Blythe House is the archive for the Victoria & Albert Museum’s vast collections of fashion and textile, furniture, ceramics, jewellery and fine arts. It is within this incredible building, usually closed to the public, that the fashion curator Judith Clark and psychoanalyst Adam Phillips have created ‘The Concise Dictionary of Dress’.
The exhibition consists of a guided tour through the building passing by various installations, designed and assembled by Clark and accompanied by definitions created by Phillips. This awe-inspiring archive creates a unique atmosphere that arouses your curiosity and inspires contemplation. The installations emerge from unexpected places, subtly drawing on associations to the stored objects surrounding them.
This exhibition provides a unique experience, which redefines the way we perceive the presence and absence of the body and clothing. Definitely not to be missed!
The exhibition runs until June 27, 2010. For more information or to book a tour visit the Artangel website at the link below and for a sneak preview watch the trailer.
The shop/studio/gallery has been open for nearly a month now and while I was in Amsterdam recently I passed by to see how it looks inside. Here is a preview if you haven't seen it yet. It is a beautiful space to browse through and you can always find Berber and Anne at the back of the shop with tea and time for a chat...
The French artist, Sophie Calle is a storyteller. She began taking photographs and making notes while she followed strangers on the street in 1979 and since then has continued to use these two elements to create beautifully personal narratives.
Her collections or stories evolve often through implementing a constraint or rule which she strictly follows, recording the resulting situations or experiences in a way that is both intimate and universal. Calle’s work explores human vulnerability and often focuses on the stories or history behind different objects of sentimental value revealing the social interactions or relationships they induce. Her work including the installation Prenez soin de vous (Take Care of Yourself), a highlight of the 2007 Venice Biennale, can be seen at the Whitechapel gallery in London until 3 January 2010. It is well worth a visit to be carried off in these fascinating storylines and to take some time for reflection. For more info visit…
My afternoon was spent wandering through an inspiring new exhibition at Somerset House on the banks of the Thames.
SHOWstudio:Fashion Revolution is a unique exhibition showing just some of the projects initiated by SHOWstudio.com, an award-winning fashion website, founded and directed by the renowned fashion photographer, Nick Knight. SHOWstudio was established in November 2000, at a time when there was no YouTube, no mobile camera phones, no reality TV and the fashion world was most definitely not online! Since then the studio has consistently pushed the boundaries of communicating fashion online through innovative projects in which the audience is encouraged to respond, interact and contribute creatively.
Included in the exhibition is an installation presenting the project Bring & Buy. In July 2005 a request was sent out to SHOWstudio’s collaborators and viewers to donate garments that held some special significance for them. It asked the clothes be accompanied by their story — who they had belonged to, when they had been worn, what special part they had played in the wearers life. Submissions were received from viewers worldwide and these garments formed the basis of a fashion shoot for i-D magazine. To read more about this particular project and others visit the SHOWstudio website. The exhibition runs from 17 September-20 December. You can find more info on the Somerset House homepage.
The Art of Fashion: Installing Allusions is an exhibition which recently opened in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. Curated by José Teunissen, a lecturer at the visual arts academy in Arnhem, it investigates the increasingly blurry borders between fashion and art. The exhibition particularly celebrates the unwearable through objects, video installations, sculptures and garments. Five designers have been commissioned to make new work specifically for the exhibition includingWalter Van Beirendonck and Anna-Nicole Ziesche.
19 September 2009 - 10 January 2010.
For more info visit...
Madeleine Vionnet (1876-1975) was the first conceptual fashion designer. Her designs were not made to be worn for just one season...they are dresses for life.
She described her own designs as possessing a “timeless beauty”.
A collection of her major works can be seen until the 31st January 2010 at the Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
This exhibition called ‘Puriste de la mode’ includes a selection from her major works and indeed shows that her dresses are just as wearable now as they were when they designed between 1912 and 1939. For more info visit...
During the Amsterdam International Fashion week Foam asked renowned Fashion Blogger Garance Doré to take photos during different shows and events. These photographs are presented as projections and prints and can be seen at Foam until the 23rd of August 2009. Doré is known for her street-fashion photography. In her images made during the AIFW she focuses on the outfits worn by the audience instead of those on the catwalk. For more information about the exhibition check Foam's homepage or visit Garance Doré's blog.
If you missed the exhibition in the Groninger Museum in 2005, there is now another chance to see Chalayan's work at the Design Museum in London, 22 January until 17 May! Spanning fifteen years of experimental projects, the exhibition is said to explore Chalayan's creative approach, his inspirations and the many themes which influence his work such as cultural identity and displacement. Chalayan has twice been named British Designer of the Year and exhibited at the 51st Venice Biennale. His work really does bridge the gap between Art and Fashion. I guess it is time for a quick trip to London!
25 November 2008 – 8 February 2009
Centraal Museum, Utrecht.
This is the largest extensive exhibition ever presented in the Netherlands by the famous designer duo Viktor & Rolf. All original creations shown have their own miniature version housed in a 6-metre high dolls house.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Maison Martin Margiela at the Antwerp Fashion Museum – 12 September ’08 until 8 February ’09.
“Maison Martin Margiela is especially known for its deconstructivist approach and use of second-hand materials or materials with low commercial value. Its entire oeuvre is characterized by an exceptional combination of classic tailoring and conceptual thinking. Margiela shows the inside of a clothing item, exposes its construction and focuses on that which fashion anxiously tries to conceal”. Only on until February 8! An exhibition well worth the trip to Antwerpen ...
