Jump to content

Cecilia Dean

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kirstenchen (talk | contribs) at 16:07, 22 May 2017. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: There are additional requirements for inline references in biographies of living persons, to ensure that everything that has been written can be backed up from a reliable source. The article at the moment relies on too few references and it is not clear where most of the content has been sourced from.
    The article also needs further work to strip out non-encyclopedic content and to ensure a neutral tone throughout. Curb Safe Charmer (talk) 21:28, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
Cecilia Dean
Born
Cecilia Dean

(1969-01-10) January 10, 1969 (age 55)
Turlock, California, U.S.
Modeling information
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Hair colorBrown
Eye colorBrown

Cecilia Dean is a co-founder of Visionaire, the multi-media art and fashion company. She currently lives and works in New York City.

Early Life

Born in Central California, Dean grew up in Davis before moving to Long Island[1] , NY when she was 12. Her parents have both worked in academia: her mother as an English professor and her father as an Asian studies professor[2]. In high school, Dean would venture into New York City with friends “every chance [she] got,”[3] and was scouted by a photographer who introduced her to Louise Despointes, owner of City Models, who took her on.

While a senior in high school at the all-girls Sacred Heart Academy in Garden City[4], Dean began modeling for Seventeen Magazine [5]. It was at this time that Despointes arranged for Dean to do photos with then budding fashion photographer Stephen Gan and makeup artist James Kaliardos[6] who were both students at Parsons School of Design. One of her first jobs was with Mario Testino for the cover of a special teen edition of the Italian magazine, Lei in 1986[7]. (They went on to work on many more shoots together in Europe.) Throughout the years, Dean has modeled for Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel, Ellen Von Unwerth, Steven Klein, Mert & Marcus, Inez & Vinoodh[8] , to name a few.

Between modeling and ballet classes, Dean was also very involved with speech and debate, winning several trophies (in switch-side varsity debate and oral interpretation in prose and poetry), and competed in both state and national championships [9]. When not wearing the plaid skirt and button-down shirt of her school uniform, her aesthetic as a teenager veered a little Goth and a little glamorous[10]. After graduating high school, Dean moved to Paris, France to pursue modeling, giving her the opportunity to travel throughout Europe and Japan. But after a year and a half, Dean returned to New York where she had been accepted to Barnard College at Columbia University to pursue a double-major in English and French literature. She co-founded Visionaire in 1991 with James Kaliardos and Stephen Gan, during her last semester. [11]

Personal Life

Dean lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn[12], with her longtime partner, real estate and food entrepreneur David Selig.

Visionaire

Visionaire, “the ultimate art and fashion publication”[13], was created by Stephen Gan, Cecilia Dean and James Kaliardos. The three first met when Dean was still a senior in high school on Long Island and was just starting to model. Her agent, Louise Despointes, arranged to have Dean do photos with Gan and Kaliardos, one of her first test shoots -- just to do a few photos for all of their books.[14] After over a year of working with so many creative people, “What we realized, working in fashion, was that you met so many amazing photographers who had no place to show their own personal work,” Dean said. “I remember at the end of a fashion shoot, [models] would sometimes stay and do more photos. It would have nothing to do with the client — it would be for our own personal use, experimenting with light or movement.”[15]

Artists who work in collaboration with Visionaire to produce interpretations on a theme are given freedom to push its content and original formats[16] . Though artists aren't paid, many notable figures in art and fashion have worked on an issue with Visionaire--“You can always trust her judgment — she is so well-rounded,” said Francisco Costa, the designer at Calvin Klein, which sponsored a 2009 issue called “Solar,” printed with ink that changes colors when exposed to sunlight. “Cecilia also makes people feel very confident about their work.”[3] Dean continues to run Visionaire with Kaliardos and has grown it from a publication to a company that curates art fashion luxury experiences.

