As we await the opening of SOFTER: Jenny Holzer at Blenheim Palace this week, we look at the artist’s profound effect on this mesmerising musician
“I really like Jenny Holzer. She’s my favourite artist. She makes bold statements that are applicable to everybody. A great example is her work Put Food Out in the Same Place Every Day and Talk to the People Who Come to Eat and Organize Them. I’m very interested in community and the idea of a common denominator that binds people together. I saw Virgil Abloh’s [Spring/Summer 2018] show and he included her work in the collection. She was there but I didn’t get to meet her, which I’m really upset about. If I met her I’d ask how she makes those statements. Because what she’s doing, for me as a musician, is art. She’s writing choruses. The whole point of a chorus is to get your message across in the minimum amount of words, to maximum effect. I want to know how she does that every single time.”
Abra is capable of magic. See her perform and you know it’s true. The singer-songwriter and producer’s captivating brand of alternative-pop-cum-freestyle-house and mesmerising dance moves have been known to spellbind audiences. Born in Queens, New York, to missionary parents, she started out by posting rap covers on YouTube under the name Hurricane Gabrielle. She subsequently caught the attention of rapper Father, who invited her to join Awful Records. Her first EP, BLQ Velvet, was released in 2015, followed by Princess and an album, Rose, in 2016. While her music evades categorisation as R&B, she is respected as one of the genre’s most exciting and original new talents.
Hair: Taan at l’Atelier (68). Make-up: Mélanie Sergeff at l’Atelier (68). Photographic assistant: Corentin Thevenet. Styling assistants: Rebecca Perlmutar, Diego Diez and Sunnie Fraser.
The Autumn/Winter 2017 issue of AnOther Magazine is on sale now.
