e v i t a Cre
The sensuality
e v i t a Cre
La sensualitĂ
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GIPSY APOLLINARE “A sensual woman is a self-confident woman.” P.23
I C E
DOLCE&GABBANA Mediterranean sensuality. P.21
VALENTINA ROSSELLI an icon of endless charm and seduction. P.35 N I D
ZOE LACCHEI Sensual death. P.9
WHITE WOMAN SLEEPLESS NIGHTS BIG NUDES Helmut Newton. P.33
DITA VON TEESE The woman P.47
ZOE LACCHEI Sensual death. By Emanuela Amy Rossi Selena Magni
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he’s an illustrator of female bodies, well known in the United States and in Japan. Her shy and introvert character has brought her far away from reality and closer to her art of sensual, sinful and seductive women.
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Hello Zoe! First thing: how did you learn to draw so well and to know the human and animal anatomy so well? Art has run through my family’s veins for ever. Since I was a child I’ve been surrounded by wonderful and suggestive works of art, mostly representing martyrs or saints. My mum has always been skilled in every pictorial technique and my uncle, an art dealer and a critic, has given me the precious and unique privilege of seeing incredible masterpieces. I’ve learned all that made me who I am now from these two key figures in my life. Human and animal anatomy I’ve learned because of my relationship with life and death. Just like a clockmaker can’t help finding out what beats the time, I couldn’t avoid developing a passion for what makes us alive on a organic and spiritual level. Dead women, living women, sensual and provocative. Where do you take inspiration from? As I’ve been stimulated by religious images since I was young, I couldn’t separate, in my choices as an adult, the great dichotomies like sacred and profane, sin and purity, death seen as supreme rapture, especially if linked to sacrifice. It’s incredible how the brutality of some images typical of Christian religion can stay so vivid in a child’s mind, so much that they can influence her growth. I am completely and absolutely atheistic and I believe in science but there’s nothing more fascinating than Christian iconography. Not all of my works are linked to religious topics but surely my women are sinners, teasers caught in the highest moment of their sensuality.
What is your idea of death? How do you represent it in your drawings? Death is the only event that concerns all of us, together with birth and sexuality. I think it’s extremely fascinating because no life is like another but death associates us all. Despite my romantic and decadent attraction for the Grim Reaper, I’m scared of it, of course and I try to exorcise it with its opposite, the sexuality seen as a glorification of life. My works explicitly recall death only if there’s a strong concept to express. Death can represent the sacrifice in the name of one’s ideals, like my tribute to Yukio Mishima, or the cruelty behind beauty like in “Eros and Thanatos”, it can even be a childish game like in “Play Cat and Mouse”. In “Madame Guillotine” the beauty of the shapes is blended with the cruelty of faith, represented by the squirrel watching the blade that sooner or later will kill him. How do you make a woman sensual in your works? What features do you think it’s important to enhance? Besides the simple sensuality or the impudent beauty, what makes a woman alluring is the mystery hidden behind her look. I’m very attracted by the unaware perfection of a child that turns into a girl and changes her body just like a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. The charm of a Lolita is undeniable but so is the power that hides behind a look loaded with mystery. I am disgusted by the lack of decency and good taste of women nowadays. I dare giving a strong but effective example. Feminism has been a great goal for women but especially for those who fought to gain independence and to free themselves from archaic ideals.
The feminism of the new millennium and of young women lies in the utter lack of decency, mystery and elegance in the way they present themselves. It’s just like the difference between eroticism and pornography: eroticism shows you only “one plume”, while with pornography you can see “the whole chicken”. It’s details what make a woman unique. The beauty of the shapes is not enough if it’s not backed by savoir-fare: her eyes, her mouth and her hands are a woman’s strength because with them she can charm any man. I care a lot for these details and they should never cross the boundary between sensuality and vulgarity. You’ve worked, and you still do, with a controversial artist: Marilyn Manson. Tell us about your encounter with him. What did it mean for your and your work? I owe everything to Marilyn Manson. He’s been and he still is an extraordinary man, who gave me the chance to become a known all over the world. I’ve struggled for many years before I got the chance to submit my work to him and I had to overcome endless obstacles but in the end my perseverance and his generosity won. Marilyn Manson is a real gentleman. He believed in me and in my work and he’s been so humble to see himself before he became famous in that terrified girl that I was. I’ll never stop being grateful to him because he changed my life with a small deed. Zoe and Japan: what do you love and what do you hate of this country? Japan is place where there’s no between and this regards every aspect, good or evil. Of Japan I love the humility, the tradition, the discipline, the aesthetics and the fact that they make a work of art of everything, trying to reach the excellence. The dark sides of such a splendour are few but unsettling, but, as I come from a country like Italy, I don’t feel like judging such a complex culture, which a lifetime wouldn’t be enough to understand. Japan is always with me and inside of me, because one needs a guide to grow up and improve, so, I take every step with that culture in mind, with that humility and that kindness that make me “awkward” in comparison with the standards of my country.
