BIO

One of the foremost illustrators of the twentieth century, Antonio Lopez remains a highly regarded and influential figure in the world of art and fashion. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York, Antonio attended the Fashion Institute of Technology where he met and began his life-long creative collaboration with fellow artist Juan Ramos (b. 1942 Puerto Rico). Antonio rose to prominence whilst at university in the 1960s, illustrating fashions for Women’s Wear Daily and The New York Times. His unusual compositions, vibrant use of colour, collage, and off-beat models paved the way for a radical new visual vocabulary that had yet to hit the mainstream media. Yearning for a creative freedom that he felt was unattainable in the United States, Antonio and Juan relocated to Paris in 1970. His career entered a new phase of global visibility. His artworks appeared in leading international publications including Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire, and campaigns for iconic New York brands such as Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom and brought to life the designs of seminal fashion houses such as Versace, Missoni, Armani and more. For the last decade of his life, Antonio and Juan returned to New York City. His commercial career flourished, and he expanded his oeuvre, guest editing two issues of Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine, consulting for Fiorucci, designing textiles for Japan, and publishing two books: Antonio’s Girls (Congreve, 1982) and Antonio’s Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 1985). Antonio and Juan died from complications related to AIDS in 1987 and 1995, respectively. Solo and group exhibitions include LAFORET Museum, Tokyo (1987); The Museum at FIT, New York (1988); Musée des Arts Decoratifs Palais du Louvre, Paris (1994); Modemuseum, Munich (1995); MUDAC, Lausanne (1996); Royal College of Art, London (1997); Design Museum, London (2010); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2011); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2014); El Museo del Barrio, New York (2016); The Getty Center, Los Angeles (2018); Centro Cultural de Cascais, Portugal (2019); Fondazione Sozzani, Milan (2019); Nottingham Contemporary, UK (2020); The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2020); and The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn (2020).