Dior: Le Jardinier
DIGITAL • ARTWORK
visual allusion to Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) premised on Dior Homme Spring/Summer 2021 campaign / original: pencil, pigment liner, watercolor + digital collage
Background
The Dior Spring/Summer 2021 collection by Kim Jones celebrates graphic creativity taking cues from the powerful portraiture of Ghanian artist Amoako Boafo reinvented by photographer Rafael Pavarotti.
Ghana-based figurative painter Amoako Boafo next to his artworks reflecting on the artist’s upbringing and Black culture at large while challenging masculine stereotypes.
Description / Story
If the prince could write a letter to his rose, what would it say? Inspired by Dior Homme S/S 2021 campaign, this piece is an allusion to Le Petit Prince, a novella by French aristocrat and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Everyone deserves love, regardless of race, color, national origin, class, religion, gender identity, age, health or other status: whenever feeling lost in the garden, just keep writing letters.
“You’re lovely, but you’re empty. One couldn’t die for you. Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she’s the one I’ve watered. Since she’s the one I put under glass. Since she’s the one I sheltered behind a screen. Since she’s the one for whom I killed the caterpillars. Since she’s the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she’s my rose.”
Acknowledgements
The Artruist is a digital collective of artists with a cause. Profits are donated to non-profit organizations that are making impactful work everyday. For this illustration, 100% of the profits are going to NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Feeding America. Available here.
Ideation + Process
Exploration of visual concept and cross-referencing imagery based on Rafael Pavarotti’s footage, Amoako Boafo’s artworks, and Tim Walker’s avant-garde editorial for W Magazine inspired by The Little Prince.
Process of transitioning from primary visual reference to the final image compilation. Incorporation of patterns and various graphic elements using Adobe Photoshop and Wacom Intuos 4.
Proofing process. Gallery-quality giclée art print on 100% cotton rag archival paper, printed with archival inks.