Is there an artistic goal you want to achieve? In art, one should never look for a goal, which is a finishing line. In order to improve, it is necessary to pursue an endless horizon, one you can see but never reach. Without this motivation it’s impossible to improve. You did several portraits of Geishas, why are they so fascinating for you? The Geisha is the embodiment and fusion between art, perfection, elegance, beauty, tradition and charm. Their world is harsh, complex and coded, crystallized in time but looking only elegant and graceful from the outside. The severity behind those white faces has always fascinated and inspired me. I wanted to interpret their world so that I could show the “women” behind that white mask but in doing so I feel I’ve betrayed them, taking their purity away from them, and this because I am a Westerner. I confess I feel ashamed for this. In your opinion, in what ways does sensuality or feminine eroticism express itself? I think that there are two kinds of sensuality: one is something we have from our birth, the other is gained with discipline. Often, like when someone is naturally beautiful, sensuality can be effective but with no real substance, somehow disappointing. Sensuality as it derives from discipline consists in accepting one’s own imperfection, enhancing one’s positive feature. Sensuality is not conveyed by the amount of bare skin that a body can show to the public, sensuality is being unique, elegant and particular. It’s the shimmer in a look, a way of touching people and objects in order to derive a slight pleasure, it’s exalting the senses so that every single thing around you can make you fall in love.
There’s nothing more seductive than yearning for someone you know you can’t touch, it’ like making love only in your mind, and if the look is returned, that might be enough to feel satisfied. What artist would you like to work with? People who know me and my work, know that I have my personal Saint Trinity, made by Saturno Buttò, Nobuyoshi Araki and Michael Hussar. Recently, I’ve been completely fascinated by Marina Abramović. My “falling for her” was not immediate because I’ve had some prejudices against her way of making art. Then I forced myself to understand and in that way I went beyond my limits. Her way of making art is so far from mine that I realised that behind that woman there’s a wide world for me to explore and there’s nothing better in life than to learn and to understand. So, my answer for this question is “I’d like to work with Marina Abramović”.
DOLCE & GABBANA Mediterranean sensuality. By Gaia Bregalanti
Mattia Vismara
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f seduction is the female weapon that enchants a man, Dolce&Gabbana drives the man literally crazy. The designers, for the 2015 spring/summer collection presented at the Milano Fashion Week, shows on the catwalk a homage to femininity and sensuality. The modeling woman goes beyond the Italian boundaries, she’s a Mediterranean woman that reminds of Greek features, in which the sea is recalled, together with Caltagirone’s pottery and the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. The main colours are black and gold and among the fabrics, laces, chiffons and draperies. The characterizing feature of the maison is the Sicilian taste, in which luxury, elegance and femininity prevailed. The prints that embellish the clothes are ancient ruins, valley of temples, ancient coins applied on golden belts and columns. The glam touch is given by the last exit where all the splendid models wear important golden clothes. The Dolce&Gabbana collection is a mix of Greece, Sicily and Spain, where every piece of clothing reminds of the culture of the Mediterranean Sea.
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GIPSY APOLLINARE
“A sensual woman is a self-confident woman” By Emanuela Amy Rossi Luisa Attardo
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ipsy Apollinare is not only a model, but a complete artist. She explains the secrets of the female seduction.
When did you start working as a model and why? I think about 4 years ago; it happened by chance, I had some self-portraits made with my phone and published on my My space. A photographer was impressed and asked me if I wanted to pose for him ... so I started. You always choose works which are a little bit out of the ordinary, very outrageous ... certainly you do not love the classic photoshoot! I can assure you that I am less transgressive, photographically speaking. A few years ago I was more, not now. How much transgression there must be in a woman who wants to seduce? Zero. In my opinion, transgression and seduction are not synonyms. What is the meaning of tattoos in your view and why did you decide to make so many? In my case, tattoos are experiences; Once, at a time when I really needed to talk and explain what was happening to me, I filled my need to talk about me or what I was living, by tattoing it. Today, this need is more latent, it is as if I didn’t feel the need to explain anything to anyone anymore about who I am and what I went through. I do not absolutely consider tattoos as something ornamental.
