition is available until 31st of December at Palazzo dei Giureconsulti, in Milan.
Meanwhile, here’s a tiny sneak peek:
