"Sweetheart Jazz Solo"

 - A tribute to Gina Ekiss -

23 1/2 in. x 18 in. abstract geometric painting featuring reproduction sketch portrait from “Heads From Life: Charcoal, Crayon, Pencil” (Walter T. Foster, published 1930) comprising of shredded paper collage of torn magazine pages, iridescent & matte spray paint, acrylic & latex house paint, black glitter, adhesive (both Mod Podge and glue stick) on stretched canvas — an adapted piece from August 2019

For context, you can Google the key words in my title to see info on this woman’s iconic motif, initially conceived in 1989 but released thirty years ago in 1992 by the Sweetheart Cup Company, (subsequently purchased by Solo, who made it unmissable packaging). As I commented to my sister earlier upon her surprised reaction that Ekiss has been rightfully identified, albeit only as a belated afterthought (such as in Entrepreneur seven summers ago), it's certainly one of those styles, reportedly a top-selling stock design, so recognizable to that era -- like shoulder pads, sequins, Hammer pants, teased bangs, high-waisted jeans (often acid-washed), snap-bracelets, or the Flying Toasters screensaver. It represents a rare, positive use of Internet sleuthing and a happy ending, although I don't believe royalties were ever shared by the manufacturer. But at the very least this designer's work is properly credited and gaining revived attention by Millennials, so appreciative of the late-nineteen-eighties and early-nineties that almost any once-dated pop culture fashion element from two to three decades ago now threatens to be resurrected, wryly but also often with genuine affection. And that it was called "Jazz" -- as opposed to, say, "Turquoise Crayon Scrawl" or "California Summer Breeze" -- makes it all the more fitting AND hilarious. I can imagine it stretched across a figure-skating leotard in an Ice Capades routine, perhaps a choreographed moving display featuring Tonya Harding or one of her equally tacky brethren...