How do photographers contact you or what do you do to find the ones that best represent your essence? Photographers contact me via social networks or photograph portals, and I use the same tools to contact them when I’m interested. What characteristics should a sensual woman have? Being self-confident. But it is a too subtle concept to be understood by everybody. It is thought that being nude and having “sexy” attitudes is necessary to be sensual, at least photographically; actually, I think that all this is really forced and an infinite sadness. At the same time, however, I am aware that, this way, it better reaches the public. The problem is that this kind of public is really down to earth. If it’s me or another person or a girl who is not a model, all of us naked, it will be irrelevant. People don’t look at you because of your beauty or your success in your job, but because you’re naked and have winking attitudes. It is not my purpose! Appearing nude and provocative is the dirty way to be successful among nerds. I think a model, more generally a sensual woman is a self-confident woman, so she does not need to show everything to everyone explicitly because she does not need it. She knows she worth more, therefore, she thinks it is not necessary. A woman with a suit and a vest could be much more sensual than one with a skirt and heels.
When you will no longer work with your body, what will you do? It is a constant thought. Actually, I hope to stop “working with my body” as soon as possible. I think this exhibitionism is synonymous with pure insecurity that we try to fill by showing off so that everybody will look at us on beautiful shots and will congratulate us. In my opinion, this is highly detrimental. We all feel the need to be lauded, but it is an unhealthy dynamic; I see a lot of my 30-yearsold-and-more co-workers who still pose; I’m happy for them if they feel good, but I think there is an age for everything; we are not speaking of Kate Moss, who at the age of 40 still poses and takes millions, we are talking about girls who often do not get any money. Well, at the basis of this, there is the need to show off and get consensus, but they could also get the consensus even up to 50 years old, for heaven’s sake ... but I think that at some point, a woman should gain the awareness of herself, without being suggested by strangers on a social network. What is your dream? And what you want you want to achieve in the workplace and in sentimental? My dream is to be a peaceful person; I would like a close and indestructible family; I do not want necessarily children, I would really like to have lots of dogs; I wish more valuable people collaborating with me and that I can trust ... in business my ideas are still a little vague, I have many ambitions but lately they are slowing down that leads me to not invest in them;
I would love to do many things, I’d be a chef or photographer, but even a decent job would be fine to me, without being pretentious when I have a loving companion and trusted friends worthy to be called such. I do not ask the question of being someone who is successful on his job at any cost, because if I do not invested in what I like to do it would be a shame; however, I do not consider it to be a failure; I think there are other human aspects which lead to underestimate a person. Have your job ever been misunderstood? Or have you ever been a victim of prejudice? Honestly not. My family supports me in part. My friends, the real ones, are people so out of this world that barely follow what I do, and I’m so much happy. For the rest, I have never been a victim of prejudice, and even if I were I would not be much interested in it. I know better than anyone else who I am, so if someone judges me, I don’t care. A piece of advice to those who want to be a model? Respect yourself. Do not sell your body for very little money or nothing. Do not pose nude, and, if you decide to do it, take example from professional nude models, who do not use their body as an object to attract vulgar comments, but they use it as something beautiful to be admired. Do not invest all your energy into this, even if it will make lots of covers or will have 800,000 followers on social networks ... you will never be Gisele Bundchen.
Thanks to Max Simonotti, Walter Faustini, Marcello Gori for the material given.
H WHITE WOMAN, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, BIG NUDES Helmut Newton. By Cristina Giannini Luisa Attardo
elmut Newton was one of the most famous fashion photographers, which has made the seduction its strength. As a lover of women and eros, in his fabulous shots, especially in black and white, he highlights the female body, playing with it, including forms and erotic impact. His models are often portrayed entirely nude, with just stiletto heeled shoes on their feet, yet this almost aggressive nudity is showed to the public with natural and supreme elegance. The ambiguity is the basis of his shots; strong contrasts occur between sex and scenes of everyday life, creating a paradoxical atmosphere to be read with a subtle irony. His women are strong characters, aware of their seductive power, capable of capturing the man thanks to a sophisticated game of eros and fetishism. This is done thanks to clever ploys by Newton, by using common places as a location that suggest luxury and wealth without ever capture explicit sex scenes, but deftly recreating situations and atmospheres full of sensuality. We find the love of seduction in three books, where the photographer chooses to enclose certain photos, which subsequently brings together in an exhibition White Women, Sleepless Nights, Big Nudes, held in Rome in the Exhibition Palace in 2013. One hundred and eighty of the most important shots of the twentieth century, selected precisely among these three books: White Women, where Newton brings the nude in the fashion industry, creating amazing and provocative photos which shook the concept of fashion photographers, thus giving a new face to woman; Sleepless Nights, a book that collects the works done for popular fashion magazines, where his photos are focused on the woman, her body and dresses, turning the photos of fashion into portraits, and portraits into crime scenes reportage, to remain faithful to his unique style; Big Nudes, a book that proclaims him to be the protagonist of the twentieth century photograph, thanks to his idea of printing large format photos, thus opening a new frontier in photography thanks to the blow-up. A true lover of women, one of the few who has grasped the sensuality in every corner of the female body, playing skillfully with peek-a-boo style. The undisputed king of fashion photography, which focuses on the seductive element of woman in all its aspects.
