OPENING FRIDAY JULY 15TH 6-8PM | NATALI/KEYES | 207 MAIN STREET GREENPORT NY

Exhibited publicly for the first time at Natali/Keyes Gallery in Greenport, Jerry Shofield’s evocative drawings testify to a life in fashion as well as to a hidden history of a community of North Fork artists who were obscured by the homophobia of their era. Schofield left behind a trove of ink drawings, advertising studies, and collages that demonstrate his incredible draughtsmanship and sense of style. 
This marvelous archive of drawings were discovered when his partner Frank McIntosh passed away in 2020 as the family sorted through his estate.  His drawings read like a catalogue of high fashion from the 1950s to the early 80: he drew for Halston, Chloé, Chanel, Estee Lauder, Diana von Furstenberg–perfectly capturing the zeitgeist of each era.  The gallery has been transformed into an imaginary reimagining of Schofield’s Greenport studio with a selection of drawings hung salon style on the gallery’s rich pink walls, approximating the atmosphere of Schofield and McIntosh’s creative home studio. Gracing the gallery’s window is a large folding screen painted by Schofield, featuring a pair of winged female Griffons, references that conjure Schofield’s worldly travels and his cultural sophistication. The exhibition is accompanied by a collection of ephemera, photographs and other objets d’art from the Schofield-McIntosh house.

~Alison M. Gingeras