Betony is a complete and fascinating artist, charming and mysterious woman. You can see her sensibility and her kind soul from her deep eyes.Tall and beautiful with gorgeous red hair, she's surrounded by strong and pure energy, that you cal feel directly.
She was brought up surrounded by art. After graduating with an art degree, she moved to Italy, and Milan became her home where she continued her studies at the prestigious Domus Academy. Skill, talent and creativity are the key elements that led Betony to important collaborations with some of the most prestigious fashion and design houses including Missoni, Gianfranco Ferré, Swarovski, Pampaloni, Alexander Wang and Fornasetti.
Betony Vernon's work has always been connected to the relationship with the human body. Her ability as a sculptor and designer to maintain a strong physical significance in her forms is to be found in her engagement with the subject of eroticism.
Following the publication of her book The Boudoir Bible : The Uninhibited Sex Guide for Today in 2013, Vernon returns with a new issue collecting her celebrated works.
«The more you free yourself, the more fun you have. When sexuality is not honored, we are not complete». This is how Betony Vernon comments on the release of her last book Paradise Found: An Erotic Treasure for Sybarites celebrating her thirty-year career. In this last book, Betony Vernon offers an inclusive view of sexuality for the twenty-first century and provides readers with the erotic tools and inspiration to broaden their sensual horizons.
Vernon's work has been documented by some of the top names in fashion photography and illustration, from Douglas Kirkland and Ellen von Unwerth to Nick Knight and David Downton, Jeff Burton, François Berthoud, and many others.
We interviewed Betony on the occasion of the release of his latest book "Paradise Found: An Erotic Treasury for Sybarites”.
How and why did you decide to start with your art?
BV: In 1992, I launched my first erotic jewelry line at Luisa Via Roma in Florence.The family of objects that I playfully called "Sado-Chic would, to my unknowing the collection would spark a series of life-changing events over the years to come...as well, including the publishing of two books with Rizzoli nyc. I called some of the objects in what came to be known as the Paradise Found Fine Erotic collection "jewel-tools" because they discreetly embody a secondary function, that is, the possibility to enhance our capacity to provide and receive greater pleasure. In some cases my sensual deigns were a luxurious response to the implements of the sex-toy industry, which satisfied neither my lust for quality materials nor my sense of aesthetics. I was fully aware that I was ahead of my timein the 90's when any item with an obviously sexual function was considered anything but chic. At the time, fashion could be sexy but not explicitly related to sex. In spite of the obvious risks, I felt as if I had a calling to fill the glaring gap in the luxury market, and open up what became an ongoing conversation around the important role that pleasure plays in our lives!
What is the biggest inspiration for your art?
BV: The erotic body, the phenomena of attraction and the possibility to make positive change in all areas of life, simply by dismantling the pleasure taboo.
How have you found the way to express eroticism in such noble and sophisticated way?
BV: I am trained firstly as a jeweler and I treat everything that I design as precious. I use the finest natural materials available and I collaborate with master craftsmen to create durable designs that increase in value over the years. Hand craftsmanship imbues everything I design with a vibrant aura and I consider their inherent characteristic of durability fundamental in the current climate of change we are all obliged to embrace.
What does your last book "Paradise Found: An Erotic Treasure for Sybarites" mean to you and what does it mean for your career?
BV: Paradise Found celebrates 30 years since the inception of Sado-Chic and the Paradise Found Fine Erotic Jewelry collection. I saw this new publication as a way to honor the photographers and illustrators that documented my work over the years. it is through these creative collaborations that my work became invisible to the world at large, and my mission in sensual wellness and awareness was made impossible.Everything is interdependent and I see Paradise Found: An erotic treasury for Sybarites is like a "ribbon" wrapped around 3 important decades of my work. And now that this ribbon is tied, I can serenely move forward into the next phase of my life's work.
What is your opinion about the new generation of artists and what is your relationship with them?
BV: I love and support all of the arts and young artists too.When I teach for art and design schools in Italy and France, I encourage up and coming artists and designers to get their hands dirty and to consider technology as a tool, not a means to an end. I emphasize the importance of learning how to manipulate materials like wood, clay, metal , stone, wax, plaster and any other medium that can be used to express their visions beyond the virtual. I also remind them that their vision are our future, which is in their hands now . I also aim to bring the glamour back to into craftsmanship. Great masters , no matter the art or science, will tell you that using our hands is essential to using our minds to the fullest. E ca c'est chic...
You've started your craftsmanship career with your father in his laboratory, and the artisanal became your signature. Whats does craftsmanship mean to you today?
BV: Craftsmanship is at the core of everything I do. I continue to produce all of my designs in italy and more than ever before, I feel that artisanal savoir faire of the country I call home must be protected. Being close to the artisans I work with is one of the main reasons that I left Paris and moved to the Italian countryside. We must not fear a return to reality, a return to our origins, to the root, to the craft.
Text and interview by Virna Facchinetti @modemonline
Walter König & Cahiers d'Art Bookstore hosts Betony Vernon for signing of book: Paradise Found: an Erotic Treasury for Sybarites
Wednesday May 31, 6pm to 8.30pm
Palais de Tokyo
13 Av. du Président Wilson,
75116 Paris
Please RSVP
Portrait: Raul Higuera, Courtesy Betony Vernon.
