Designing Canvas

It is just as hard,if not harder,to make clothes, she said,and you have to do it a lot faster.

Nevertheless,Holzer agreed to be the first artist to design a pair of Keds sneakers in a project to benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art. Protect Me From What I Want,reads a line printed on canvas from her 1980s Survival series,for versions of black-and-white high-tops 75 and low-tops 70,to be sold starting July 8 at Bloomingdales. Other sneaker designs by the artists Laura Owens and Sarah Crowner are planned for September.

In yet another project,designer Adam Lippes is working with a group of artists,including Matthew Brannon and E.V Day,to make T-shirts that will also benefit the Whitney.

Adam D Weinberg,Director,Whitney,said that at this moment many artists are open to projects that broaden the idea of art distribution. The museums collaborative projects are typically produced in limited editions and involve artists whose sensibilities do not preclude such commercial endeavours.

I suspect Jasper Johns would not be that interested in sneaker design, Weinberg said.

Holzer said she was in favour of making work that is more accessible,even though she found herself making creative concessions to the marketing executives who dreamed up the Keds projects. They made her change the slogan.

I was hot for The Future Is Stupid on black high-tops,but I think that was deemed too realistic right now, she said. I thought it would look good in motion.