Craig Redman: Pop Portraits

Australian graphic artist Craig Redman’s pop art-inspired portraits of leading Italian fashion figures offer a psychedelic take on the front rows of Milan Fashion Week. Taken from his upcoming solo show, Protagonist, at Milan’s Slam Jam Store, the works feature celebrated designers such as Riccardo Tisci and Miuccia Prada alongside iconic personalities including Valentino and Anna Piaggi. Better known for his egg-shaped alter-ego Darcel, the New York-based Redman collaged elements from a variety of images into cubist portraits of his subjects before replacing their natural shapes with geometric forms. “People normally have a pretty visceral response,” he says. “I think there’s a hopeful optimism in the work and it’s not alienating, which sometimes happens in the fashion world.” Juxtaposing Ben–Day dots with crosshatching and a variety of bold, flat colors, Redman's striking but approachable pieces imbue some of the fashion world's most recognizable likenesses with an undeniable sense of fun.