Rocker, actor, designer – not just a musician, Lenny Kravitz is in fact a man of many talents. A fact that storied champagne house Dom Pérignon evidently recognised when the brand appointed him creative director in May.
The company is known for commissioning diverse talents such as Tokujin Yoshioka, Jeff Koons, and Karl Lagerfeld to contribute their artistic viewpoints, so asking Kravitz to establish a new vision is not such a leap of faith. A longtime fan of Dom Pérignon and friend of chef de cave Richard Geoffroy, Kravitz’s first steps were to travel to Hautvillers, France to learn more about the winemaking process. From this a more extensive collaboration was born.
The first outcome of this partnership is ‘Assemblage,’ an exhibition of photographs by Kravitz. Debuting at New York’s Skylight Modern before it embarks on a global tour (and subsequent advertising campaign), the showcase captures a warm gathering of his friends and family (daughter Zoë Kravitz appears), captured socialising while ‘tasting the stars’.
Kravitz became captivated by photography as a child, when he would play with his father’s Leica camera. ‘My father gave me the camera when I was 21,’ he says. ‘When I was 24 I got a record deal, so I had to be in front of the camera, but I always thought it was far more interesting what was going on behind it.’ Over the years, Kravitz developed close relationships with photographers such as Mark Seliger and Jean-Baptiste Mondino, who taught him the craft.
For ‘Assemblage’, Kravitz referenced the work of another famed lensman. ‘I was very much inspired by the Studio 54 photographs of Ron Galella, who did all these wonderful shots of New York nightlife,’ he says. The black-and-white images in the Dom Pérignon exhibit were captured at the Stanley House, a 10,700 sq ft residence in the Hollywood Hills designed by Kravitz and XTEN Architecture. The musician started his firm Kravitz Design in 2003.
‘I took the interiors and architecture lane because that was something I was so interested in,’ he says. ‘I had no idea how to make it happen, but I basically used my own money to start the company.’ The studio has since completed projects including a collection with Philippe Starck for Kartell, product lines for CB2 and Flavor Paper, and the interiors of 75 Kenmare, a luxury condominium in Manhattan. ‘I got accepted into the design world by paying my dues, going to Milan, and spending time with designers,’ he adds.
It seems Kravitz’s multidisciplinary approach to creativity won’t be slowing down any time soon. ‘Music is my nucleus, but I’m just as passionate about design, photography, and acting,’ he says. ‘I’m always weaving the different mediums and it enables me to continue to be creative.’
Kravitz’s role will continue in 2019 with the release of a limited-edition bottle.
INFORMATION
‘Assemblage’ is on view until 6 October, register for tickets here. For more information, visit the Dom Pérignon website
ADDRESS
Skylight Modern
537 West 27th Street
New York
-
Indian studio Compartment S4 celebrates architectural collaborationCompartment S4, the Indian architecture studio out of Ahmedabad and Mumbai, is true to its collective nature
-
A revamped Edinburgh apartment combines Californian-style modernism with modern craftArcher + Braun have transformed an apartment in a historic house with finely tuned contemporary additions and sympathetic attention to detail
-
Formafantasma’s biodiversity-boosting installation in a Perrier Jouët vineyard is cross-pollination at its bestFormafantasma and Perrier Jouët unveil the first project in their ‘Cohabitare’ initiative, ‘not only a work of art but also a contribution to the ecosystem’
-
Inside Luna Luna: the amusement park designed by artists lands in New York‘Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy’ – featuring rides by Basquiat, Lichtenstein, Hockney, Haring, and Dalí – has opened at The Shed
-
Henni Alftan’s paintings frame everyday moments in cinematic renditionsConcurrent exhibitions in New York and Shanghai celebrate the mesmerising mystery in Henni Alftan’s paintings
-
Brutalism in film: the beautiful house that forms the backdrop to The Room Next DoorThe Room Next Door's production designer discusses mood-boarding and scene-setting for a moving film about friendship, fragility and the final curtain
-
'There’s an anxiety under all of it': Violet Dennison in New YorkViolet Dennison debuts abstract paintings with new show 'Damaged Self' at Tara Downs Gallery
-
‘Gas Tank City’, a new monograph by Andrew Holmes, is a photorealist eye on the American West‘Gas Tank City’ chronicles the artist’s journey across truck-stop America, creating meticulous drawings of fleeting moments
-
Mark Armijo McKnight’s bodily landscapes capture the tactile serenity of the American WestThe artist’s new exhibition at the Whitney Museum, which is organised by the museum curator Drew Sawyer, offers a succinct window into his contemplative suggestion of queering a landscape
-
Dark, glamorous and hedonistic: a photography book captures New York in the 1990sNew York: High Life, Low Life, by Dafydd Jones, goes behind the scenes of New York society
-
Derrick Alexis Coard’s portraits are a sensitive, positive testimony to Black menThe late artist Derrick Alexis Coard’s retrospective ‘I Am That I Am’, at New York’s Salon 94, honours his ‘symbolic expression for possible change for the African-American male community’
