J. Morgan Puett

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J. Morgan Puett (born 1957) is a conceptual installation artist. Her childhood reminiscence of home life in rural Georgia flavors many aspects of her work, which straddle the lines of fashion, architecture, and fine art. The daughter of a third generation beekeeper and painter respectively, Morgan’s work focuses on clothing design/textile and costume history as well as the recreation of milieus that recollect her well-worn southern rural heritage; the subject of her store on East 5th Street, Broome Street and Wooster Street in New York City. Puett launched her career with the creation of her own designer label (J. Morgan Puett) and accompanying SoHo (NY) retail fashion house. She has been featured, among others in New York Magazine, W, Harpers Bazaar, Art Forum, and Art in America, World of Interiors, and I.D., The New York Times. Puett is the recipient of a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. Her work has been exhibited at the Fabric Workshop and Museum of Philadelphia; PA, Wave Hill; Bronx, NY, Spoleto USA in Charleston; SC, the Tate, the Serpentine Gallery and Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts.

en.wikipedia.org | jmorganpuett.com

Seasonal designer collection, "Depression" 1984

 

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Seasonal designer collection, "Immigrants" 1986

 

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Seasonal designer collection, "Washed Linens" 1990

 

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Seasonal designer collection, "Washed silks" 1993

 

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from layersofmeaning.org

J. Morgan Puett - (re)creating her own world

Puett's store in Soho


“What I’m really interested in is the future and what it looks like” and “in inventing a future through history and material culture and art.” - J. Morgan Puett, designer and artist. Puett elaborates further on this philosophy: “It’s not about nostalgia or re-enacting,” she said. “I believe that all of these time periods and histories are pressing in on us at once.” These quotes are from a NY Times article, In Her Own World by Alastair Gordon. Be sure to view the related NY Times slideshow.

I just finished re-decorating my bedroom with mustard-colored and ivy-covered painted walls, faded floral curtains and a blue floral strip quilt. The room reminds me of the comforts of my grandmother’s house in Wichita, when I was growing up - but it is not a direct quote of her 1920s/30s prairie heritage. The room instead reflects a collective memory of comfort and coziness, while still being part of the 21st century.

Then this morning, I read the NY Times article and realized that what Puett was creating is what we should all be doing, making a place that is an “ongoing experiment in art, design and aestheticized living”…The house is filled with Ms. Puett’s and Mr. Dion’s eclectic collections of art, antiques, hundreds of books, stuffed birds, skulls, outsider art and ephemera. It’s at once a private, family space and a public, multipurpose environment, as Ms. Puett describes it. “This is not my dream house,” she said. “This was designed as a central community kitchen and reference library.”"

 

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Seasonal designer collection, "Waxed couture" 1993

 

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Seasonal designer collection, "Doll Clothes" 1994
Seasonal designer collection, "Aluminum" 1997
Seasonal designer collection, "Erotica" 1998
Seasonal designer collection, "Shack" 1999

 

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all images from jmorganpuett.com

Seasonal designer collection, "Silkscreened Silks" 1997