Art and commerce may no longer be strange bedfellows in the fashion world, thanks to folks like Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Richard Prince, Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama. But self-taught Long Beach, California-based painter Lori LaMont takes things to a whole new level with her series, "Under the Influence," which features large scale watercolors of colorful, delicately detailed animals emblazoned with designer logos (think: Fendi falcons, Chanel horses, Miu Miu and Marc Jacobs elk, a Lacoste lion and Burberry chickens). The paintings' titles—"For Love or Money," "The Status Symbol of the Competent Sportsman"—leave little doubt as to her everything-has-been-commodified message, which is an accurate, if sad, reflection of where we are now as a society. It is, like all great art, visually arresting food for thought.
graphic by K Sarna
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