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VALENTINA ROSSELLI
An icon of endless charm and seduction
By Rossella Scalzo Luisa Attardo
35
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alentina Rosselli is one of the sexy icons of the sixties and seventies. 5 ft and 7 inches tall, black bob, curvy, independent fashion photographer, non-conformist and normal at the same time. Around her, there is always an air of mystery which makes her an icon of independence, charm and seduction. Her name is closely linked to that of his father and designer Guido Crepax, who created this creature mysterious and fascinating, thus making it one of the most famous women in the world of comics. Guido Crepax is much more than a cartoonist. Born in 1933 in Milan, graduated in Architecture at the Polytechnic in 1958 and already during his studies he started his career as a commercial artist. This one, which will be officially his profession, will allow him even to win the Palme d’Or in 1957 for the designs of the advertising campaign on the Shell petrol. 11 years after his death, occurred on July 31, 2003, Crepax is also appreciated as a cover artist of books and records, as well as for his graphic works, lithography and screen printing. His passion for comics begins at 12 years old, when he begins to draw them, so as to direct all his activities as an advertising designer in the direction of the comics itself. During his career, we must also take into consideration the invention and production of many games, even if they did not have a practical application: the design of costumes for a grand opera and the production of two books. But most of all, more than the many things where he left his print, Guido Crepax is well known for the designs of one of the best known erotic comics, Valentina Rosselli. Although over the years he has invented other characters, such as Bianca and Anita, Valentina is what made him known worldwide. Through her, Crepax also told the history and fashion of Italian culture, while also contributing to a revolution in the language of comics.
The “Saga Valentina” was founded in 1965 with the publication of the first story in the second issue of Linus, the famous magazine of Giovanni Gandini and Ranieri Carano, and then Oreste Del Buono and Fulvia Serra. This magazine and later Corto Maltese, have issued a total of fifty stories, later collected in several volumes, with the integration of several new tables. Since its first publication, the story of this character has never had an end, although over the years it has been interrupted by the stories of other characters who have not had the slightest conception of its value. Guido Crepax has always felt a special bond with this character, so much to grow old with him over the years. “Valentina is still My Valentina - he said - although I haven’t drawn it for five years. I confess that from time to time I wanted to delete it, a little bit like Arthur Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes, before changing his mind and reviving it. But I never had the courage. Maybe it is due to my superstition: it would have been a sort of suicide... “. It is perhaps for these reasons that the Crepax built around it a believable world, from the date of its birth to its identity card, its relationships, its son, its job, its car, its clothes, its household items, all details that are the faithful reproduction of a possible everyday life. His character is wonderful and complex, always somewhere between dream and reality, born from the intersection between the myth of the silent film actress Louise Brooks and his wife Luisa.
Valentina lives in the intriguing atmosphere from the 60s to the following decades, by integrating herself into it and bringing into its events a cross-section of Italian society of the time, which helped to attract much attention from the media, film and television, that were inspired by her for movies and novels. Valentina is an indecipherable woman, a woman of a thousand faces, which Crepax wanted to give four concepts: she is a private, romantic and everyday woman; she is diva, icon, glamorous, star; she is crazy, amazing, dream-like, adventurous; she is sexy, exhibitionist, curious, uncontrolled. Her character, full of nuances and contradictions, is one of the factors that have contributed to its success. She is the protagonist of her story at full, so much as to render unnecessary the presence of a male figure. Her style, highly seductive and charming, allowed Valentina to be an icon for many women who have come to identify with her. This is due to the role that dreams have in his world, a very important role that gives his character so much importance to close it to the psychology of a real woman. Crepax has borrowed many quotes from all forms of art in the realization of Valentina stories, both with regard to the plots and the framework of the comics itself. In particular, Crepax took the page setting and the rhythm of the narration from the cinema to the photography. Reading the comics of Valentina is a little bit like diving into the world of the cinema through the assembly, the framing, the sequence, the detachment and details. Great attention is given to accessories and details, all the points of view from which to reconstruct the scene. Both the graphic sign and the character give great relevance and modernity to the comics. Even today, Valentina is the bearer of a widespread and timeless aesthetics, it’s a contemporary icon still present on the web, visible in the numerous facebook profiles dedicated to her that bring her to life.
