Lenox Lounge 2006 (collage)
mixed on paper, 33.6 x 47 cm / 13.2 x 18.5 inches
Chances are many New York natives have yet to experience the history in rhythm at the historic Lenox Lounge. The place that great jazz legends; like Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra and John Coltrane once filled with their tinged scats, in the infamous Zebra Room.
Architectually influenced by the father of industrial design, Raymond Loewy, the Lenox Lounge was birthed in 1939. Its distinctive facade, graphic signage, and comprehensive design are hallmark examples of art deco structures left in New York City.
Rich in history, it is told by historians and Harlembred heirs alike, that not only was the Lenox Lounge the place for good music, but it was one of the first established vessels where people withnessed the reverence of a culture following the Harlem Resaissance. This is the place where Langston Hughes narrated “The Story of Jazz”, Alex Haley interviewed Malcolm X for his biography, and where James Baldwin, Zora Neal Hurston, and Ralph Ellison became regulars.
Due to its historical attributes, many artists, directors, photographers, fashion houses, and corporations shoot their music videos, ad campaigns, movies and look books at the Lenox Lounge. Toyota, Alice & Olivia, Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Luther Vandross, Justin Timberlake, Quincy Jones, American Gangster starring Denzel Washington, Janet Jackson, The New Yorker Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Oprah Magazine, G-Unit Clothing Co… to name a few.
