Started in 1986, recently completed portrait of Thea Porter celebrates show at London’s Fashion & Textile Museum
//Thea Porter by Penny Slinger//
There’s a nice story behind this portrait of the late fashion designer Thea Porter, whose talents are celebrated at the just-opened exhibition at London’s Fashion & Textiles Museum.
During preparations for the exhibition and the accompanying book, the curator and fashion historian Laura McLaws Helms visited British artist Penny Slinger, who had made feathered masks and modeled in a catwalk show for Porter in the early 70s.
“In 1986 Penny photographed Thea for a portrait which wasn’t made at the time,” says McLaws Helms. “When I interviewed Penny in 2013, she brought out all the original photos and sketches and decided to finally complete the piece.”
The new portrait is now on display in Thea Porter: 70s Bohemian Chic. Slinger’s work is also represented in History Is Now: 7 Artists Take on Britain, which opens at London’s Hayward Gallery next Tuesday (February 10), and she has a solo show starting on February 14 at Blum & Poe Gallery, Tokyo.
Slinger will also be represented in the forthcoming Feminist Avant-Garde Of The 1970s exhibition at the Hamburger Kunstalle, Hamburg, Germany. Details of that show here and visit Slinger’s site here.
Thea Porter: 70s Bohemian Chic is at the Fashion & Textile Museum until May 3. Details here.
Read more about History Is Now here.