erzulie hoodie
Brand: Cafe Erzulie
Design: Michael Brennan
Found on the border of the Bushwick and Bed-Stuy neighborhoods of Brooklyn, NY, Cafe Erzulie is a Haitian spot that is equal parts cafe, jazz joint, and night club.
I was tasked with creating a hoodie inspired by their Haitian roots. Mark, one of the owners, had given me a few books on the history of Haitian art, which I let guide me.
Le Centre d’Art was founded in 1944 by American watercolorist and Quaker, DeWitt Peters.
Using some of his own money, along with U.S. State Department and Haitian funds, Peters helped launch the Le Centre d’Art to encourage the development of Haitian artists and Haitian folk art.
The institution was at the center of what became known as The Haitian Art Movement, educating and exhibiting artists including Albert Mangones, Gerald Bloncourt, Maurice Borno, Rigaud Benoit, Hector Hyppolite, Daniel Lafontant, Marie-José Nadal, Rose-Marie Desruisseaux, and Luce Turnier.
The quote on the front and back of the sweatshirt reads: “Les artistes a l’étage qui se disent avances ne sont pas meme des debutants primitifs” or “The artists upstairs who call themselves advanced are not even preliminary primitives.”
The phrase is believed to have been written on the walls of the center as a commentary on the creative hierarchy within the institution, which is true for so much of the art world. “Trained” artists worked the upstairs of the building while the “untrained” worked downstairs. But who’s to say where true creativity comes from?
The images on the sleeves of the hoodie are taken from artists and sculptures who studied in the halls of Le Centre d’Art.
The center is described as the Louvre of Haiti.
