Luca Guadagnino's Challengers, Martin Parr's fashion photography and Peggy Guggenheim
Essential reading from A RABBIT'S FOOT this week.
How screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes became Luca Guadagnino’s favourite doubles partner
Helmed by the searingly cool Zendaya, and with costumes from Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson, a duel between two dandy male leads and a head-pumping EDM soundtrack, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers is a sexy Shakespearean dramedy for the TikTok generation. Underneath all the glad rags though, is an impressive debut script from Justin Kuritzkes. For A Rabbit’s Foot, Issy Carr sits down with him to discuss the erotics of doubles, collaborating with Luca and his love of reality television. “A week after we had first spoken, I was on a plane to Milan to spend a week with [Luca] just to see if we could vibe. It was clear pretty immediately that we were gonna be friends. I could tell immediately that we spoke the same language in a really deep way when it comes to film and when it comes to life, to some extent.” And as if having Luca Guadanigno direct your screenwriting debut wasn’t enough, Kuritzkes has also adapted William S.Burroughs’ Queer after being handed the book by the Italian director on the set of Challengers.
What Martin Parr can teach us about fashion photography
Unlike the documentary photographer, who claims to observe life as it is, the fashion photographer is God of their own manufactured world. Within this world the people have been chosen on the basis of their ‘look’, beautiful or otherwise; the clothes gathered from brands before being steamed, sorted and styled; the setting chosen for the story or mood it will summon. The soap opera can be cast, costumed, and staged exactly as desired. For A Rabbit’s Foot, writer Rosalind Jana explores a new book by Martin Parr, which explores the photographer’s editorial and advertorial work down the years. “Logo-clad models ride buses with perma-tanned tourists, Cara Delevingne plays in the arcades, and stilettos sit surrounded by surgical equipment. At its best, this work has a naughty charm.” Yet delving deeper, Jana asks whether Parr’s best fashion photography might be where the clothes are incidental, rather than intentional. “With Parr, often the most exhilarating work is that which captures clothes without necessarily selling them, alighting on the story that’s already there rather than needing to construct one anew.”
Art, sex, and dogs: Lisa Immordino Vreeland on Peggy Guggenheim’s Venice
In time for the 2024 Venice Biennale, we look back in the archive to when film director Lisa Immordino Vreeland reflected on what she learned about the famous art collector whilst researching for her film, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict. “Much to the surprise of the Venetians, the American divorcée filled her palazzo with lovers, Lhasa Apso dogs, and art that was neither understood nor appreciated. She was, however, triumphant on multiple levels. Not only had Peggy become a well-recognized personality, but she had created a destination for art lovers. Visitors were as intrigued by her personal life as they were by her vast collection of paintings. She had finally found an environment where she could fulfil her vision of sharing her collection with people from around the globe—in a museum of her own making.”
Read the full story here and catch up on our 2024 Venice Biennale dispatch
