Gender and art

EDINBURGH.- The results of a unique collaboration between fashion designers, artists, curators and art historians, established to investigate and challenge contemporary notions of beauty, was revealed in a fascinating new display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery this week.

Beauty by Design: Fashioning the Renaissance brings together a new body of work by UK designers and stylists, which has been informed by their response to Renaissance paintings in the National Galleries’ collections, and which reconsiders the ‘thin ideal’ so dominant in contemporary media and fashion. These new works are being displayed alongside some of the paintings which inspired them, such as the portrait of Margaret Graham, Lady Napier, 1626, by Adam de Colone and Paris Bordon’s Venetian Women at their Toilet, 1545.

Beauty by Design: Fashioning the Renaissance

15th November 2014 − 3rd May 2015

Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edingburgh

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/whatson/on-now-coming-soon/beauty-by-design/

One of the most anticipated shows on the graduations calendar is indubitably that of the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp. The preeminent Alma Mater of the Antwerp Six, the academy consistently bequeaths us with ingenious industry heavyweights coming from the design department headed by Walter van Beirendonck. Besides the famed alumni sitting in the audience, it’s no secret that talent scouts and agencies attend the show as well.

Though deeply impressed by the many excellent visions presented by Bachelor students, it makes sense to focus on the graduates of the Masters programme moments before they enter the industry. This year, eight of the Master students opted for womenswear collections and two for menswear, though a tendency towards obliterating the gender-specificity of the designs in favour of more transgressive approach was visible across the collections, whereas others took a critical approach to (tragic) fates associated with traditional gender roles.

Greta Alfaro, In Ictu Oculi, 2009.

"Vanitas: Fashion and Art examines the theme of vanitas as expressed by avant-garde ready-to-wear and haute couture fashion, and contemporary artworks. Traditionally used to refer to a type of still life painting popular in the Netherlands during the seventeenth century, the term ‘vanitas’ has become more generally associated with art that meditates on the ephemeral character of earthly pleasures and worldly accomplishments, and highlights the fragility of our desires in the face of the inevitability of death. With its accelerated cycle of obsolescence, explicit manifestation of status and material success, and potential for narcissistic self-regard, fashion is a particularly apt medium through which to explore this exhibition’s central theme."

Vanitas: Fashion and Art

March 13–June 20, 2014

Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach

http://www.bassmuseum.org/art/vanitas-fashion-and-art/

In the game of chess, the queen is considered the most powerful and often the most unpredictable piece. She embodies tradition whilst simultaneously redefining rules established by a patriarchal system. This intriguing dichotomy is the inspiration behind A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes, Fashion and Chess.

Produced by an international team of thought-leaders, curators, artists, fashion insiders, and chess players, the exhibition explores the various archetypes of the queen, as well as how storytelling and symbols capture the imagination of innovative fashion designers.

A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes, Fashion and Chess

October 19, 2013 - April 18, 2014

World Chess Hall of Fame

"Were the Impressionists fashionistas? And what role did fashion play in their goal to paint modern life with a “modern” style? This is the subject of the internationally acclaimed exhibition Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity, the first to uncover the fascinating relationship between art and fashion from the mid-1860s through the mid-1880s as Paris became the style capital of the world.

This groundbreaking exhibition explores the vital relationship between fashion and art during these pivotal years not only through the masterworks by Impressionists but also with paintings by fashion portraitists Jean Béraud, Carolus-Duran, Alfred Stevens, and James Tissot. Period costumes such as men’s suits, robes de promenade, day dresses, and ball gowns, along with fashion plates, photographs, and popular prints offer a firsthand look at the apparel these artists used to convey their modernity as well as that of their subjects."

Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity

at the Art Institute of Chicago until September 29, 2013

http://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/impressionism-fashion-and-modernity

Une exposition édifiante intitulée "Chapeau Madame" retrace un demi-siècle de mode des chapeaux dans la salle des tissus du Palazzo Madama de Turin, jusqu'au 1er mars 2015.

L'exposition "Birds of Paradise. Panache de plumes" met en lumière l'utilisation raffinée de cette matière première d'origine animale dans la haute couture. Les plumes peuvent reproduire des camaïeux de couleurs extraordinaires et être travaillées de façon à donner l'impression qu'il s'agit de tissus soyeux ou de fourrures. Elles sont, aujourd'hui, de plus en plus prisées par les créateurs.

Birds of Paradise. Plumes and Feathers in Fashion

MoMu, Anvers, 20/3 - 24/08 2014

http://www.momu.be/en/exhibitions/upcoming/

"The creator of the mini-skirt, British designer Mary Quant, turns 80 on Tuesday still brimming with enthusiasm for fashion and women's rights. She admits a certain nostalgia for the "high excitement and innovation" of 1960s "Swinging London", but told AFP it was "wonderful to be a woman and alive right now". "

"Pour la 2de année consécutive, Olivier Saillard invite l’actrice Tilda Swinton à réaliser une performance dans le cadre du 42e Festival d’Automne à Paris. Après « Impossible Wardrobe », en septembre 2012, le directeur du Palais Galliera, musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, propose à l’actrice d’enfiler cette « Eternity Dress » afin de mettre en valeur la mémoire gestuelle des ateliers.

Les collections de mode ne cessent de se renouveler jusqu’à l’épuisement des saisons. Haute couture, prêt-à-porter féminin et masculins défilent 2 fois par an, soit un total de 6 fashion week dans l’année. Le nombre de vêtements créés comme celui des défilés se multiplient donc !

Né de ce constat « Eternity Dress » est une performance qui repose sur la création d’une robe, une seule. Ce sont toutes les étapes de sa création qui sont consacrées ici. Une manière de ralentir et surtout de s’éterniser sur chaque geste qui conduit à la fabrication du vêtement."

"Eternity dress" du 20 au 24 novembre aux Beaux-arts de Paris. 14 rue Bonaparte. 75006 Paris. www.beauxartsparis.fr.

The exquisite images of legendary photographer Edward Steichen helped to elevate clothing to the realm of art. As the NGV celebrates a transformative time, the glamour of old seduces us still.

"[...] Curating Edward Steichen and Art Deco Fashion for the NGV with  photography curator Susan Van Wyk has meant contextualising the history of the  30 exquisite garments in the show against Steichen's 200 photographs - drawing  parallels between the NGV's impressive fashion collection from the period and  the clothing  Steichen photographed and which was often worn by stage and  Hollywood screen stars of the day.

What we get is not just a lot of pretty dresses and photographs - although it  is clearly all sumptuous, gorgeous and thrilling to behold; we are also exposed  to a coherent argument about legacy, origins and how the art deco clothing on  the mannequins and in the Steichen photographs surrounding them tell us enormous  amounts about human cultures at the time, against a fascinating backdrop of  changing gender balances, evolving leisure activities, industrialisation and  interaction with other ''exotic'' cultures. [...]"

Edward Steichen and Art Deco Fashion is at NGV International  from October 18, 2013 to March 2, 2014.
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/exhibitions/edward-steichen-and-art-deco-fashion