[Lady Art] Joël Andrianomearisoa on Materializing Emotion Through Art and Getting Lost in the Lady Dior Labyrinth

“This bag is an emotion, Dior is an emotion for me,” says Joël Andrianomearisoa, the latest guest on the Dior Talks series themed around the 5th edition of Dior Lady Art and hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. Delving into the concepts and processes behind his layered, tactile creations for the project, the Malagasy artist discusses the challenges of condensing his universe in the Lady Dior bag. Entitled the Lady Dior Labyrinth, Joël’s reinterpretation of the iconic handbag is a direct continuation of his black paper series, notably an immersive work created for the first Madagascar Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale, entitled “I Have Forgotten the Night.” That sensorial piece, based on memories of Madagascar, invited the audience to walk through a labyrinth made of black tissue paper curtains. He describes his work as “a research exercise to materialize emotions.” Covered in a mille-feuille leaves of leather and black radzimir silk, in two different versions for night and day, this handwork-intensive bag is a testament to the savoir-faire of the petites mains in the Dior Atelier and the elaborate rituals that go into making one of the House’s most recognizable icons. “Mille-feuille for me is like Dior, it’s part of French culture,” says the artist, who also redesigned the Dior logo, using his own font. His fascination with duality, meanwhile, plays out in the immaculate white lining embroidered with the cryptic message: “Take me to the end of all loves.” Discover Joel Andrianomearisoa’s creations : https://youtu.be/quTrTOkywWM

Om Podcasten

Dior Talks* is delighted to introduce its latest podcast series dedicated to the Dior Lady Art project. Tune in to hear the stories and inspirations behind a new round of artist interpretations of the House’s iconic Lady Dior bag. An iconic object of desire with an extraordinary destiny that continues to be shaped by concepts and events forever transcending the boundaries of innovation and inventiveness. Thus, since 2016, for the Dior Lady Art project, the house has given international artists carte blanche to revisit this exceptional bag, which is then transformed into a dream canvas onto which they transpose their vision, their universe, their singularity. For this ninth edition, Sara Flores, Jeffrey Gibson, Huang Yuxing, Liang Yuanwei, Danielle Mckinney, Duy Anh Nhan Duc, Hayal Pozanti, Faith Ringgold, Vaughn Spann, Anna Weyant and Woo Kukwon each take their turn in appropriating the Lady Dior as a fascinating emblem of poetic metamorphosis. An alchemical combination of Dior’s heritage and creative freedom, resonating like an ode to passion and the world’s cultures. *An exceptional series hosted by the Paris-based fashion journalist Katya Foreman. Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.