Other Work

In 2010, the director of MoMA PS1, Klaus Biesenbach[17] , approached Dean and then New York Times columnist, David Colman, to "bring fashion to the museum." With the self-imposed rule that no clothes would be shown on mannequins and no art hung on walls, Dean and Colman went about creating and curating MOVE!, a different kind of show that paired fashion designers with artists to create participatory experiences. “We don’t think fashion is what waltzes down the runways in Paris,” says Dean. “It’s about how normal people engage with and relate to what they’re wearing. We had zero interest in showcasing fashion on mannequins or hanging a bunch of art on the walls."[18]

POSE by Ryan McNamara and Diane von Furstenberg[19] : the participant changed into a signature DVF wrap-dress and were treated to quick hair and make-up. Once ready, performance artist McNamara would take photos of the participant in precise poses. These photos were immediately uploaded to a program that transformer the photos into a textile pattern of the participant. The participant could then order a DVF wrap-dress with their pattern printed on the fabric: a one-of-a-kind DVF wrap-dress of oneself wearing a DVF wrap-dress.

LOOKS by Rob Pruitt and Marc Jacob[20]: the participant is instructed to walk down a long green hallway. As they do so, someone barks orders to "walk like a supermodel", "don't smile", "give attitude", etc. Upon exiting the hallway, the participant is faced with large projections of themselves superimposed into the Marc Jacobs fashion show.

Dean and Colman mounted MOVE! over 10 days in São Paulo, Brazil in 2013 and then again in 2014 and produced a 4th version over a long week-end at Brookfield Place[21] in downtown New York City in 2015.

From 1995 to 2016, Dean taught "Publication Design: The Visual Story" at New School's Parsons School of Design[22].

References

  1. ^ Hilary Moss (February 9, 2017). "CECILIA DEAN: THE WOMAN BEHIND ART'S UNRIVALLED PUBLICATION, VISIONAIRE". 1 Granary. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  2. ^ Chelsea Fairless (2008). "Conversation: Cecilia Dean". Chelsea Mag. USA: Chelsea Mag. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Lauren Lipton (May 8, 2013). "On to the Next Experiment". New York Times. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  4. ^ Ethan Smith. "The Vision Thing". NYMag. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  5. ^ LAUREN LIPTON (May 8, 2013). "On to the Next Experiment". New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  6. ^ Jacob Bernstein (August 27, 2014). "A Parting of the Ways at Visionaire". New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  7. ^ "My First Time". V Magazine. USA: Visionaire Publishing. 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  8. ^ Donatien (April 24, 2012). "Cecilia Dean". AnOther Mag. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  9. ^ LAUREN LIPTON (May 8, 2013). "On to the Next Experiment". New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  10. ^ Derek Blasberg (November 10, 2010). "CECILIA DEAN STYLE". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  11. ^ Hilary Moss (February 9, 2017). "CECILIA DEAN: THE WOMAN BEHIND ART'S UNRIVALLED PUBLICATION, VISIONAIRE". 1 Granary. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  12. ^ Xerxes Cook (November 10, 2010). "The Kale Lobby". EverManifesto. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  13. ^ Cecilia Dean. Visionaire: Experiences in Art and Fashion.
  14. ^ Ethan Smith. "The Vision Thing". NYMag. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  15. ^ Kristi Garced (June 23, 2016). "Cecilia Dean, James Kaliardos Preview New Visionaire Book". WWD. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  16. ^ CHRISTOPHER MASON (February 18, 1999). "When an Office Strikes a Pose". New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  17. ^ Katy Donoghue (October 1, 2015). "Cecilia Dean on MOVE! A Free, Interactive Fashion & Art Event in New York". White Wall. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  18. ^ KATE SIERZPUTOWSKI. "Fashion's ultimate It Girl grows up". NYT. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  19. ^ Sarah Cascone (October 2, 2015). "Ryan McNamara Artwork Offers Free Makeover and Diane Von Furstenberg Dress". Artnet News. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  20. ^ Venessa Lau (October 7, 2010). "Designers Experiment for PS1's 'Move!'". WWD. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  21. ^ Brookfield Place. "MOVE! 15 Minutes". Brookfield Placedate=September 25, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  22. ^ Parsons School of Design, New School University. "Parsons 2004-2005 Undergraduate Programs". Parsons, 2004, p. 18.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cecilia_Dean&oldid=781674017"