In The Studio With Bil Donovan

“I have a strong work ethic inherited though my parents that taught me that hard work is the key to achieving success. I was not born talented. I had creativity but not the gift of draftsmanship, I had to train to achieve that goal, and I realized that practice nurtured the skill set and passion fueled that motivation. Not an overnight success story.”

Do you work in London or New York?

New York is my home. I have lived and worked in Europe for seven years, Milan then Paris, but mainly I developed my art in Italy— an experience that shaped my vision and style.

In regards to fashion, which city do you like better?

All cities have their charm and in regards to fashion, Italy and Paris have an edge on style. New York has freshness but as far as personal style, Europe has the edge… I am attracted to the designs that are unique and challenge my perceptions of how to communicate that design though brush and ink.

Do you still sketch live during [fashion] shows?

I go to only one show, Rosie Assoulin. I met Rosie when I was documenting NYFW for New York Magazine. The next season I was invited by Rosie to come to her show, and when I mentioned that I was not doing the documentation for New York Magazine, she replied, “Just come, we like having you here!” Her creations are amazing, beautiful shapes, and she has an intuitive sense of what works on a woman. They are spirited, yet elegant— an illustrator’s dream to draw. I was invited by Ralph Rucci to draw at his presentations and shows several times. His work is sublime… I created work [there] that was a departure from what I would usually do… An experience I cherish today.

How do you pick what looks to draw?

Shapes… What can be captured quickly and with a minimal amount of information. Some looks jump out at you and others slowly seduce you. The subtle ones are unexpected and force you to think in a different capacity. I like to be forced outside of my comfort zone.

What’s your favorite medium?

Watercolor. Hands down.

Where and what do you teach?

I teach at several schools. Currently I am teaching at the Arts Student League this Summer, a first. In the Fall I teach at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and in the Spring I teach at the School of Visual Arts.

And what [can you tell us] about your personal work?

My personal work is driven by personal life experiences. It is dark in nature and serves as the polar opposite to my fashion, which is light.

Did you pick this career, or did it happen organically?

I grew up in a blue collar, working class environment in South Philadelphia. I wasn't aware that there was a profession such as fashion illustration. I began drawing a comic strip called Brenda Starr, a glamourous reporter created by Dale Messick. I eventually saw Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina. I was mesmerized by her debut in a Givenchy gown in a ballroom scene. I kept playing that scene over and over in my head, I had never seen anything so beautiful. I attempted to draw that look over and over to no avail… That was the moment that changed my life.

Did you go to school for illustration?

There are gifted people who might not need schooling, but I was not in that mix… I was driven to learn and I took every class I thought would nurture my work.

Do you like teaching?

I love it. It’s an amazing experience and challenge. It’s a grave responsibility to teach. In a brief amount of time, you and you alone are responsible for directing, encouraging and nurturing the creative path of your students. I remember my first class, I was asked to teach a class at FIT, I was indecisive and my partner said, “Do it”. I hate to admit it but he is usually right. I entered the class and the students seemed disengaged… I was petrified… I started to walk around the room and thought to myself…what do I do…and a voice said, “BE A TEACHER.” [So, I then] shouted out, “Silence!” and the room went silent. I began by saying, “I am very serious about what I do and I expect anyone in my class to be as serious as I am; If not you can leave right now.”

...And I began on my journey to learn how to become a teacher… It is an incredible experience and most teachers are undervalued in our society in the United States.

What [else] are you working on right now?

I am working on an editorial for Fall Couture 2017 for Luxure magazine. Valentino, Schiaparelli to name a few... A spread for Harper Collins for a book on Iris Apfel, a couple of cocktails for the St. Regis, illustration for a limited edition shopping bag for South Coast Plaza, three additional scarf designs for Bil Donovan Limited... Personal appearances for Dior Beauty, and facilitating drawing events at the Society of Illustrators…

Tell me a bit about your pop-up show in September!

