Gray M.C.A, the international leaders in the field of original Fashion Illustration, are returning this February to London’s hub for the Arts, Cromwell Place to unveil ‘A Fine Line in Fashion’ – an exhibition bringing together over 30 original works by acclaimed fashion illustrator, journalist, and author, Gladys Perint Palmer.
Opening on Tuesday 15th February and available to view until Sunday 20th February, the exhibition is a celebration of “GPP”, in a retrospective of her outstanding life in fashion as one of the most influential and respected illustrators of the modern era.
Inviting visitors on a dynamic journey through style & haute couture, the exhibition captures the colourful, creative essence of the fashion world, and examines the fine line of a fashion illustrator who not only understands fashion, but holds a certain affinity to the models who have walked the runways for fashion powerhouses across the globe. The exhibition will see some of GPP’s best original works that have lit up the pages of Vogue, The New York Times, L’Officiel, Grazia, Harper’s Bazaar, The Sunday Times, San Francisco Examiner and more – over the past forty years.
Continuing an essential and skilled tradition in a time where illustrations were often overlooked for the more fashionable camera, GPP’s electric illustrations are filled with colour, life & soul – complete with a mischievous undercurrent, synonymous with the artists’ world and front-row seat at haute couture shows in London, Paris, Milan and New York.
GPP has documented collections for some of the world’s most coveted designers including Dior, Burberry, Balenciaga, Christian Lacroix, Philip Tracey, Oscar de la Renta, Alexander McQueen and Karl Lagerfeld, to name a few, with the artist also holding a lasting association of particular note with Anna Piaggi, the legendary Editor of Vogue Italia whom in 1989, organised a solo exhibition of GPP’s work in Milan.
“My favourite drawing is No. 7 Sarah Burton for McQueen, 2013 Ink, metallic paint & watercolour on paper, signed & inscribed, 61 x 48 cms signed, 61 x 48 cms, Lumière Magazine. The exquisite and intricate head-dresses by Sarah Burton for McQueen remind me of the lamps on Pont Alexandre III, the most beautiful bridge in Paris. I remember drawing this bridge in March 1994, when I was on the set of Robert Altman’s film ‘Prêt-à-Porter’. The late Marcello Mastroianni’s double, Rémy Canaple, a spitting image, jumped off the bridge three times onto a huge floating mattress.”
– Gladys Perint Palmer
A Fine Line in Fashion – LONDON 15th-20th February 2022 Gray M.C.A, Cromwell Place, London, SW7 Exhibition Opening Preview: 15th February, 6.30PM
A Masterclass with Gladys Perint Palmer in-person and live from London: 17th February 2022, 6:30PM Opening Hours: 10AM-6:30PM
A Fine Line in Fashion – Bath 2nd March – 16th April 2022 5 Margaret’s Buildings, Bath BA1 2LP
About the artist
Gladys Perint Palmer is an acclaimed artist, fashion illustrator and journalist whose energetic artworks vividly bring fashion to life with dramatic visual effect. Her strength of line is characteristic with an artist who is entirely secure in communicating a powerful message with assurance and style whilst also ensuring an honesty that resonates with an audience. GPP (as she is known) was awarded her first Vogue cover in the 1960s. In line with the tradition of fashion illustrators attending the couture shows in Paris, London and Milan, and with a career that has spanned over fifty years, GPP has documented the couture collections of designers such as Dior, Chanel, Yves St Laurent, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Prada, Armani and Jean Paul Gaultier illustrating for Vogue, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Sunday Times, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Italian Grazia. Of particular note was her long association with Anna Piaggi, the legendary editor of Italian Vogue for whom in 1989, Piaggi arranged a solo exhibition of GPP’s work in Milan. Advertising clients have included Oscar de la Renta, Dior, Valentino, Galliano and Chanel as well as Neiman-Marcus and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. GPP was Fashion Editor of San Francisco Examiner from 1985 – 1991, Executive Director of Fashion at Academy of Art University, San Francisco (1995 – 2014) and later Executive Vice President (2014 – 2016). GPP’s work has been exhibited internationally in New York, San Francisco, Milan, Paris, Hong Kong and London. In 2020 her work was included in the acclaimed exhibition ‘Fashion Illustration: The Visionaries’ held at The Society of Illustrators, New York. GPP’s work is included in many books including a special commission by Gianni Versace for Do Not Disturb (Abbeville Press) in 1996. Books of her own work include Fashion People (Assouline) and Adam & Yves (Firefall). GPP’s drawings are held in the permanent collections of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Los Angeles; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; San Francisco Academy of Art; Issey Miyake Collection, Tokyo and The Museum of Modern Art, Montreal. GPP is now considered one of the most important and respected fashion illustrators of the modern era, an artist who carried the tradition of fashion illustration vividly through a period where fashion illustration was often overlooked for the more fashionable camera.
