Marc Balet
From Andy Warhol to Martin Scorsese
Architecture, Fashion, and Film

September 28, 2023 (Thursday)
6 pm

Helen DeVitt Jones Auditorium

Museum of Texas Tech University

3301 4th Street

Lubbock, Texas 79415

Reception immediately following in the Helen DeVitt Jones Sculpture Court

Free event 

Open to the public

Free parking

Watch the recorded lecture:

MARC BALET is a conceptual architect and among the most impactful creative minds in contemporary American fashion and art.

His work was recognized in the 70s with the Prix de Rome in Architecture and he was a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome (1973–1975). He was also awarded a solo exhibition, “Dreamhousing” (September 5–30, 1973) by the Architectural League of New York at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He began his career in publishing and TV with Andy Warhol as Creative Director of Warhol's “Interview” magazine (1976–1988), the MTV show “Andy Warhol's 15 Minutes” (1985–1987), and designers and brands such as Giorgio Armani, Barney's New York, Anne Klein, La Perla, Nike, Yves Saint Laurent, and many others. He has also collaborated with Martin Scorsese as Creative Consultant for the Netflix series “Pretend It's a City” (2021) and the HBO production “Public Speaking” (2010). He is featured in the Netflix series “The Andy Warhol Diaries” (2022) and in the film “Eyes of Laura Mars” (1978).  In his “Diaries,” Warhol wrote about Balet: “I would miss Marc—he's talented and he does a lot, although he'd do even more if he weren't so busy with all his freelance stuff, the Armani ads and things” (Friday, February 15, 1985).

Balet calls “Architectural Tales” his photographic simulacra of urban and environmental concepts, which he develops in a series of architectural structures that elaborate the constructs of cities, homes, gardens, open spaces, lakes, highways, etc. within the frame of a sustainable and eco-friendly concept, with titles such as “The Bleeding Arms Hotel,” “Garden Apartments,” “Instant City,” “My Bridgehampton,” “Palazzo Putti,” “The Room Above the Pool,” “The Tea House Condominium,” “The Topiary Home,” or “The Tree House.” Marc Balet's work can be associated with Stefano Boeri's “Vertical Forest.” While the models have existed outside of the photographic sequences, Balet makes them permanent through his photography and the videos that he has made, as well as through his writing, such as the “Dreamhouse” journal featured in “Architectural Design” (1973). 

[by Victoria Surliuga]

To learn more about Balet's vast and impressive career, please read the articles linked below.
• Victoria Surliuga. “An Interview with Marc Balet on his Life in Architecture, Fashion, and Film.” ytali.com, April 21, 2023. 
• Victoria Surliuga. “An Interview with Marc Balet: A Lifetime in Design, Fashion, and Film, from Warhol to Scorsese.” The Journal of American Culture, March 2023, pp. 77-93.

This talk is hosted by the Museum of Texas Tech University and the Italian Program in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures at Texas Tech University. 

For questions about this event, please contact:

Laura Ray

Communications and Marketing

Museum of Texas Tech University

Laura.Ray@ttu.edu

 

Dr. Victoria Surliuga 

Associate Professor of Italian | Italian Program Coordinator 

Texas Tech University

Victoria.Surliuga@ttu.edu