Gideon Ponte began his career in the vibrant art scene of 1980s New York City, influenced by the punk era and the emerging no wave cinema. He first worked as a researcher on Mary Harron’s I Shot Andy Warhol, recreating the artwork for the film under designer Therese DePrez. This experience led to designing Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo 66 and Harron’s American Psycho. He has designed exhibitions for institutions like the Metropolitan Museum and MOMA, and collaborated with artists such as Paul McCarthy. Ponte's contributions also extend to fashion, designing sets for campaigns with Prada, Gucci, Saint Laurent, Chanel and more.
In Episode 21 of Apotheosis, production designer and PDC member Gideon Ponte ( American Psycho, Buffalo 66) chats with Alexander Whittenberg about his work designing for major fashion brands and why a combination of failure, discarded ideas, physical materials and happy accidents are often essential to making meaningful design work—especially in a creative landscape increasingly shaped by compressed schedules, previsualization, digital tools and AI.
"The things I know, I'm not that interested in."
"Pessimistically hopeful is what I am."