"I just made the time. There's no excuses when I really want to do something." That's Luka Sabbat's answer to how, in addition to being an in-demand model (he just walked Dolce & Gabbana's Fall/Winter 2017 show), stylist, Millennial go-getter, and poster child for the Cool Teen™ set found the time to add burgeoning artist to his ever-growing resume.
The art we're here to discuss is part of an installation hosted by N.Y.C.'s Milk Gallery titled "Hot Mess" that Sabbat created with photographer Noah Dillon. (It should be noted that if you ever want to feel a decade older than your actual age, and as swag-less as you felt in 4th grade when you didn't own a B.U.M. equipment sweatshirt—a reference that only reinforces your first inclinations—go to an event headlined by Luka Sabbat.) The story of how he and Dillon went from meeting, to creating, to showing goes something like this: Sabbat found Dillon on Twitter, flew him out to Los Angeles from Colorado, and the two "connected to begin curating their art and expressing their creativity," according to the show's release. From L.A. they moved New York City then to the epicenter of cool people doing cool things, Paris. There, they recorded downtime moments during fashion weeks, went inside the types of parties the rest of us don't know about, and captured all the debauched things that happen when a bunch of young, interesting-looking, and aspiring creative types come together. "Everything was last minute. We were always coming up with new ideas, canceling ideas," Sabbat says about their working partnership. Along the way, Sabbat called upon friends and collaborators, from Off-White's Virgil Abloh to a guy named Arthur Carr who owns l'Automobile in Paris and "sells cars, but very fire, rare old Ferraris." After two years, the twosome had over 250 images ready for display, but whittled it down to the show's 88.
While the original goal of the project was to unite people from various backgrounds in unfamiliar situations, an exhibition of the work wasn't always the end goal. "This was beyond my end goal, but it became my end goal," Sabbat told us. "I've always wanted to release something creative." The exhibition is grouped in like visual narratives (the young woman in a red hallway, the two men in a chateau-style house [one ominously brandishing a gun], the restaurant dinner table during and after a meal), and each one is accompanied by words (which are more poem-like than anything) by creative writer Curtis Eggleston. It's like a well-executed Tumblr page IRL, in that none of it feels too overwrought nor insincere. After all, arresting images of disaffected kids in distinctly adult environments have never not been appealing.
And since Sabbat is a smart, in-touch guy who knows what will make an impact in a show like this, there's also merch—sort of. "It's like merch, but you can't buy it," he says of the two racks featuring an edited mix of tees, cocooning hoodies, and jeans, each screen-printed with the shows title, "Hot Mess" on them. "You can place pre-orders, but you can only place pre-orders here. So if you're not in New York to place your pre-order, you're not getting it." It should be noted that the merch will be on pre-order "forever" according to Sabbat. (A Sabbat-helmed clothing line, though, could be a reality—in "ten years" he said).
The most impressive thing about Sabbat's involvement in "Hot Mess" is the confidence he has in the work on display and ease with which he's seemingly able to transition from being the stylish guy who sends street style photographers into a sprint to aligning himself with something more than just looking good in dope clothes. And sure, he's got a hint of cockiness that comes with being a teenager who oozes cool, is courted by billion dollar brands (in hopes that some of said cool spills over to them), and has 337,000 people keep up with his every move on Instagram. Also, Sabbat is too aware that actions speak louder than words. "An idea is only an idea until you do something about it," he told us. "Sometimes people will have an idea about being a superstar or an idea about being a photographer, but they won't actually put in the work. This was mad work."
"Hot Mess" will be open to the public on Thursday, February 9th (10am-7pm), Friday, February 10th (10am – 4pm) and run through Saturday, February 11th (10am – 5pm) at Milk Gallery