It can’t be an easy decision to sit for an artist notorious for his distorted, luridly seductive and parodic paintings of women—no matter how brilliant and acclaimed they may be. Here Coco Young tells us about becoming the subject of painter John Currin’s gaze, and the dark tale of her favorite fur coat.
“Being an artist’s model is not something I aspire to, it just happened: I was interning for the art magazine Tar and Bill Powers—he’s an art director and gallery owner in New York and he’s also [fashion designer] Cynthia Rowley’s husband—wanted to introduce me to his friend John Currin. At the time I had no idea who he was. I was Googling ‘paintings by John Currin’ and what was coming up was his p*rn*gr*ph*c work, so I was a bit concerned and I even remember showing them to my mum. But I decided to meet him anyway—I say yes to most projects because you never know what might turn out. At his studio I really fell in love with his current work (while I like the p*rn*gr*ph*c paintings, I personally did not want to be posing like that) and so we decided to work together. One work––I think he is painting it now––features a fur coat that I had, which I posed with many times, both naked and wearing it. It reminded John of a fur coat his wife, Rachel Feinstein, had back when they met, so he was excited to be using it. I actually ended up giving it to him because I was mugged in Brooklyn last December when I was wearing it; it got torn and there is a lot of blood on the lining. It was my favorite coat, but there was no way I was going to wear it again, and I decided to give it to him for the sake of art. I know he often changes his ideas at the last minute, so I hope there will be a painting of that coat—for the memory if it.”
Certain individuals manage to effortlessly capture the spirit of the times. Coco Young—model, muse, photographer and self-publisher—is one such girl. Currently one of the subjects in New Paintings, an exhibition by artist John Currin at the Gagosian, Madison Avenue, Young has also worked on several projects with photographer Ryan McGinley, been shot by Richard Kern and walked on Marc Jacobs’s runway. All this happened before the New York-born, Marseille-raised Young even signed with an agency. For today's story, shot in Paris for NOWNESS by photographer Columbine Goldsmith, Young took a ride on the carousel in Montmartre and made a long-awaited visit to the Rodin Museum. “I had a dream about coming here, and in the middle of the night I sent Columbine an email about it,” she says with a laugh. Young takes her own pictures too, some of which she posts on a visual diary blog, and is working on a limited-edition print zine, to be distributed through the aNYthing store. The zine is a platform for her inner thoughts, but Young also turns her eye on those around her—increasingly other models as her career in the industry takes off. Between castings, fittings and photo shoots, her peers spend more time waiting around than most: “Some pick up a book, others talk on the phone or to each other, some are drawing,” says Young.
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styled pictures I've seen of her. I hope she stays true to herself and doesn't get carried away and try to turn herself into some caricature of herself like a lot of models tend to do (cough, Abbey Lee, cough). I find her extremely interesting as she is -- the video of her is great, it reaffirmed my feeling (from her first print interview) that she is intelligent and articulate.
Can't believe you just dissed Abbey.. She is one of the few models who actually hasn't changed despite the growing success she is having.. 
