"Antonio Lopez: Future Funk Fashion" is on view at El Museo del Barrio through November 26, 2016.

Antonio's Girls for Bloomingdales, 1982 (Pat Cleveland, Tina Chow, Grace Jones, Jerry Hall, Sayoko, Rita Tellone, Tara Shandling, Jessica Lange). Pencil on Paper.

“Antonio” may be signed on all the art, but the name basically served as a brand, of the collaborative work of Antonio Lopez and Juan Eugene Ramos, who were partners in life, business, and creative pursuits. Lopez did the designs and illustrations, while Ramos was the art director and managed the studio operations, researched assignments, and sometimes, also served as a colorist to the illustrations. “Antonio Lopez: Future Funk Fashion”, an exhibition at El Museo Del Barrio, is a testament to their successful partnership and visually represents a period in fashion design, illustration style and photography. Lopez’s fashion illustration style is not only distinct to his brand, but is also known for his depictions of specific themes like the “future world” and the beauty of the ethnic body, and his imagery helped propagate a new rule of beauty in the ‘70s and ‘80s. In the photos, videos and illustrations featured in the show, one might recognize runway luminaries like Pat Cleveland, Grace Jones and Tina Chow, part of a team of models also referred to back then as “Antonio's Girls”.

Click on the photos for a full screen view

Karl Lagerfeld, 1976

Antonio's notebook

The exhibition also showcased his work surroundings, through photos and videos of him and Juan Ramos collaborating with the likes of photographer Bill Cunningham, designers Charles James and Karl Lagerfeld, and young models Jerry Hall and (pre-Hollywood) Jessica Lange.

An interesting feature in the show is a series of photographs taken from a Kodak instamatic camera, the very popular point-and-shoot camera of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Its not that he took thousands of them, but it’s about the casual, commonplace images that he took, revealing the time and environment he was living in. He would often assemble the photos in a series of 9 shots of the same moment and subject, creating a visual narrative.

Antonio Lopez was born in Puerto Rico in 1943, and moved to New York with his family in 1950. He met his life partner and creative collaborator, Juan Eugene Ramos, while both were students at the Fashion Institute of Technology. He got his first break illustrating for Women’s Wear Daily while still in school.

He worked with a number of major fashion publications, including Andy Warhol’s Interview, The New York Times, Women’s Wear Daily, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. He also did substantial advertising campaign work, for known designer labels like Yves Saint Laurent, Versace and Chloe.

Lopez died in 1987 and Ramos in 1995, both from AIDS-related complications. Years after his passing, it is reported that his is still the most requested name in the library at the Fashion Institute of Technology, more than any other figure in the fashion world.

Antonio Lopez: Future Funk Fashion is on view until November 26, 2016. El Museo del Barrio is located at 1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street, and is open Wednesday – Saturday from 11am to 6pm, and Sunday from 12noon to 5pm.

"In 1969 when they moved to Paris, they brought something to Europe and to Parisian fashion that was not there before. They loved fashion, they pushed fashion. They brought sparkle to Paris." -Karl Lagerfeld