Edwige, also known as Edwige Belmore and Edwige Braun-Belmore and la reine du punk a Paris (February 26, 1957 - September 22, 2015) was a French model, singer, artist and actress. She was considered a blonde icon of 1980s No Wave New York/France connection after she appeared on the cover of Façade magazine (No. 4) kissing Andy Warhol on the cheek. The magazine cover text read: “The Queen of Punk and the Pope of Pop”.[1][2][3]
Edwige | |
|---|---|
 Edwige | |
| Born | Edwige Belmor February 26, 1957 Villejuif, Paris |
| Died | September 22, 2015 |
| Notable work | Singer with Mathématiques Modernes: Jacno – Disco Rough / Rectangle (1980), Paris Tokyo (1981), Les Visiteurs Du Soir (1981) |
| Movement | punk fashion synth pop no wave |
Edwige founded (with Claude Arto) the post-punk synth pop musical group Mathématiques modernes with which she sang and released four albums. She was for a time the doorman/bouncer/promoter of the club Le Palace. In New York she promoted nights at Area, Danceteria, Tunnel and The Palladium Niteclub. She was photographed by famous photographers of the day like Helmut Newton, Maripol, Jean-Baptiste Mondino and Pierre et Gilles who photographed her as Sainte Gertrude the Great. She walked the runway for Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler. Throughout the 80s, Edwige went back and forth from the Lower East Side of New York and Paris where she sang at Les Bains-Douches.[4]
Biography
editEdwige Bessuand was born in February 26, 1957[5] in Paris, and was taken into state care after being abandoned.[6] As a teenager, she lived in the Kremlin-Bicêtre. Her adoptive parents separated and kicked her out of the house when she was 17.[6][1][7]
Edwige went to live with Maud Molyneux and Paquita Paquin, on the rue Vavin in Montparnasse, where she gradually turned into a punk rocker, shaving her hair and dyeing it platinum blond when it grew back.[8][9] She spent her nights at Le Sept with Molyneux and Paquin,[10] at Le Bains Douches where she sometimes performed on stage[11] or at La Main Bleue with Paquita and Eva Ionesco.[12]
In 1979, Edwige founded (with Claude Arto) the post-punk synth pop musical group Mathématiques modernes with which she sang and released four albums.[13] She was for a time the doorman/bouncer/promoter of the club Le Palace.[14][15][2]
Her meeting with Paloma Picasso introduced her to the world of Andy Warhol and the jet-set. She became friends with Yves Saint Laurent and Loulou de la Falaise.[1] She went to New York for the first time at the end of 1977 and attended the Mudd Club and Studio 54.[15] She returned regularly to New York over the following years, living on Ludlow Street in the Lower East Side, where she developed a heroin habit.[7][6]
Edwige modeled for Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler.[16][17] She was photographed in 1990 by Pierre and Gilles for a work entitled Sainte Gertrude la Grande. "The strong temperament of our model and her boyish appearance went well with the reputation for rigor and austerity of this intellectual and mystical figure that was Gertrude the Great" explains the photographers.[18] During her career, she was photographed several times by Pierre and Gilles, both for the press and for advertising.[7] Long before, she was also the subject of photographs by Helmut Newton[17] for a rarely published photo,[7] Maripol a few years later, and Jean-Baptiste Mondino.[citation needed]
In 1987 she went to an ashram in India for several years to learn and teach yoga. From there she moved to Miami, where she lived at the Vagabond Hotel.[19]
In 2012, Edwige appeared in a documentary by Jérôme de Missolz, Des jeunes gens mödernes. In the film, a group of young artists, fascinated by the punk style, meet a music critic from the period.[20]
At the estimated age of 58, Edwige died of untreated chronic hepatitis on September 22, 2015 at a hospital in Florida.[16][15][21]
Discography with Mathématiques Modernes
edit- Jacno – Disco Rough / Rectangle (1980)
- Paris Tokyo (1981)
- Les Visiteurs Du Soir (1981)
Films
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | L'héroïne de l'enfance | ||
| 1979 | Dirty Dreamer Wanda | Edwige Gruss | |
| 1978 | The Secret Son | The prostitute | |
| 1980 | Scopitone (Short) | La chef de gang | |
| 1981 | La marque du destin | ||
| 1982 | Chassé-croisé | Le professeur de piano | |
| 1985 | The Way It Is | Rebecca/Aglaonice | |
| 1988 | Deux ombres (Short) | La mère de Paul | |
| 1988 | Because the Dawn (Short) | Marie | |
| 2016 | The Incomparable Rose Hartman | (Documentary) | |
| 2014 | The Starck Club | (Documentary) | |
| 2011 | Kids of Töday Self | (as Edwige Belmore) | |
| 2004 | Rose Palace | (Documentary) |
References
edit- ^ a b c Teresa Cannatà (April 7, 2011). "Edwige Belmore". vogue.it. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ a b Clément Ghys (23 September 2015). "Edwige Belmore, mort de "la reine des punks"". next.liberation.fr.
- ^ Cabut, Richard; Gallix, Andrew (October 27, 2017). Punk Is Dead: Modernity Killed Every Night. John Hunt Publishing. ISBN 9781785353475 – via Google Books.
- ^ [1] Edwige Braun-Belmore
- ^ Simon Liberati (February 24, 2016). "Mannequin, chanteuse, muse punk : vies et mort d'Edwige Belmore". vanityfair.fr.
- ^ a b c Simon Liberati (3 October 2015). "Simon Liberati raconte Edwige, "reine des punks"". Les Inrocks. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b c d Interview: "In conversation with EEPMON:Edwige Belmoreur, The Queen of Punk". mocoloco.com.
- ^ Paquin 2005, p. 93.
- ^ Paquin 2005, p. 112.
- ^ Paquin 2005, p. 124.
- ^ Paquin 2005, p. 128.
- ^ Paquin 2005, p. 134.
- ^ [2] Edwige Braun-Belmore
- ^ Paquin 2005, p. 144.
- ^ a b c "Edwige Belmore, "Reine des punks" des années 80, est morte". culturebox.francetvinfo.fr. 24 September 2015. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b Marie Haynes (September 24, 2015). "Edwige Belmore, l'égérie punk, est décédée". gala.fr.
- ^ a b Kristin Anderson (September 22, 2015). "Remembering Edwige Belmore, the Legendary Punk of Parisian Nightlife". vogue.com.
- ^ Chloé Devis (April 2013). Derrière l'objectif de Pierre et Gilles (Photos et propos). Éditions Hoebeke. ISBN 978-2842304683.
- ^ "Vagabond hotel — This and That Autre Magazine".
- ^ "Mort d'Edwige Belmore, figure punk des années 1980". Le Monde.fr. September 24, 2015 – via Le Monde.
- ^ Armstrong, Walter. "The Life of Punk Queen Edwige Belmore and the Death of the Old Downtown". Intelligencer.
Source
edit- Paquin, Paquita (April 2005). Vingt ans sans dormir (1968-1983). Éditions Denoël. ISBN 978-2-207-25569-8.
See also
editExternal links
edit- [3] Edwige of Le Palace By Olivier Zahm November 28, 2008 Interview Magazine