The twentieth century saw the growth of a stimulating relationship between art and fashion.
Elsa Schiaparelli worked with Salvador Dali design concepts.
Man Ray shot iconic fashion images.
Yves Saint Laurent paid homage to Mondrian
The 1980s saw fashion being officially recognised as a worthy form of cultural expression when it made its entry into distinguished museums such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and Le Louvre in Paris. Museums in London and Kyoto Japan were also exhibiting fashion designer's work, such as Issey Miyake and Alexander McQueen.
Fashion-Art and CdG....
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| 'Family Portrait' by Theodor Pistek, a Czech artist with a diverse range in drawing, painting and costumes |
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| and a collage by Christos Mouchas aka Ubi Couture, a project consisting of digital collages, juxtaposing fashion and art imagery regarding Comme des Garcons A/W 2015 |
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| Wonderful photograph of the CdG A/W 2015 collection composed by Tim Walker |
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| A painting of Rei Kawakubo by Donald Drawbertson, who is described as an instagrammer extraordinaire. |
Rei Kawakubo studied fine arts and literature at Keio University, (and just an aside...she never undertook any formal training in fashion/clothing design.)
What does Rei Kawakubo have to say about Fashion and Art?
"Fashion is not art. The aims of fashion and art are different and there is no need to compare them."
"Fashion is something you attach to yourself, put on and through that interaction the meaning of it is born. Without the wearing of it, it has no meaning, unlike a piece of art. It is fashion because people want to buy it now, because they want to wear it now, today. Fashion is only the right now."
"When fashion is driven by creation, I suppose it can be called an art form. But I have no concept of art in my work. Clothes are only completed when somebody actually wears them. If they were art, they could be more abstract. As long as something is new and has never been seen before, I don't mind if people call it art. Wear them if you dare."
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| Two creations from CdG S/S 2017 RTW "invisible clothes"collection- wear them if you dare... |
Rei Kawakubo has an intensive passion for the cultural and the artistic.
Art collaboration has always been a very strong aspect of CdG's creative and highly stimulating concept. These collaborations are always on invitation from RK, never the other way round, and they cover a wide variety of the arts.
Photography
Rei Kawakubo has worked with some highly interesting photographers in her time.
Paolo Roversi, born in 1947 in Northern Italy, has photographed many CdG collections.
Roversi's interest in photography was sparked during his teenage years, and he established a sound background in the learning of his craft through professional associations with other photographers who had established their own form of art. In 1973 Roversi travelled to Paris, and never left. It was here that his interest in fashion photography developed and his photographic style of dream like images came to the fore.
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| Paolo Roversi images of CdG's wonderful Broken Brides collection. There is something eerie about them isn't there.. |
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| Fab Roversi photo of CdG 'Lumps 'n Bumps' collection. |
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| Cool Roversi images of the CdG S/S 2016 collection |
In 1993 Rei Kawakubo collaborated with Sherman. She sent clothing from CdG collections with the brief to photograph them as Sherman wished to. The results were used in a mail campaign for CdG A/W 94/95 collections.
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| Untitled # 304, 1994 |
This website link will allow you to read a bit more in depth regarding the artistic connection between RK and CS, if you so desire.
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| Another favourite CdG/CS image...The ciggie, the can, the face...what's it about? I think RK got a bit of flak for this collection...the stripes had people comparing it with a concentration camp uniform! |
I hope I can get to the Cindy Sherman exhibition at the City Gallery in Wellington, November 19-March 19, 2017. I don't think there will be any CdG images, but n'er mind, it would still be good to experience her images up close and in the flesh.
Collier Schorr (born 1963) is a New York Artist/Photographer, known for her portraits of androgynous adolescents. Much of the power to her work is in the challenging of gender politics and creating psycho-sexual tension.
She moved into fashion photography, although her fashion images never seem to be about the clothes so much as about the people. I imagine this aspect would appeal to Rei Kawakubo. Schorr shot a number of advertising campaigns for Comme des Garcons.
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| A Collier Schorr image for CdG with not a shirt in sight. |
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| Collier Schorr collaboration for CDG SHIRT S/S 2013 |
Sculpture and Installation
Roman Signer, born 1938, is a Swiss artist who works in 'action sculpture' installation photography and video.
