HTSI Editor’s Letter: The Icon Only Problem

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This artsy edition is a celebration of the creatives we love. Vanessa Redgrave It has been captivating audiences and provoking debate for more than 60 years. She made her theatrical debut in 1958, became an active member of the Revolutionary Workers Party in the 1970s, and her career has progressed in parallel with a variety of causes that have often found her on the other side of public opinion and law. . Her political acumen remains intact at 80 and she becomes an intimidating subject, as Fiona Golfar discovers in a series of interviews. On a cover dedicated to the “iconic” figures who have helped shape the cultural conversation, she represents those voices that now feel increasingly absent: unintimidated by fear or fashion, eager to fight for others and quick to say what they think.

Redgrave represents those voices that feel increasingly absent

As one of Stephen Sondheim’s favorite singers and a star of musicals for many decades, Bernadette Peters is another icon. Especially because of her extraordinary hair. She is part of the trio of artists in this issue who talk about your passions: Peters’ longtime obsession is Broadway Barks, an annual charity event promoting the adoption of shelter animals that she founded with Mary Tyler Moore in 1999. Describing Peters as crazy about dogs does her a disservice, but Like Redgrave, his passions are written into his personality and inform much of what he does. Meanwhile, Brittney Denise Parks has reclaimed the violin as part of her transformation into her Sudan Archives alter ego, inspired by experimental pop, classical music and Afrobeats: the music speaks to her favorite instrument as inspiration. and political tool. In contrast, Albert Hammond Jr prefers the more meditative art of brewing coffee. The Strokes guitarist, who recently released his fifth solo album, invites us over to his house to talk music, caffeine, and how to make the perfect drink.

Sarah Lucas has been an art world colossus since the 1990s, and her work—witty, subversive, sexually provocative, and soft—continues to inspire. On the eve of a major exhibition at Tate Britain, she invites Louis Wise to visit his studio in Suffolk – a more refined neighborhood than one might expect from someone who once broke through the canvas of the establishment, but an area to which quite a few YBAs have migrated in recent years. We find the artist (of formidable talent, although affable in person) surrounded by stuffed animals. bunnies, drinking with the locals and reading Yanis Varoufakis. While his work may have matured, we’re delighted to find his bawdy humor intact.

What happens when an icon dies? Last year I found myself sitting next to Benjamin, the son of the late Peter Lindbergh, the German photographer and portraitist whose work characterized much of ’90s fashion and helped establish the aesthetic dominance of supermodels: Christy, Linda, Naomi et to the. Benjamin is now in charge of managing and maintaining his father’s enormous archive. He made me wonder about other asset gatekeepers and what it’s like to manage a reputation, as well as the self-sacrifice of focusing so much on someone else’s work. Louise Benson speaks to five people watching over five extraordinary properties to discuss the challenges and comforts found in keeping legacies alive.

Finally – at Bright young things. Again. This brilliant ensemble has inspired the fashion world for decades – designers seem unable to abandon the works of Evelyn Waugh. Mark C O’Flaherty examines what it is about that era that continues to capture the imagination: from the high-waisted trousers and sailor uniforms to the sexual and intellectual freedoms the group enjoyed.

@jellison22