Book List of the Week

At the Intersection of Art, Fashion, and Literature: Cynthia Rowley’s Book List

By Steve Kroeter February 15, 2011

From Cynthia Rowley’s intriguing book list you get that she gets art. There are books about artists (John Currin and Rachel Feinstein); books about the lives of artists (by Calvin Tomkins); and also a book about the migration of minimalism from art and architecture to the sartorial arts (by Elyssa Dimant). Also, her business activities extend beyond fashion into the art arena: she is co-founder of Exhibition A, a website that sells exclusive editions of artwork by top contemporary artists. So discovering the biographical detail that Ms. Rowley is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago doesn’t really come as a surprise.

The fact that two of the books on her list haven’t officially been released to the public yet tells us—also not surprisingly—that she’s out there ahead of the curve. At the same time, the fact that one of these books is about Cristóbal Balenciaga and the other about Alexander McQueen suggests that that curve is not a smooth, routine affair.

Being aware that Ms. Rowley is a successful author in her own right (with five books to her name), we can conclude that this crisply edited list is a reflection of life well-lived at the intersection of art, fashion, and literature.

Steve Kroeter
Editor in Chief

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