FREE JEAN-PAUL GOUDE: AS GOUDE AS IT GETS PDF Jean-Paul Goude,Jean-Paul Gaultier,Edgar Morin,Jerome Sans,George Lois | 432 pages | 01 Apr 2012 | Thames & Hudson Ltd | 9780500516041 | English | London, United Kingdom As Goude As It Gets | Popular Photography The musical legacy of Grace Jones is defined by sonic innovation, provocative lyrics, and fearless experimentation. However, it was a series of consistently stellar album artwork that helped propel Jones from musician to icon -- from the elongated snarl of Slave to the Rhythm to the elegant aerobics of Island LifeJones' visual impact is etched into the landscape of modern pop culture. The resulting collaborative relationship is one of the most influential in the history of music, and has earned Goude his own exhibition entitled So Far So Goudewhich recently opened in Milan's Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea. Naturally, a large segment is dedicated to Jones, his most famous muse -- but what was it that drew the duo together, and how did their collaborative work go on to define the visual landscape of the 70s and 80s? It's well-known that much of Goude's work centers around artistic depictions of race, ethnicity, and global culture -- a fascination explored most famously in an image originally published in his book Jungle Feverwhich spawned a Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets Kardashian recreation that 'broke the Internet' last year. His enchantment was with the far-away and the exotic, which led to his renderings of black women being branded as controversial and exploitative, although never by his subjects. He explored these themes frequently throughout his work with Jones, creating images which saw her hypersexualized, her Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets emphasized. Through the eyes of an artist, Jones became more than human -- she became a strong, black powerhouse with an androgynous sex appeal and a ferocious glint in her eyes. In her biography I'll Never Write My MemoirsJones talks openly about the Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets expectations that Goude had of her in their daily life and how that eventually led to the collapse of their personal relationship. In a interview with SHOWStudioGoude is similarly candid, admitting that he was initially underwhelmed by the star and dismissed her as a "partygoer with relative talents" -- that was, at least, until he saw her live. Even then he admits that the music wasn't to his taste, but he soon fell in love with the idea of her as a muse. By playing up her Jamaican heritage and striking features, the vision of the artist and the exotic muse were united and Grace Jones became a reified translation of herself. In fact, Jones transcended definition in almost every realm of her life. She rejects all labels of sexuality, and her musical output is similarly fluid, switching from pop and disco to dub and reggae without hesitation. It was precisely this approach to music that resulted in some of her most progressive hits such as "Warm Leatherette" and "Slave to the Rhythm" being largely ignored by mainstream radio. Her appearance was equally divisive -- although her striking visuals led to her becoming a muse for the likes of Issey Miyake Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets Thierry Mugler, it provoked a bemused mainstream reaction, exemplified brilliantly in a interview which sees a confused journalist asking her to Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets her gender and sexuality Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets pointedly responds by asking if he would eat a cockroach if he were starved on a desert island -- he nervously admits that he would. Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets ambiguity was explored in extreme forms by Goude, who communicated this resistance to definition through the realm of post-production. In many ways, this is Goude's translation of her outsider status -- she's not man, she's not woman, she's not even human. However, it was Jones' One Man Show that still reigns supreme as the purest incarnation of the duo's creative vision. Nominated in for the first Best Long Form Music Video Grammy, the show is a combination of concert footage, photography and video clips, directed by Goude. The duo created other equally famous sequences, such as one that shows Jones sat, her face in profile view decorated with three geometric shapes attached by elastic bands. An anonymous Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets pulls the shapes slowly away from the face and cuts them away, while Jones barely flinches. This short clip more closely resembles performance art than a traditional music video, and encompasses the way that Goude's involvement made Jones 'more than' a pop star. Her links with Pop Art were well-documented -- she was famously close with Andy Warhol and renowned within the art world. Her visual credentials were more impressive than any of her musical contemporaries, and it was this element of high culture that made her contribution to the music industry so pivotal. She wasn't a mere singer, and she wasn't stereotyped because she resisted definition so fervently. There was always a sense that the music industry never quite understood Jones, a fact proven by the career complications that plagued her early work. Instead, she was a cultural phenomenon, and Goude's work exaggerated and exemplified this. By manipulating her image, he created the view that Jones was iconography in her own right -- together, they built a legend that was instantly recognizable but drenched in mystery, whereas her personality and provocative soundbites helped fuel public interest not only in the singer herself, but in her relationship with Goude. Jean-Paul Goude's best photograph: an androgynous Grace Jones | Grace Jones | The Guardian Jean-Paul Goude born 8 December is Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets French graphic designerillustratorphotographeradvertising film director and event designer. Jean-Paul Goude was born on 8 December to an American ballet dancer, and a French elevator repair man, and grew up in the Paris suburb of Saint-Mande. As a child, Goude's mother recognized his natural sense of rhythm, but the most notable characteristic that Goude acknowledged in his childhood self, was a fascination with Aboriginal and black people. For Goude, Aboriginals were his heroes; he would draw them fighting White cowboys, and unsurprisingly, the Aboriginals would always win. Although they were his heroes, black people would soon hold a larger place in his heart. Goude and his mother shared in their fascination with black people. As a ballet dancer, his mother envied the beauty of the Black dancers she worked with, and described to her son the jet-black skin of the chorus girls, as well as the unique ways in which the women would move their bodies. In Goude's book Jungle Feverhe shares an image of his mother dancing in the middle of several men sporting black-face makeup. Goude would also utilize black-face in his photography career. Even decades later, the views developed with the help of his mother continue to fuel Goude's passion for photography. The first time an issue of Esquire Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets with a cover by George LoisI said to myself, that's what I want to do. InHarold Hayeseditor of Esquire magazine, asked Goude to art direct a special edition of the magazine to Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets its 75th issue. Several months later, Goude was asked to become the magazine's full-time art editor, despite having limited experience working with layouts. A few days later, he offered me the job. I took everything I owned and moved to New York. I stayed for seven years and it was Jean- Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets, but I was not prepared for the literary world. I wish I had known more about it. I would see Gore Vidal in the hallways of Esquire. It was exciting. Goude worked closely with model-turned- pop-singer Grace Jonesconsulting on her image, choreographing her live stage performances, directing her music videos, and creating her album covers. People were still doing lots of drugs and I had been working so hard for so long and she made me part of her lifestyle, made me go out dancing at Studio She became an obsession and we did everything together. Goude is often recognized for his humorous and illusory style. To begin, advertisements that Goude creates on commission almost never display black men or women, are often colourful, and are read as humorous and playful. Goude's book, Jungle Feverhas been described as an autobiographical exploration of his career. The book is separated into several chapters, each titled with the name of the Jean-Paul Goude: As Goude as it Gets used in his photographs. In "Island Life," a photo which he created for cover for Grace Jones's album of the same name, Goude photographed her in several different positions, then overlaid the images to elongate the neck, and legs, and to display her torso completely turned forward. He would then paint in the gaps between body parts to make the image appear natural. InGoude photographed Kim Kardashian for Paper magazine. When the photos were released, their popularity and topicality were said to "break the Internet," just as the magazine's accompanying caption indicated. One of the images was a recreation of Goude's earlier work "Carolina Beaumont". He has also created advertisements for clients such as Azzedine AlaiaPerrierand Cacharel. Some of Goude's most celebrated print campaigns have been for Galeries Lafayettea leading Parisian department store.