But not only. Today the character of Valentina is present and alive in the field of licensing through the labels of some collections in the fields of fashion for the brand Iceberg, Liujo and Mirtillo, of drapes for Fazzini and of stationery store for Smemoranda- Gut Edition. We find Valentina also on other objects such as furniture, furnishings, art prints on canvas, iron sculptures. There are numerous publications in the editorial field, not to mention the exhibitions and events that took place at prestigious European galleries. Behind all this, there is the mind and the will of the Archives Crepax, established in 2003 by Guido Crepax’s relatives after his death, which protects and reproduces the rich heritage of images and contents resulting from the work of its creator and his iconic Valentina, to emphasize the continuing importance and relevance of the character destined to never die just like all the great divas.
Tanks to Guido Crepax and Archive Crepax for the images they give to us.
DITA VON TEESE The woman.
By Valentina Sorrenti Mattia Vismara
“
Penny Lane
I convinced that we have to cultivate our sensuality as we do with our intelligence. Every day you have to do everything that makes you feel good”. It is with this life philosophy that Dita Von Teese made a career out of the art of seduction , becoming the Queen of Burlesque and the most fascinating diva kicking around. Dita said: “I think I reached the peak of my career when I saw more women than men in the audience”. Dita owes a lot of her success to women and indeed it is for them that she drafted a decalogue to seduce.
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DITARULES
1. “The best weapon of seduction is to put on 7. “Wearing heels makes you feel sexy. your lipstick in front of your ‘victim’. The effect If you are close to a man, play with the is better if you do this slowly, in a sensual way”. show faking you are losing it. Then bend down to put on it again. This 2. “The perfume is important and it has will lure the gazes on your ankles.” to be used every day. Do not put too much of it: a man should be forced to 8. Dita wears every day garter and silk bend toward you to smell the aroma.” socks and shivers thinking to go out with odd lingerie. 3. “Always sit down with the ankles crossed on a side to enhance the legs. If you want make 9. “Every woman should have a lace an impression on a man, fix your socks with bra, black or flesh tone, and it should elegant gestures, lifting slightly your skirt. be the perfect size. Coordinated slips You have to do this with discretion, as if you and G-string and a garter belt.” would not be seen by anyone, in a natural way.” 10. Dita is blond and she dyes her hair 4. “Even if I don’t have special dates scheduled, by herself at home. “Do not spend I always use powder, mascara and a red money at the hairdresser for a thing lipstick. I gather my hair in a chignon which you can do easily by yourself at home” gives an elegant guise. You only need 10 minutes to be ready, you do not have excuses.” 5. “The best cure for cellulite is soft lights. In my house I have soft lights everywhere, in the wardrobe too. Never let a man see you naked with a direct light.” 6. “At your house, practice in front of the mirror moving in sensual poses. Undress as if you had to do it for a man. When I go to sleep, I take off my socks with the same moves I use in my shows. You have to get acquainted with your body in order to be natural and glamour”.
JUMBO
La seduzione è l’arma femminile che incanta l’uomo. Artisti, fumettisti, fotografi, registi e scrittori ne sono attratti. Tramite le loro creazioni, evocano un fascino sensuale molto allettante, trasmettendo nuovi messaggi e più ampi confini.
“La seduzione è un oggetto non identificato, un oggetto non analizzabile, teorico ed amoroso”. Jean Baudrillard
La seduzione è un arte, spesso innata, una caratteristica tipica di tutte le donne. Un’arma segreta capace di incantare l’uomo, che può essere esercitata anche semplicemente attraverso uno sguardo. Nel mondo dell’arte spesso viene utilizzata per esprimere messaggi unici ed inequivocabili. La seduzione diventa la protagonista di storie, racconti, collezioni, qualcosa che rende affascinante ogni cosa. La seduzione è l’arma per eccellenza della conquista di ogni uomo, che spesso cade passivo sotto il suo fascino senza nemmeno accorgersene.
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