“In the Backroom of the Club” (Acrylic on canvas, 140cm x 180cm, Dirk Marwig 1981) Commissioned painting
In 1982 Dirk Marwig finally moved to New York City on a student visa to take courses at the Art Students League on 57th street. Neither the drab, run down conservative school nor the “old guys who were so into themselves” teaching there excited him, so he took the risk and dove right into the heart of the “Great Hard School of Life” called “Living in New York City’, taking on odd jobs even working as a bicycle messenger for more than a year, which enabled him to get to know the city very well. It was a time of contemplation and learning. Visiting the MOMA, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan and the Soho galleries on a regular basis, he did his own course in art history. He read the biographies of the artists that interested him and analyzed their work first hand in the museums. This was excellent schooling for him as he did the research on his own time, without pressure and with extreme interest and dedication. He was happy like this on his own or just being alongside his beautiful Wellesley alum girlfriend, so he steered clear of the so-called “New York Art World” with creepy Andy Warhol at the helm who by the way, tried to ‘pick him up’ in Central Park. Dirk Marwig was and is not a follower. He preferred solitude as apposed to being with people he did not care for. For him the politics and mannerisms of the New York Art Social scene were an instant “turn off”. Quote Dirk Marwig: “People like Leo Castelli, Mary Boone, Julian Schnabel or Eric Fischl were emblematic of the Status Quo of the art scene that I so despise, where the love of money, deceit and ‘sucking up’ to the powerful one was the norm.” Since then, unfortunately, nothing has changed or evolved, it’s just a new set of clowns running the show. Living in the Big Apple in his early twenties during the 1980’s was an exiting time. It was the moment of the famous “Art Boom” where art prices skyrocketed and mediocre artists became well known and were then converted into millionaire celebrities! A rebel by nature, Dirk Marwig did not want to take part in this Gold rush, this circus of hype and frenzy because that would entail ‘brownnosing’ the “system”. Taking orders’ from someone in charge would go directly against his personality, which despised any kind of power play, authority or hierarchy. Sleeping an average of 4 hours a night Dirk Marwig worked the humble odd job during the day, the evenings or nights were reserved and dedicated to his art, playing basketball in Tompkins Square Park or simply enjoying the city’s delights with his girlfriend. Stubbornly living this way for a few years Dirk Marwig tried to maintain an uncomplicated lifestyle in a state of innocence and purity gathering information that would later help him become a great artist, in a city that was everything
but innocent or fair where corruption, betrayal and deception were on the daily order. This began to eat at him. The days were not long enough, the money he made did not correspond to the efforts involved and artistic success was still not in sight. Something needed to change in order to have more time available during the daylight hours, so he opted to work a few nights a week in the clubs (something he knew from Frankfurt and that he was quite comfortable and familiar with) thus leaving his daytime jobs. During this time a modelling job came his way. Making a few extra dollars was always welcome at that time.
Dirk Marwig appears as a model in Vogue’ May 1987 Issue. Dirk is the guy smiling on the right. The photo was taken in Feb. of 1987. Dirk was 26years old.
A few months later, one night, a young woman while being removed from the club was wildly swinging her Chanel handbag around her head like a lasso. The buckle of the handbag hit his right eye as the handbag wrapped around his head from the back. Dirk Marwig who just happened to be in the vicinity (in the line of fire, so to speak) passed out and nearly lost his right eye. “Almost blinded by the urge to have more during daylight!” That was true irony. Insurance money covered the treatment. The one-year convalescence period during which the 26 year old, almost beaten young artist passed his days in the museums again, reading with fervour in the parks of Manhattan and planning a new future, as his eye slowly recovered. He had hit ‘rock bottom’. In his depression he was aware of the fact that his eye would never heal 100% again and as a visual artist this was not good thing. One day while browsing through the art supply store he discovered a colourful plastic modelling compound which hardens in the oven called FIMO. He bought the item and began to experiment with it. He made a few colourful bracelets and rings for his beautiful girlfriend. She loved them and encouraged him to make more and to take them to a store to sell. He did exactly that and after finishing 20 or so pieces he marched off to Madison Avenue and walked in to a little store that he thought compatible. The storeowner was delighted to take all the pieces on consignment. A few weeks later the same storeowner phoned and told him that ‘fashion scouts’ from Vogue magazine had borrowed all the pieces for a photo shoot. A few days later the people from Vogue themselves contacted Dirk Marwig asking permission to publish 2 rings that would appear on the October 1987 issue cover. Happily agreeing he ended up selling everything he had brought to the store and for a price much higher than he had expected.
Cover of VOGUE U.S. October 1987 Photo: Richard Avedon Model: Rachel Williams Rings: Dirk Marwig
This was New York City in the 1980’s and anything could happen. As an artist, this was not really what Dirk Marwig wanted to be known for but he was open to it and went with the flow, knowing that any kind of media exposure could be beneficial in the long run. Young fashion designer Marc Jacobs saw the new Vogue cover and liked what he saw. And similar to the cover (probably one of the most alluring and beautiful out of all of Richard Avedon’s ‘Vogue Cover’ photographs) the bold, cool, colorful and raw freshness of the rings attracted attention from everyone (The same cover is still seen being used as a representational “prop” for the 1980’s in feature films by the Hollywood movie industry). Marc Jacobs asked Dirk Marwig to design and make a collection of jewelry as well as to decorate numerous pairs of silk shoes for his new spring collection. He agreed and the Marc Jacobs’ spring show was a phenomenal success. Thanks to the bold, colorful and original designs of Dirk Marwig’s accessories, Marc Jacobs became well known and received immediate international acclaim. Here are some magazine clippings from spring of 1988:
Washington Post Feb. 1988
New York Timers Magazine Feb.1988
Paris VOGUE March 1988
Mode et Mode, Tokyo Spring 1988 edition
British Vogue, June 1988
Because of this enormous international publicity given to this collection, large stores like Barneys New York and Victoire in Paris asked Dirk Marwig to design collections of jewelry and shoes. It