About Subject Eye

Erika Belle

As a gallerist, art curator, dancer, musician and clothing designer, Erika Belle has occupied a unique position at the intersection of downtown NYC art, fashion, music and performance for nearly three decades. A major fashion influence on the young Madonna, with whom she toured as a dancer, she designed clothing and appeared in numerous music videos. In the 1980s she opened the nightclub Lucky Strike with her friend the late impresario Haoui Montaug, which featured early exhibitions by Keith Haring and Zoe Leonard. Just say she’s been in the thick of it: she inspired a series of paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat, as a dancer she performed on stages from City Center to Paris, and fashion insiders recognize her from her longtime role at Yohji Yamamoto. Through it all she has offered the world a dazzling smile, a personal style that is both daring and elegant, and a rare combination of insight, intellect and humor. Here she uncaps the lens through which she views the world. This is her subject and her eye.

Patrick Albino
August 23, 2011