Marc Jacobs, a name synonymous with the intersection of high fashion and fine art, celebrates four decades of innovation and collaboration with Just Like Heaven, an exhibition that merges his transformative vision with the works of iconic and emerging artists. Hosted at Los Angeles’s Control Gallery, the exhibition runs from November 22, 2024, to January 18, 2025, and reflects Jacobs’s groundbreaking approach to integrating art into the world of fashion.
Over the years, Jacobs has introduced grunge aesthetics to the runway, spotlighted street art at Louis Vuitton, and collaborated with rising and established artists through his eponymous brand and its Heaven collection. Just Like Heaven pays homage to these collaborations, featuring approximately 20 original works by renowned figures like Damien Hirst, Sofia Coppola, and Marilyn Minter, as well as contemporary talents such as Petra Collins, Keegan Dakkar, and Alake Shilling. The collection is curated by Sky Gellalty, founder of the Tribeca-based agency ICNCLST, in collaboration with the Heaven by Marc Jacobs team.
Gellalty describes Jacobs’s influence as pivotal, noting how his collaborations with artists like Takashi Murakami redefined the boundaries of art and fashion. “Marc essentially set the blueprint for what I and so many of my peers do as a career,” Gellalty remarked. The exhibition includes both original pieces and designs that have inspired or been inspired by Jacobs’s collections, offering visitors a rare glimpse into the creative synergy between the two disciplines.
Highlights include Alake Shilling’s Big Bossy Bear (2023), a whimsical sculpture displayed atop a plinth of cinderblocks, and works by Futura 2000 and Damien Hirst. Several contributors, such as graffiti writer Futura 2000 and sketch artist Eri Wakiyama, have created pieces exclusively for the show, while others, like musician and visual artist Bladee, are presenting works in new mediums. Staying true to the ethos of Beyond The Streets, t-shirts and prints inspired by the exhibition will be available in the gift shop, further blurring the line between art and everyday life.
Marc Jacobs’s legacy is steeped in collaborations that challenge traditional notions of both fashion and art. As Gellalty observed, the exhibition provides a rare platform for such a diverse array of artists to converge, a feat that might not have been possible without Jacobs’s pioneering efforts. The show spans decades, showcasing the evolution of both Jacobs’s creative partnerships and the broader dialogue between art and fashion.
The historical interplay between these fields is rich with precedent. Elsa Schiaparelli’s collaborations with Salvador Dalí during the early 20th century are a classic example, as are Jacobs’s partnerships with contemporary creators. However, as Jacobs himself has noted in conversations, the art world often maintains a deliberate distance from fashion, viewing it as a craft rather than a fine art form. “When a fashion designer says ‘fashion is art,’ they are pretentious,” Jacobs commented in a recent discussion with critic Jerry Saltz. Saltz, in turn, lamented this separation, calling it a limitation of the art world’s perspective.
Just Like Heaven is more than a celebration of Marc Jacobs’s career; it is an argument for the interconnectedness of artistic disciplines. Gellalty hopes the exhibition will inspire a larger institutional retrospective of Jacobs’s contributions to art and fashion, underscoring his role as a cultural pioneer. Visitors to Control Gallery are invited to witness this dynamic convergence of visionaries and reflect on the possibilities born at the intersection of creativity and commerce.
Sayart / Maria Kim, sayart2022@gmail.com
