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I've seen this entire campaign, and I think it the work of the art director/photo stylist, but I could be wrong.

I agree with Patrick.
In some of the ads, there is a piece of artwork from which the pattern will show up on a dress elsewhere.

Looks like it was done with a giant graffiti marker.

She is an actual woman, not wall paper.

Yea, def looks hand drawn.

i agree-- hand drawn.. related. I LOVE the artwork up in the BR's currently... I'm trying to source it but no one knows where it comes from. WAH wah.

The current transitional/fall B.R. stylebook is full of this sort of artwork in the backgrounds. They're not so much walls as really big paintings.

I am sure Patrick is correct that these background pieces are the work of the art director or photo stylist--they have the feeling to me of having been created by someone trying very hard to copy some actual artwork they saw somewhere. That is, I was certain when looking through the stylebook that whoever set up the photo shoots was knocking off some new series of artwork that's all the rage right now.

My next shift isn't until Saturday, so I can't immediately go look to see if there are any credits listed in the stylebook.

Otherwise, I recommend contacting the B.R. corporate offices directly and asking to speak to their art director. I've done that sort of thing before, and they're likely to be flattered and very happy to answer your inquiry.

Pretty sure it's a knock off of one of Sol Lewitt's drawing series.

They are currently on exhibition at the Dia:Beacon.

Almost all minimalist-style drawing is a knock-off of Sol Lewiit.

is it me or does this girl not look like a model, she looks like maybe the front reception girl at BR HQ-not that that's bad,I like the idea of showing a more average image of people in advertising!!


Almost all everything is a knock off of something!!

It's scary that I know this, but I believe that model is Jacquetta Wheeler. She's been big in the biz for a while, doing runway work, high-end fashion magazines and now... BR ad campaigns.

She needs to eat something...give that poor girl a cracker or a cube of cheese before she passes out.

she has no bum, no boobs and a 5 ft long arm

I work at Banana Republic, and they have an entire article on their "intranet" site for employees of Gap, Inc. Hence no link to the page, BUT hopefully this will post here (for those interested.) Sorry for the length of the article. The article is discussing the paintings, photographs, etc. currently being displayed in BR stores, for their Fall line.

...

Banana Republic's in-store art program takes a similar process to that of building a collection for a private collector -- the work is assembled with consideration toward the sensibility and aesthetics of the collector.

To create variety and texture, works from various mediums (from watercolors to photography) comprise this group. The artists range the gamut, from strong emerging talent like Rotem Tashach to established stars like Jack Pierson, whose work commands strong auction market prices. Read on to get more familiar with each of the 13 artists.

Robin Broadbent
At the pinnacle of his field as a commercial still life photographer, Robin sets aside time for his personal artwork. He has published 2 art books: Marmelade and Minus Sixteen, personal projects dealing with abstraction.

Patrick Demarchelier
Patrick Demarchelier is a French-born fashion photographer, who's worked for such magazines as Glamour, Vogue and GQ. Since 1992, he's worked for Harper's Bazaar, becoming its premier photographer. He's well known in the industry, even earning a reference in the 2006 film "The Devil Wears Prada." Patrick has occasionally been hired to shoot Banana Republic's ad campaigns, including the Fall 2007 campaign.

Noe DeWitt
Noe DeWitt spent most of his childhood in the small town of Mariposa, just outside of Yosemite National Park. He now lives in New York City, where he is a contributing photographer to magazines such as Esquire, Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, Travel & Leisure and W Magazine. Noe’s images are from a portfolio of private work that has been compiled over a long period of time and reflects his travels and global exploration.

Ralph Gibson
A world renowned photographer, Ralph Gibson moved to San Francisco early on where he studied photography at the San Francisco Art Institute. After working as an assistant to Dorothea Lange (1961–2) in 1963 he moved to Los Angeles, where he began work as a freelance photographer. He moved to New York in 1966, and from 1967 to 1969 he assisted Robert Frank on the film Me and My Brother. He has published many books and exhibited with numerous galleries and institutions worldwide.