It’s called Drawing in Style curated by Gray M.C.A., leading dealers internationally in original fashion illustration. This is their first exhibit in the in New York during Fashion Week. The show is comprised of three fashion artists: Kenneth Paul Block, Jason Brooks, and myself. KPB’s work influenced the style and world of fashion illustration for over half a century, Jason Brooks, [a] leading fashion illustrator [today] who incorporated digital technology into creating contemporary fashion illustration, and I round out the group as perhaps a bridge between the past and the present, incorporating both a traditional technique combined with digital media.

Art

LIA by Iga Drobisz

Your work often explores intimacy and vulnerability. How do you create a safe and authentic environment for your subjects during a shoot?

The past few months, I’ve been working on two series of photographs: nudes of women in their own apartments and portraits of women before and after giving birth. Both series involve capturing them in deeply personal spaces—bedrooms or nurseries—where they feel at ease.

Shooting in their spaces, in their own beds, plays a crucial role in creating comfort. I choose film and cameras that show them in a way they find beautiful and empowering, emphasizing softness and warmth. It's a stark contrast to modern, hyper-detailed phone cameras that sometimes reveal more than one wants to see.

Your photography has a distinct emotional depth and texture. How do you approach the interplay of light, color, and composition to achieve this?

My process is highly intuitive. I’ve never formally studied photography or apprenticed under anyone—I learned by experimenting and seeing what felt right. It’s about trusting my instincts rather than adhering to rigid rules.

What role do personal experiences or cultural influences play in shaping the stories you tell through your images? Many of your photographs feel deeply narrative.

Growing up, I was surrounded by great cinematography. My grandmother had a TV, but my mom only brought home VHS tapes—films with substance. I think that exposure shaped how I see the world, how I approach subjects, and the narrative depth in my work.

What role does spontaneity play in your shoots? Do you leave room for improvisation, or is everything carefully planned?

To balance spontaneity and structure, I go in with a clear plan and strong direction, but I remain open to surprises. It’s about letting the subject feel like the shoot is about them, not me. That openness often leads to the most unexpected, meaningful moments.

What inspired the shoot with singer Lia? How did it come together?

Collaborating with Ruby and Naomi always takes me out of my comfort zone in the best way. For this shoot, we wanted to transform someone with an iconic face but also someone like Lia—someone with a clear sense of self.

Giving her a completely new look was exciting; it brought an unexpected energy to the set. The approach was playful and experimental. The night before, I had no idea what wigs Ruby would bring or what colors Naomi might choose. It was a beautiful mix of spontaneity and collaboration.

What inspires you the most?

Movies and music are big inspirations for me, as well as the work of other photographers like Carlijn Jacobs, Harley Weir, Rineke Dijkstra, Charlotte Wales, and Nan Goldin.

What emotions or truths are the hardest for you to express through your art, and why?

I don’t think I consciously try to express specific emotions when I work. Instead, I follow what feels right in the moment—what draws me in or excites me that day. It’s less about a deliberate expression and more about letting intuition guide the way.

Art

Luna Luna: Surrealist Spectacle Lands in New York

November 21, 2024

In the 1980s, André Heller, an Austrian artist, singer-songwriter, and former actor, was looking for a new place to showcase his art. He had already taken to gardens, creating a colorful, surrealistic character using 40,000 flowers, and to the skies, organizing a 'fire theatre,' which involved an over-the-top fireworks show complete with steel-frame sculptures set on fire. But he had never tried out a fair.

So began "Luna Luna." Created as the world's first art carnival, "Luna Luna" combined the spectacular with the absurd, showcasing original rides and attractions from rising and already-at-the-top artists in Hamburg. Nearly forty years since its debut, followed by foiled plans for a worldwide tour, breached contracts, and 44 storage containers, the art fair has finally returned, calling New York home after re-debuting last year in Los Angeles.

By Hailey Johnson
Photography by Delvin Claro and Sabrina Sarnitz, courtesy of Luna Luna LLC

On a recent evening in Hudson Yards, a small carousel featured characters in quirky, Twister-like poses and an outstretched dog with seven legs. (Almost a century old, the rides are no longer rideable.) Goofy wooden sculptures were elevated in another corner, some of them cross-eyed or with a horn for a nose. A geodesic dome glowed, with Gregorian chants hovering somewhere above it.