In the 80s he was into "filmed actions" creating forms born from the interaction of "forces". "An explosion is not, for me, destruction, but a transformation of the moment when we have the impression that things are weightless and suspended in air." (Signer)
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| Roman Signer's 'Boots' (1986), a beam of water gushes out in the shape of a person |
And this is one of the collaborations between CdG and Roman Signer
Fischli/Weiss. Peter Fischli and David Weiss(died 2012) an artistic duo who had worked together since 1979. I don't know a lot about their work, but think it had something to do with everyday objects and the energy of never ending collapse. That "moment of passing equilibrium" is what Fischli/Weiss wanted to capture.
Between 1984-87, they produced their 'Equilibre' project where by images of ordinary everyday household items were arranged to form delicately balanced assemblages.
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| 'Ben Hur' ...I love it! |
The collaboration Fischli/Weiss undertook with CdG involved images of the Equilibre project and featured in Six, Issue 3.
Take in this site, you'll see one of Fischli/Weiss's best known works, their film 'The way things go'. It's a great set up of a chain reaction.
Six (Sixth Sense)which I refer to above was the magazine RK launched in 1988.
This publication, art direction by Tsuguya Inoue and edited by Atsuko Kozasu, definitely pushed the boundaries of art and fashion photography. Contributions came from different designers and artists and was published bi-annually to coincide with the CdG collections. It was not a work where the reader could simply suss out the garments in the collection. It was more a folio of photographs and collage of images rather than glossy fashion shots, and very RK, with a strong sense of the surreal. Clothing may have been omitted altogether and an image, like a sunflower might be used to capture what the collection is about.
The last issue was published in 1991 because RK believed it was best to stop at its height before it became thin.
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| One favourite Six image, I like the poppy and the crown on the model who reminds me of someone I teach in Yr. 9! |
Take in 'Moving Six' via this you tube site
Illustration
Filip Pagowski is a Polish designer, and his work has appeared in numerous prestigious newspapers and magazines around the world... Le Monde...The New Yorker...to name a few.
His first collaboration with CdG was in 2000 when he designed the patterns that were printed onto the fabrics used in the main collection
There are...
PLAY Converse
PLAY T-Shirts
PLAY perfumes
PLAY cell phone covers
Fun PLAY images
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This is my CdG PLAY T-shirt which I customised Comme style. Shirt on Shirt, safety pins, the best way for me to wear it
Another t-shirt of mine, CdG inspired, not so much PLAY hearts, as hearts at play! Shirring elastic in the bobbin, lots of fun...Wynona in my 2016 Yr. 11 class discovered how to use shirring elastic in the bobbin to create a manipulated top for her NCEA project.
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| Another work by Donald Drawbertson, this time Diana Vreeland and CdG PLAY |
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| Something about Diana's dress made me think a muslin fabric and textile ink is all that's needed to make one for myself. |
Subversion and provocation is very much their thing...make the people think...sounds similar to CdG.
Have a look at this work based on Little Red Riding Hood. The material used is plasticine, and as someone said, the initial impact of the plasticine draws you in and then you see the ideas behind the work and suddenly it takes on an uncomfortable tone.
In 2008 CdG and Mondongo collaborated. Rei Kawakubo became a fan of their work as she felt they were "outsiders" because they worked beyond the established art world. Mondongo gave RK one year's worth of their art and she reworked and remixed it for the CdG A/W 2008 "Bad Taste"collection.
A Mondongo/CdG collaboration was presented in the October 2008 edition of Wallpaper, when it delivered a fabulous 3 guest special with Rei Kawakubo, Zaha Hadid and Louise Bourgeois. Again, the CdG/Mondongo images relate to the CdG 2008 A/W "Bad Taste" collection.
Stephen Shanabrook, a conceptual artist, born of an obstetrician and the town coroner in 1965 Cleveland USA, has also had an interesting collaboration with CdG.
He lives and works in NY and Moscow.
Apparently he began his artistic career making chocolate pralines (a form of confection containing nuts, sugar and cream) from casts of wounds on dead bodies from Russian morgues. Interesting guy.
Later on he got into what he called "Paper Surgery".
By twisting and crumpling images of models in magazines he deforms them into something else completely. It's like he is playing with the concept of beauty and ugliness, which is not an uncommon concept for CdG.
Rei Kawakubo used images of Shanabrook's Paper Surgery for the S/S 2010 Comme des Garcons Shirt collection. Shanabrook works with a Russian partner, Veronika Georgieva on these art works.
