FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2026
Sacred Monster Vol. 2 at The Loved One: Zine Launch and Conversation with Chloë Cassens, Rose Apodaca and Michael Schmidt
Los Angeles, CA – Wienholt Projects presents Sacred Monster Volume 2 at The Loved One, a zine launch on Thursday, August 27th, 7:30 – 9:30 pm, with a cross-disciplinary conversation between Sacred Monster founder Chloë Cassens, cultural journalist Rose Apodaca and wardrobe and jewelry designer Michael Schmidt.
The granddaughter of Severin Wunderman (the founder of Gucci Timepieces) and representative of the Severin Wunderman Collection (the largest collection of French avant-garde icon Jean Cocteau artworks in the world), Cassens’ ongoing work continues to carry both her grandfather’s and Cocteau’s legacies forward in innovative programming around the globe.
Expanding from what she started in her previous zine release, Cassens’ latest Sacred Monster Volume 2 features more essays about Jean Cocteau, Daft Punk, dance floor eroticism, sex work, what she lost (and gained) in the Palisades fire, and more. Volume 2 is an extension of Sacred Monster, a cultural project that reintroduces Cocteau—and the broader avant-garde circles he moved in and whose influences are still seen today—to a new generation through essays, public programming, and collaborations with institutions and film festivals.
Cassens’ unconventional path brings exciting relevance into her scholarship. She produced the popular podcast The Sex Ed with Liz Goldwyn and has spoken at institutions including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice about Cocteau’s more explicit works and their cultural context. Cassens has been featured in several recent publications, including a major feature in The New York Times, which dubbed her the “Little Scorpion” of the French Riviera for her role in stewarding the Wunderman legacy while pushing Cocteau’s work into new conversations around art, sexuality, and contemporary culture.
There will be a conversation at the launch with Chloë Cassens, Michael Schmidt and Rose Apodaca. Rose Apodaca is a writer and creative director in the realms of fashion, beauty, and popular culture. She is following up her two New York Times bestsellers with a second book in collaboration with Dita Von Teese, slated for release in late 2027, as well as books with LA music icon Joseph Brooks and entertainment jewelry-wardrobe designer Michael Schmidt. Michael Schmidt is a wardrobe and jewelry designer whose inventive techniques and imaginative eye has made him a superstar among a constellation of clients that include Madonna, Cher, Beyonce, Lenny Kravitz, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, among many others.
DETAILS
Thursday, August 27th
7:30 – 9:30 pm
The Loved One
1634 W Temple St, Los Angeles, 90026
ABOUT WIENHOLT PROJECTS
Wienholt Projects is a Los Angeles–based curatorial project developing alternative frameworks for supporting and presenting contemporary art. In 2023, Aubrie Wienholt founded Wienholt Projects as a platform for innovative exhibitions and programs. The initiative grew out of the contemporary art focused creative agency she established in 2015, and reflects her long-standing experience working with artists, galleries, and institutions.
Committed to supporting artists and their evolving needs, Wienholt Projects seeks to challenge conventions, advance contemporary art, and foster cultural dialogue.
ABOUT HAT & BEARD
Hat & Beard is an independent, Los Angeles-based publisher. Hat & Beard Press, with their illustrated book imprint, publishes original, illustrated nonfiction titles of pop-cultural and historical significance that draw on existing cult audiences. Hat & Beard Editions, their literary imprint, publishes books of essays & interviews.
Hat & Beard also produces Big Table, a literary podcast about books and conversation, produced with our sister company, the arts nonprofit Invisible Republic, based in Los Angeles.
ABOUT CHLOË CASSENS
Chloë Cassens is the representative of the Severin Wunderman collection, the largest in the world of works by the artist Jean Cocteau. Her perspective on Cocteau is singular as she is Wunderman’s granddaughter. An in-demand expert and scholar of Cocteau, she has spoken to audiences at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice; L’Alliance in New York City; the British Film Institute in London; the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles; and many more. Chloë has been featured in Le Monde, Tatler, Observer, and the New York Times has called her “The Little Scorpion of the French Riviera.” Her writing has appeared in periodicals such as A Rabbit’s Foot, 7Hollywood, and S&M Magazine.
Chloë was born in Los Angeles and raised between L.A., Switzerland, and France. She received a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Barnard College. She lives in Los Angeles and Paris with her dachshund, Louis.
You can follow her at @chloecassens on Instagram. You can subscribe to Sacred Monster at www.sacred-monster.com.