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Exhibit shows designers' breakthroughs in apparel and social mores
Posted: Mar 14, 2008 in Things to do, Culture
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The latest exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art is about changes in textile technology, revolutions in our daily lives and the changing role of fashion in society.
It's also about lots of pretty clothes.
With works by more than 40 designers, who in the past 25 years found ways to turn traditional design on its ear, "Breaking the Mode" fuses fashion with art.
"It's not really a typical fashion exhibit," says Niloo Paydar, curator of textile and fashion arts at the IMA. "It's a soft sculpture exhibit."
The pieces were originally gathered by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from its permanent collection. After the exhibit unexpectedly drew more than 45,000 visitors, it traveled from L.A. to Florence, Italy, and is making its final stop in Indianapolis before returning home.
"Hopefully, we get a lot of people from all over the country to come," said Paydar. "This is really the last stop."
The Indianapolis exhibit features novel displays for 360-degree views, allowing the viewer to imagine these kinetic sculptures in motion.
"They were made to be seen that way," says Paydar. "
An impressive designer roster includes Issey Miyake, Thierry Mugler, Emilio Pucci, Junya Watanabe, Martin Margiela, Rei Kawakubo, Cristobal Balenciaga, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, and Yeohlee Teng.
Their pieces are cut in unexpected forms (flying saucers, pyramid forms), created from distinctive materials (paper or pleated fabric) and deal with diverse concepts (androgyny, playful spins on past designers).
"Breaking the Mode" is divided into four sections playing on various elements of design: construction, materials, form and concept.
Without a doubt, the fashion designers are artists, says Sharon Sadako Takeda, who co-curated the original exhibit at LACMA with Kaye Durland Spilker.
"They're using the same vocabulary," says Takeda. "We (as curators) come into the same scrutiny as our colleagues. We have to justify why we bring in each object."
Although clothing's initial creation was born of necessity, the fashion we see in "Breaking the Mode" is far removed from its elements.
"Once you start taking away the function from things that are functional, it starts becoming art," says Elizabeth Mix, assistant professor of art history in the Department of Media Arts at Butler University.
Mix will be leading several "Breaking the Mode"-related tours.
"With fashion, there is a cultural concern with covering the body, and then there is a real tradition of expression," she says. "Fashion can play with both of those. The works that are included (in "Breaking the Mode") really get at the issue of the function of fashion and fashion as an art form."
For instance, the controversial 1997 "bump dresses" by Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garcons are placed next to historical pieces for context. Kawakubo's 1997 pieces, with their soft, tumor-like protrusions, are no odder than old-fashioned hoop skirts. "I think we put it in nice context, and take you through how fashion designers have accentuated certain parts of the body," says Spilker. "It's no less ridiculous than having a six-foot span of hips."
Project IMA provokes social commentary from designers
This was a dream gig for local fashion designers.
Project IMA, a free fashion show at 7 p.m. April 4 in the Pulliam Great Hall, in conjunction with the museum's "Breaking the Mode" exhibit, features the work of 16 local designers. The assignment: Create two to three pieces any way you want.
Berny Martin, the main organizer of Midwest Fashion Week and the designer behind Catou Couture, came to Indianapolis from the Caribbean and has been designing clothes full time since 2005.
His pieces for Project IMA represent a fusion of concepts: One dash American tradition, one part Indiana. "It's a mix of American denim and (Dr. Alfred) Kinsey," says Martin. "Those two things have real influence on the American life."
For Beth Bennett, who owns couture wedding gown design shop B. Trousseau, Project IMA is an opportunity to veer slightly from the dresses she creates in her Noblesville shop. "These pieces are sort of my own flights of fancy," says Bennett.
The first piece Bennett will show consists of "different sorts of texture."
She says she uses collage and layering in her work. "A corset with floral pieces, a top bustle skirt that really harkens back to the 1880s -- but it's not old fashioned."
The second piece she describes as soft, but linear -- "I sort of call it a 'bird of paradise.'." Bennett said.
The third dress is Bennett's plastic dress. It's the only bridal gown she's showing for Project IMA.
As with Martin, the show gives Bennett a chance to give a commentary on her surroundings.
"I feel like sometimes what I do doesn't really have the social commentary on the world, so it's just given me an opportunity to do something different," she says.
Project IMA
Where: Indianapolis Museum of Art, Pulliam Great Hall.
When: 7 p.m. April 4.
Cost: Free.
Info: (317) 920-2649, imamuseum.org - Project IMA
Dress up your calendar with these events
The opening of "Breaking the Mode" is accompanied by a host of fashion-related events.
Reading Fashion, 6:30 p.m. March 20. Special Exhibition Gallery. $12 nonmembers.
Butler University art history professor Elizabeth Mix takes you through "Breaking the Mode" and guides you on how to interpret clothing design.
Now Hear This: The Language of Design, 6:30 p.m. April 3. Special Exhibition Gallery. $12 nonmembers.
Interpret the international collection of fashion represented in "Breaking the Mode" through the universal language of design with Nikki Sutton, founder of Level Interior Architecture + Design. Meet at Special Exhibition Gallery entrance.
Japonisme: Fashion and Folds, 6:30.p.m. May 1. Special Exhibition Gallery, $12 for nonmembers.
A tour of Japanese fashion featured in "Breaking the Mode" with art history professor Elizabeth Mix, focusing on Japanese fashion designers featured in "Breaking the Mode."
Street & Elite: The Sartorialist's World of Style, 7 p.m. May 8. DeBoest Lecture Hall, $4, $8.
GQ columnist, photographer and fashion blogger Scott Schuman, aka "The Sartorialist," returns to his hometown of Indianapolis to share his experiences and discuss the "economics of style."
"The Fifth Element", (1997, 126 mins.) 7 p.m., May 30. DeBoest Lecture Hall, free.
Check out the costume designs by Jean Paul Gaultier, whose work is featured in this futuristic flick as well as in "Breaking the Mode."
Saw the exhibit friday night. I must say there were lots of cool outfits, and lots of duds in my opinion. Im not a fashion guru by any means, but I think i know what looks good. There were many nice night gowns and ideas out there. I would say its worth it to take a trip to the IMA to check out the design.