FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Green Lady at Houston

(Seattle, WA) Houston is proud to present Green Lady at Houston, an exhibition of clothing, prints, and installations by designers Todd St. John and Gary Benzel. The show features selected work from their five-year collaboration as Green Lady.

Part streetwear company, part ongoing obsession, Green Lady has grown steadily since designers Gary Benzel and Todd St. John produced their first line in 1995. What began as a side project of making clothing for friends, now sells in Japan, the US, and Europe. St. John and Benzel got the ambiguous name from an equally ambiguous painting they spotted in a bar. Initially the line took a literal approach to portraying its namesake in various guises, but recently has adopted a different theme for each year's collection: corporate cannibalism, projected Americana, conspiracy-mania, etc. An individual graphic might not divulge the concept when viewed alone, but when seen together, themes emerge. Green Lady's graphics explore relationships between humans and technology, consumers and corporations, individuals and the group, often with sardonic treatments, and deceptively simple designs. Silkscreen designs printed on t-shirts and accessories have a certain democracy that is favored by Benzel and St. John as a medium: "A t-shirt can be a small form of cultural commentary. They're inexpensive, accessible, functional, and highly visible."

The installations at Houston are representative of their current line: large, life-size figure outlines, numbered or lettered like a key to a photo, only without the original photo. "Our graphics start with a simple idea--in this case 'facelessness'--and then other ideas begin to resonate: anonymity, isolation, suspicion, projected identity. We usually have one idea of what they're about, but the realities other people project onto them tend to be a lot more interesting. We're just stripping information away."

In addition to Green Lady, Todd St. John works out of his studio in Brooklyn, NY, on film and TV graphics, as well as on print projects for various entertainment and clothing clients. Before starting his own studio last year, St. John worked as an art director at MTV. Benzel has run his own office in San Diego, CA, for the last four years, doing art direction and design for a number of clients. He also manages the production of the Green Lady line, also based out of San Diego.

The Green Lady opening and reception is on February 3rd, 2000. The show runs through March 15.

Click here to view the official Green Lady website