Go Google Rosalyn Drexler. The late painter, playwright, and professional wrestler polymath was the main character of Rachel Comey’s 25th anniversary show at the historic Judson Theatre. Models toted Drexler’s books (The Cosmopolitan Girl is about a woman who falls in love with a dog, “kind of absurd and crazy!”), ephemera from her years at the Judson decorated tops and skirts, and her palette was informed by the collection’s juicy colors. “She was a mid-century artist and just such a New York character all the way up to when she died last year at 98. I thought she was a perfect diversion from reflecting on 25 years or whatever, and at the same time, a nice focal point: a woman that you know had this interesting life.”
Women buy clothes for all sorts of reasons. To make them look sexy. To make them look young. To make them look skinny. To make them look interesting is a bit further down the totem pole of needs and wants, but for the women who prioritize it, Comey has become a reliable resource over the quarter century that she’s been doing this.
Her models looked dependably interesting today in their polo knits and running shorts, in their layered tops and polka dot wrapped minis, and in their chenille tank dresses over lace camis. Not until the very end of the show did we get anything as normal-world as a matching jacket and pants, but even it was paired with a shirt that trapped long strands of sequin fringe between two layers of tulle.
This was a collection of Rachel Comey trophy pieces, but their artistic provenance notwithstanding they’re not precious. Doodled-on tees and a shirt and shorts studded like champion belts—Drexler’s nom-de-wrestling was Rosa Carlo—are easy enough to be worn on the regular and become part of an everyday wardrobe. Will they make any of us as interesting as the artist who inspired them? According to her New York Times obituary, she was a woman of whom Nora Ephron once wrote, “There is a feeling among Rosalyn Drexler’s friends that she is carrying this Renaissance Woman bit a little too far.” That’s a lot to live up to, but Comey is confident in her quirks. For those that need reinforcements, the exhibition “Rosalyn Drexler—My Life Has a Life of Its Own” opens at the Garth Greenan Gallery tonight.