Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.06.2018, Síða 28

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The doors of the elevator slide smooth-
ly open, and Daniel Lismore emerges
into the fractured sunlight of Harpa’s
fifth floor. He cuts a distinctive figure,
dressed head to foot in jet black cloth-
ing, with a tall hat and a cape draped
around his shoulders. A faint smile
plays over his lips, and his eyes are
hidden behind large sunglasses.
Imposing appearance aside, Dan-
iel has a beguilingly down-to-earth
charm. We walk through to Harpa’s
exhibition space, where his exhibi-
tion—”Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is
Already Taken”—is in the process of
being installed. The network of rooms
is teeming with large cardboard boxes,
and the strong scent of mingled per-
fumes hang in the air.
“I’ve scented the
e x h i b i t i o n ,” s a y s
Daniel, softly, as he
picks through a box of
jumbled jewellery and
swathes of shimmer-
ing material. “One of
the pieces smells like
Joan Collins on acid;
another one is like
plastic on poppers.
I wanted people to feel this plastic,
spacey feeling. Another is like gladia-
tors: death, blood, guts, horses, soil. I
made a new perfume, too, which I’m
wearing now. Some people love it, and
some people hate it.”
Tapestries of
life
Daniel’s artistic world
is a sensory overload
visually, too. The ex-
hibition comprises a
series of his “looks”—
extravagantly maxi-
malist outfits, layered
onto mannequin-like sculptures with
only a cast of his lipsticked face vis-
ible. They’re instantly appealing and
dizzyingly detailed; a technicolour re-
mix of pop culture, high street cloth-
ing, ceremonial garb, high fashion,
and lots more besides.
“They’re 3D tapestries of my life,”
says Daniel. “There are so many dif-
ferent things in there. This is from
the Queen of Thailand, and this top is
from the tribes of the north. There are
Indian paintings, then embroidery I’ve
designed... this one is a £90,000 crys-
tal dress. Around the back is Rita Ora’s
Coca-Cola dress, which should be in a
fashion museum, not pinned around
the back of here.”
“Here’s some Massai stuff, and
some hand-painted silk next to ex-
pensive fabrics that I’ve cut up. This is
from Nicki Minaj—she wore it in the
“Freedom” video. This a 2,000-year-
old necklace from China. Then my
mum bought me this kimono. This is
a £30,000 dress. And this is from Pri-
mark.”
Build me up
The results are a collage of Daniel’s
personal history alongside his work,
friendships, influences and travels,
mixed together into a vivid personal
aesthetic. It feels like the culmination
of a fascinating journey. “I’ve learned
a lot from different people, over the
years,” Daniel explains. “I’ve worked
with the best people on the planet, I
think. I was a model, so I was always
backstage with the designers, and
they’d build me up and we’d just go out
for dinner, or to a club.”
As his presence became more es-
tablished, people started gifting cloth-
ing to Daniel, adding to his vast and
ever-expanding catalogue of source
material. “A lot of people have done
that,” he says. “Adam Ant, Boy George,
McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Steve
Strange... I’ve had lots of gifts.”
Explore, embrace and
learn
Daniel has been to Iceland several
times. He first visited for a friend’s
birthday party and was immediately
smitten. “There was a moment when I
looked around, and all these Icelandic
people I’d heard of were there,” he re-
members. “Björk was there. Then I did
a bit of tourist stuff, and I just loved
it here.”
A frequent, almost habitual trav-
eller, Daniel picks up visual inspira-
tions along the way. “Everywhere I go
I like to explore, visually,” he says. “I
like to see everything, and meet every-
one. I go on a search for culture, and I
explore it, embrace it, and learn from
it. I’ll see something on the street and
think ‘That would make a great head-
piece!’ It’s human instinct, really.”
This approach means there are
sometimes culturally significant
artefacts mixed into the explosion
of reference points, whether Chris-
Words:
John Rogers

Photos:
Colin Douglas
Gray
“One of the
pieces smells
like Joan Collins
on acid; another
one is like plas-
tic on poppers.”
Daniel getting ready for a casual night on the town
Culture
The Art
Of Being
Yourself
Daniel Lismore brings his inspired
nonconformity to Harpa

Book &
Exhibition
Daniel Lismore's
"Be Yourself,
Everyone Else is
Already Taken"
is available
now, published
by Rizzoli. His
exhibition of the
same name is at
Harpa from June
2nd-30th as part
of Reykjavík Arts
Festival