Magazine
The Freaks Who Rule New York
From a masked artist to a Broadway pioneer, these are the one-of-a-kind creative forces shaping the culture today.
The Interior Design Freak
Ricky Clifton
Artist, interior designer and writer, 71; Gramercy Park, Manhattan
Why New York: “When I met Andy Warhol in Dallas [in high school], I told him I was moving to the city. He said, ‘When you get there, call me.’ Every time I called the Factory, he’d pick up the phone. He was old-school like that. Artists were like Jewish mothers — there was a community.”
Freakiest gig: “I’ve been driving since I was 11, so when I moved to New York in 1975, I drove delivery trucks for florists. I worked for Tony DiPace, who had a place below Halston’s [studio]. I put up Lauren Bacall’s Christmas tree.”
Favorite freak: “I don’t know why Lady Bunny isn’t really famous. She’s better than RuPaul. She should have her own TV show.”
The Masked Freak
Narcissister
Artist, 53; Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Origin story: “As a child I was seeing images in the world that were kind of surreal. For example, I remember saying to my mother that I could see my Girl Scouts leader’s face in the shape of my fingernail. A lot of my house in Southern California had wood paneling, and I’d see what looked like vulvas in the grain.”
Signature look: “When I started the Narcissister project around 2006, I knew I wanted to wear a mask and a merkin. I had been working as a window display designer when I took my mask from a wig display form. I cut holes in it to see and breathe.”
