Friday, November 30, 2007

Koh-Koh the Gorilla


Sculptor Terence Koh in a gorilla-fur coat at Calvin Klein's First Look party. Given the moral activism of today's political climate, it's not surprising that monkey fur doesn't make more public appearances. Koh wears a good example of the 1910s dropped silhouette, a shape that mirrored the loose draping and loss of waistline in that era's dresses.

Whether you don a coat, throw paint against a wall, or write a sentence, someone, somewhere, will come along and critique it, as I am doing here.

Given the conceptualism of Koh's work, his pod-like cocoon coat becomes an installation of artist-as-art, the coat a fur vitrine. Koh is nearly diminished by the shape and texture of the garment, which acts as a barrier between the artist and both climatic and human elements. His head is nearly disembodied by the black, thematically mirroring sculptural casts he has done of his face. Or maybe it was just cold out.


Left: Bianca Jagger in monkey fur on the Rolling Stones' 1971 UK tour.




Koh's Web site

Monkey fur jackets available at Alexander Wang.

Image: Style.com


9 comments:

WendyB said...

I believe Wang's coats are remodeled vintage pieces?

Suzanna Mars said...

Yes, Wang's are remodeled pieces, in the YSL "chubby" manner from what I have seen.

Anonymous said...

he does look like a cocoon

this artist is crazy i think!

Suzanna Mars said...

Did you take a glance at his Web site?

riz said...

"...a fur vitrine." Nice writing. Just found the blog and love it. I quite like how he dresses and recently remember him in the Balenciaga leggings, around the same time J. Connolly got criticized for wearing Balenciaga head 2 toe. He gets away with a lot!

Suzanna Mars said...

He is above being held to a standard, IMO, and is, in his own iconoclastic way, a walking emblem of freedom of speech.

Anonymous said...

he just might be the new elizabeth taylor of our times!

Suzanna Mars said...

Emile...CLASSIC!

Disneyrollergirl.net said...

Hey chica, thanks for the comment on my blog. Who is this Terence dude then - I've never heard of him!