PHOTO CREDITS: DANIEL QUINTANILLA

Just as New York Fashion Week was getting underway, the Debbie Dickinson Gallery brought out the celebratory actions at Zadeh’s on Manhattan’s Upper East Side to reveal her latest “Alchemy” exhibition. “Alchemy”, we start out as being an ordinary figure unnoticed on the wall before evolving into someone we can’t miss. Debbie Dickinson and a VIP-curated guest list made their presence known for a warm happy hour and such involving evolution that we all cling to inspiration for. DANIEL PLUS LAUREN helped Debbie Dickinson kick off this thought provoking “Alchemy” moment up close and personal observing “Alchemy” effects on participating artist such as Stephanie Fuller, Michael Katz, Elena Seroff, and Anthony Haden-Guest.

Let’s start off with Stephanie Fuller who’s idea of “Alchemy” comes from taking her pen with Indian ink to display how a touch of pearls or even gin can enhance the upscale woman portrayed in the painting. The “Alchemy” idea according to Stephanie Fuller doesn’t reach near and far for the extraordinary female upscale figures Stephanie claims ownership of. All it takes is a superficial item such as pearls or alcohol to inspire her lovely ladies to see the world in a different perspective.

With Michael Katz and his appreciation of saturated colors against Catherine Zadah’s organic jewelry collection, saturated colors speak volumes about the idea rather than visiting the store. Michael Katz’s painting is animated by a charged balance between exuberance and restraint. Saturated yellows, reds, turquoise, violet and green push against passages of black and earthy brown, creating a pictorial space that feels at once open and densely inhabited. The work refuses a single point of focus; instead, forms emerge, overlap, dissolve and reappear, giving the painting the quality of something continually becoming.

What struck DANIEL PLUS LAUREN at Debbie Dickinson’s opening was Elena Seroff with “Adam & Eve”. DPL NY originally struggled with whether this was a recreation of “Adam & Eve” before, after, or non-existent of Jesus Christ. But Elena told me this was “Adam & Eve” in a positive light enjoying each other’s love without objection. With “Adam & Eve” according to Elena Seroff described in “Rebirth” in 3 parts, “Adam & Eve” in straight-up red and blue on canvas enjoys the evolving meaning of true love.

And it would not be a Debbie Dickinson Gallery without the insight of Anthony Haden Guest. The most straightforward artist of them all easily lays out “Alchemy” step-by-step fashion without leaving us art observers to our own devices. Anthony starts out his wit as one individual being someone unnoticed before another ink-and-pencil on canvas shows off their transformation into the real world. Anthony’s welcoming funny and acute wit based on personal experience truly settles in on the idea of “Alchemy” as a form of zero to hero without any guesswork left to hard interpretation.

But in the tradition of “The Cabaret Burlesque” founder, Nathalie Marrable, where the final 8 steps are not always the final 8, DANIEL PLUS LAUREN cannot wrap up “Alchemy” without thanking Catherine Zadah for her organic jewelry and her retail space on 1244 Madison Avenue. ZADEH sees that LUXURY IS NOT A MASK. IT IS AN EXPOSURE. In a world obsessed with the fleeting—the “pretty face,” the trend, the temporary—ZADEH stands for the permanent. ZADEH does not design for the masses. ZADEH designs for the individual who has already arrived. ZADEH seeks to reveal you. Because at the end of the day, a face is just a face. But character? Character is the only thing worth wearing.

DANIEL QUINTANILLA