Modern Muse
Words: Jill Sellsman
Photos: Marc Baptiste
Photos: Marc Baptiste
There are always NY women, who when they were in that moment in time, the image that they rocked helped define an era. Edie Sedgwick at the Factory in the ’60s, Debbie Harry in Sprouse at CBGB in the ’70s, Madonna in Maripol at Danceteria in the early ’80s. And then there are those who are creating that look, that expressed experience, refining it before it can be exposed to the masses. Lysa Cooper, art-world muse, super stylist, and all-around girl about town, in any town that she’s in—NY, London, Tokyo, LA, Paris, Goa—is one of them. Like all artists, she’s ‘there’ before we’re even thinking that ‘there’ might be a there there.
Because of her personal style and outgoing personality, everyone around Lysa at a certain time thought she should be a pop star. It was inevitable. But frankly, she doesn’t have the attention span for it. Always interested in the art of collaboration, whether it is with artists like Keith Haring, Francesco Clemente, photographers such as Ellen von Unwerth, or most recently pop stars, like Rihanna and Shakira, Lysa has always been a creative catalyst, willing to model, style or hit the streets (or subway) to find a new inspiration. She’s always reaching out for the new, to lasso it in and bring it into the room. Lysa creates the image and ultimately lets it go so that she can create again, anew.
Nobody says it better than Lysa, so we asked her a few questions over a couple of days, between shoots and having a tree fall down on her house in Venice…
Frank151: Why is erotica always so fashionable?
Lysa Cooper: It’s threatening, primal, dressed up and an expression of what is essentially an internal experience. As a fashion reference, it’s been over used, but people always come back to it because it is a pure line. It’s the thing that’s always played, pointed to and ultimately blamed.
F151: What’s the difference between erotica and pornography?
LC: I think when the image is directly, literally made for the enjoyment of men only it’s pornographic. When an image is sexual regardless of who is looking at it, it’s erotica.
Intent is important. How you intend your image to be perceived is how it will come across.
F151: When were you first exposed to erotica?
LC: My father collected Playboy and Penthouse as well as ’60s and ’70s erotica posters. I grew up with a poster of the Sexual Positions hanging in my living room.
I have always been comfortable with sexuality, everyone in my house grew up naked.
F151: Define sexy.
LC: The moment when you realize your breath has gone short and hot.
And I think “sexy” is one of the most abused words there is.
F151: How do you work when you work collaboratively? How do you make others see what you see?
LC: It’s a matter of smoke and mirrors. You set up the scenario and hope that they see what you see. It’s important to work collaboratively because it’s more powerful when it comes from multiple perspectives. As the muse, you hope that the artist or photographer can pick up on that which is not spoken.
F151: Boys or girls?
LC: Whatever is clever.
F151: Who’s better for what?
LC: Women never lose the art of love. Men have totally forgotten it.
F151: Sexiest time in history?
LC: The ’70s. All were tuned in and turned on; the AIDS epidemic really halted a changing time.
F151: Sexiest places in the world?
LC: Jamaica and Cuba… hot and filled with music and dance. Paris for all the obvious reasons and Japan for the weird underground sex world.
F151: Is there such thing as an aphrodisiac?
LC: I wish there were a magic potion for love and a secret drink for stimulation. But I’m willing to try anything.
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