DOUBLE TAP #6
Louis-Philippe van Eeckhoutte

6. März 2019 • Text von Nora Meinhardt

Mondrian, Magritte, Richter and the Nanny. One’s first instinct might be to pick the odd one out. Not for Louis-Philippe van Eeckhoutte. The independent curator and advisor skillfully matches the best of ’90s fashion icon Fran Fine’s outfits with their high class counterparts from the art world. The best matches of flashy fashion and contemporary art can be found on his Instagram account @thenannyart.

Fran Fine meets Stefan Tcherepnin. © @thenannyart.

gallerytalk.net: Tell us about @thenannyart – what’s the story behind it and how did you come up with the idea for the account?
Louis-Philippe van Eeckhoutte: @thenannyart started a few months ago when I randomly came across a still shot from The Nanny that immediately reminded me of the 1988 painting Betty by Gerhard Richter.

How do you create the posts? You must have an immersive mental library of both, art works and outfits from the show.
I’m looking at reruns of the series and images of Fran Fine on the internet (@whatfranwore is a great resource of the looks that stylist Brenda Cooper made for the series) and it strikes me how many of her outfits have their counterpart in contemporary art.

What’s your favorite post so far?
Betty by Gerhard Richter, The Vest by Mathew Cerletty and the Josh Smith watermelon painting that echoes her Moschino outfit from the pilot episode.

Fran Fine meets Josh Smith. © @thenannyart.

To us, @thenannyart seems like just the thing the world was waiting for. What reactions do you get?
Both people in an outside the art world seem to love @thenannyart. Curators, artists, gallerists and collectors love how iconic pieces of the most well-know artists that are esteemed high culture are combined with outfits from the campy ’90s series.

You are quite active in the art world and currently working as an independent curator and advisor. What is your opinion on the use of Instagram as a creative medium and the role it plays in the art world?
Instagram is not only an access to what’s on view at museums, galleries and fairs, it has also become a tool to create content. Pop culture from the ’90s can resonate throughout memes. Instagram can be a medium of nostalgia and make us reminisce about the larger than live TV characters from our youth. 

@thenannyart combines high art and ‘90s pop culture, which one would think of as quite contrary of each other. What do you think about the combination between “high” and “low” culture? Is the division between the two still relevant?
The question about this division makes me think about the title of a book by designer Paul Smith “You Can Find Inspiration in Everything – And If You Can’t, Look Again”. The “high” has been inspired by the “low” and the other way around. To be receptive to both opens the door to innovative and creative ideas, just like The Nanny crosses the bridge from Flushing to the Sheffield’s door.

Fran Fine meets Piet Mondrian. © @thenannyart.

Media is quickly catching up on @thenannyart. Do you have any future plans or wishes for the channel?
More posts are coming, and I hope the audience for them will grow.

For the sitcom lovers among us: Any recommendations for ‘90s sitcoms?
It’s hard to choose the best sitcoms of the ‘90s. I personally could recommend Murphy Brown, Frasier and Seinfeld. If I could go back to the ‘80s, I would choose The Golden Girls.