Liz Gribin
Liz Gribin has been nationally recognized for her achievements as a painter. Her paintings have garnered recognition, awards and honors from The National Academy of Design, The National Arts Club and the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Advancing the Arts. In addition, Liz has received the “living legend” award.

Will McBride
Will McBride is a famous photographer in reportage and art photography. He is also recognized as a painter and sculptor. He grew up in Chicago, and he has lived in Germany since 1955. In 2004, McBride received the Dr. Eric Salomon Prize, which is bestowed by the German Photographic Association and is the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for photography. His work has been published in Twen, among other European magazines. Solo exhibitions since 2000 have included: the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Balogna; Dany Keller Galerie, Munich; and the Galerie argus fotokunst, Berlin.

Judith McMillan
Judith McMillan is an established photographer who marries science and art by examining the unforeseen beauty of plants by using an X-ray machine as her camera. The internal structures are recorded in tonal layers to depict the evolution of plants from a bud to a blossom, creating images that are ephemeral, eerie, and beautiful. Judith is represented by the Bonni Benrubi Gallery in New York City.

Jack Pierson
Jack Pierson is an established contemporary artist who has found international success across various art mediums. His work reflects a cognizant realization of both his medium and his subject matter, which unveils an eye that favors emotion and empathy for beauty. He has exhibited widely and internationally in prestigious galleries and museums including: the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and Miami; and Kunstvereins of Heilbronn and Frankfurt, Germany. Jack’s primary gallery representation is Cheim Read in New York City.

Brian Riley
Brian Riley is an emerging photographer whose work focuses on modern still life and portraiture. His background in painting reveals a painterly quality with a specific regard to composition, lighting and perspective that focuses on humanity and drama. It's as if he is "painting with his camera." He is classically trained in composition and design yet utilizes sophisticated tools afforded with the digital age. Brian’s gallery representation is Holden Luntz in Palm Beach.

Dan Romer
A graduate of Pratt Institute, Dan Romer is a fine artist, illustrator and graphic designer. Dan’s oil pastel and colored pencil works on paper are primarily focused on the human figure. He shows in various galleries in New York City. He focuses on the experience of seeing by capturing the mood of a moment in time.

Alexia Silvangi
Alexia Silvagni was born in Paris in 1966 with a French-Italian nationality. Alexia started working as fashion editor for Elle and then for French Glamour, from its creation until it’s closing in 1995. Her interest in photography, however, surfaced in the early 90s, and in 1992 she started collaborating with French Glamour as photographer. Since then, Alexia regularly contributes her photo editorials to international magazines such as Casa Vogue and W Magazine.

Anne Sophie Staerk
Anne Sophie Staerk, a mid-career artist, producing paintings of familiar urban interiors that oscillate between figuration and abstraction. She flattens digital images and the depicted space by projecting and enlarging photographs onto canvases. Her gallery representation is Voltz Clarke Gallery in New York City.

Rotem Tashach
An Israeli native, Rotem has a very academic training and education. His background as a dancer and choreographer has been a large influence in the studies of motion of the body that are an important theme running through much of his work. Rotem has been included in a number of group shows and continues to be on a strong steady ascent as an emerging talent.

...

Nathan--
Very cool info. Any idea who the art buyer/liaison is? WOuld love to interview!

I've long been inspired by the art in BRs. That's how I found tranist signs at Blackamn Cruz, and the photography of Andrew Bordwin.

oops, Blackman Cruz.

Patrick,
I actually just started at BR, having just come from the agency that creates the advertising.
The work in the campaign was created by a prop stylist under the direction of the creative director and his team.
The work Nathan is referring to was put together with the help of a curator and is part of BR's new in-store art initiative.
Hope this helps to clarify things!

I'm just jealous y'all work for the Banana.

But I'd still love to talk to the curator.

>>>I'm just jealous y'all work for the Banana.


Just a bunch of part-time retail whores. Speaking for myself anyway.

I should be able to find out who the curator is on Monday and let you know.

Hi Patrick,

I have the contact info for the BR curator. Is there a way I can give it to you without publishing it here?