The David Hockney Issue. Noboyoshu Araki, Richard Hell, Alan Vega, Meryl Meisler, Swarovski Crystal Meth, Philip Hinge, Greta Bellamacina, Robert Montgomery, Christeene, Ryan McGinley, Bil Brown, Olwen Catherine Kelly, Julian Klincewicz, Ottessa Moshfegh & Richard Prince. Click here to preorder.
photograph by Oliver Kupper
To some, she was France’s answer to Patti Smith, or perhaps a 20th century reincarnation of Arthur Rimbaud – or maybe both. To others, she is virtually unknown. But listen to her track “Fire” off her seminal album Press Color, which is seeing a rerelease this summer, and you’ll wonder why you’ve never heard of her. Instead of being France’s answer to Patti Smith, though, Lizzy Mercier Descloux was more of a soul sister; she was also more punk than no wave – punk in the sense of her rebelliousness. You can find Descloux donning a suit next to Smith, who is barefoot and wearing a tattered dress, in a poetry art book that the duo released together – with contributions from Richard Hell. Born Martine-Elisabeth Mercier Descloux in Paris, Lizzy was a bit of a creative anomaly – she introduced world music into her music before there was such a thing. If it wasn’t for her explorations with world music, there is a chance Paul Simon may not have made Graceland. Whatever the case is, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, who died in the early naughts, is still a force to be reckoned with. Click here to read more about this incendiary and prodigious artist.