"It's an art experience like no other," Michael Goldberg, Chief Experience Officer of Luna Luna, said recently. "People get to see artists do things they've never done before," he added.

Goldberg, founder of Something Special Studios, a creative agency behind many Nike campaigns, was determined to resurrect “Luna Luna” after reading about it online in 2019. Goldberg shopped for investors, eventually teaming up with DreamCrew, a media company co-owned by the rapper Drake. (Details on the company's investment remain vague; sources have reported that DreamCrew spent over "100 million dollars.") In 2022, an intensive restoration process began, with a team of artists reviving many of the original works, which had remained in boxes in a Texas warehouse for over thirty years. Several had been in pieces. (The team reportedly had to rebuild each work "bolt by bolt.")

That night, at the Shed, fourteen out of the original thirty-five works were on display, including the small carousel (Keith Haring), the goofy sculptures (Kenny Scharf), the neon dome (Salvador Dali), and a towering Ferris wheel decorated in drawings of stick figures, upside crowns, and references to Jim Crow (Basquiat). Missing works are in a "constant state of restoration," Goldberg said. Meanwhile, new attractions are joining the line-up. For the New York show, the Puerto Rican duo Poncilí Creación was commissioned to create "PonciliLand," a blink-and-you-miss-it section where guests "can create fantastical characters out of custom building blocks." Poncili also developed floating characters, inspired by performers who circulated the original “Luna Luna” fairgrounds in 1987. Known as "Lovers," the two characters, large and dreamlike, teetered to one side, mumbling the kind of nervous groans one does before a fall. (They never ended up falling.)

I asked Goldberg if, given that today's culture doesn't quite look or feel the same way as it did in 1987, there was any hesitation in showing some of the original works. On a back wall, a tribute featured Manfred Diex's "Palace of the Wind," a show featuring performers who fart into a microphone; on another, two ornate pedestals held sculptures of spiral poop.

"I don't see any reason why we wouldn't show any of these works," he said. "A lot of the time, art is exclusive and uninviting. The big difference between “Luna Luna” and other art experiences is that it has many sides to it, and things that have a bit of humor and playful energy. "As for "Palace of the Winds,” the decision to keep it was simple: farting is universal. He went on: "The “Crap Chancellery" is, conceptually, one of the most important works in “Luna Luna.” Daniel Spoerri's dad was killed in the Holocaust, and the work was inspired by Albert Speer, who was Hitler's architect. He took the facade of what was meant to be a Nazi shrine and turned it into the facade of a bathroom with two steaming statues of shit standing on the outside. These works are extremely important and are things that we would definitely want to honor and draw attention to."

As “Luna Luna” further develops, the show will likely change. "It will continue to evolve as we go to different cities in response to the spaces that we pop up into and in collaboration with the local city," Goldberg said." With it, there will be new characters and new stories to tell. One aspect that won't change, though, as Goldberg assured, is a long-held sentiment about a potential partnership. At one point, early on during the original “Luna Luna” era, McDonald's wanted to buy into it. Heller said no, adding that he "didn't want it to feel like Disneyland." Goldberg agreed. Nonetheless, as I watched Kenny Scharf's dizzying swing ride go around for what felt like the hundredth time, with the cartoon characters decorated on it blurring together (one with a villain's grin, another morphed into a martini glass), I couldn't help but feel like maybe I was at Disneyland, only not as robbed, but just as entertained and exhausted by its rides and fantastical characters, and wanting to go again.

Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987.

Art

Pamela Sneed’s Speaking Tongue opens at Dashwood Projects

November 15, 2024

Pamela Sneed’s latest exhibition, Speaking Tongue, will be on view at Dashwood Projects from November 20 to December 21. The show features twenty watercolor and ink paintings inspired by her recent trip to Kenya, where she was deeply moved by the elegance of giraffes, the landscapes, and the energy of Nairobi.

Blending her background as a poet and visual artist, Sneed’s work reflects on themes of identity, nature, and connection. Her paintings capture the beauty and spirit of the animals she encountered, alongside reflections on her own experiences as part of the African diaspora.

This exhibition marks Sneed’s first solo show with Dashwood Projects and will be accompanied by a new book, also titled Speaking Tongue, to be released in December.