Look at this you-tube site about a Shanabrook Paper Surgery work commissioned by Saatchi and Saatchi regarding 'Reporters Without Borders' 25th Anniversary. You'll see how the Paper Surgery is carried out.
and this link will give you some more information about Shanabrook/Georgieva's work
In 2010 Ai WeiWei, the Chinese contemporary artist/activist, and Comme des Garcons collaborated during his sunflower seed installation in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern. Dover Street Market sold t-shirts by WeiWei for 15 pounds each.
The 'Sunflower Seeds' installation involved a large room filled with millions of tiny porcelain sunflower seeds, each one handmade by craftsmen/women in China. Ai WeiWei was inviting the viewer to look more closely at the 'Made in China' phenomenon.
Watch a good video explaining what was involved in the creation of this art work through this website
Two famous Ai WeiWei works.
The triptych is 'Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995), a rather controversial work, which achieved what Ai was wanting, controversy. The urn represented monetary value plus deep symbolic and cultural worth. Ai WeiWei's artistic act is referencing the erasure of cultural memory in Communist China.
The coloured urns relate to an installation he presented where he dipped vases from the Han Dynasty in bright industrial paint.
To see images of fashion garments being given the same Ai WeiWei treatment as the urns click on this site
American artist Dan Michiels presents meticulous work with a psychedelic effect which has been created with pen and ruler, then coloured with felt pens. In 2008 he joined the studio 'Creativity Explored', which is an organisation providing artists with development disabilities with the means to create, exhibit and sell their art.
Use this you tube site to see Dan at work
Rei Kawakubo saw Dan Michiels's work in 'Raw Vision', a publication with the aim of bringing Outsider Art to a wider audience. She commissioned Dan Michiels to produce prints for the CdG A/W 2013/14 collection 'The Infinity of Tailoring'. The 5 last pieces included his work printed on the fabric used for the garments.
This website will allow you a little more information about the artist
http://irenebrination.typepad.com/irenebrination_notes_on_a/2013/03/comme-des-garcons-aw-13-dan-michiels.htmlAnd in typical RK/CdG business style, she provides "wearable" items that reflect the collection, like this shirt.
Would you feel like you were wearing a work of art? I think I would.
What is Outsider Art?
The artist tends to be totally self taught as he/she hasn't gone through an art training institution. They possess an inner compulsion to express themselves in a highly distinctive style . And, as my friend Naomi informed me, they don't express any sense of irony in their work.
A couple of weekends ago I attended a public talk by Stuart Shepherd, who is the curator of NZ's Outsider Art Fair. He talked about a number of NZ fashion designers like Zambesi, Kate Sylvester and Janine Clarken who were participating with some of the outsider artists who were exhibiting in the Outsider Art Fair.
This website provides more information about the NZ's Outsider Art Fair which was held in November 2016. If you scroll down the page you can view images connected with the Fashion designers and listen to the interview Stuart Shepherd carried out with RNZ National's Wallace Chapman concerning Outsider Art.
If you are interested in knowing a little more about NZ Outsider Art, check out Susan Te Kahurangi King. She is NZ's most world renown Outsider Artist. I was lucky to see an exhibition of hers at Wellington City Gallery last year. It was through viewing the video on show that I came to fully appreciate Susan's life history and her astounding ability to express herself through her art.
Take in this website to learn more about Susan King, the artist. Click on 'Biography' and scroll down to the photos of Susan as a young girl drawing in the sand on the beach. Susan's mother is recorded as saying "Susan drew in the sand with a stick, running fast - huge drawings! You couldn't see what it was till you got high on the hill - and there it would be...a fancy picture."
And for some more wonderful outsider art connecting with fashion..
"Pure Fashion
Fashion becomes magic when you look at it through outsider eyes"
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| Artist: Paul Costa/Designer: Pucci |
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| Artist: Barbara Rice/Designer: Isaac Mizrahi |
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| Artist: Merritt Wallace/Designer: Prada |
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| Artist: David E. Alvarez/Designer: Rodarte |
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| Artist: Alice Ung/Designer: Comme des Garcons |
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| Artist: Ronald Veasey/Designer: Dries Van Noten
Just a little interlude here with some wonderful artwork by Karl Lagerfeld expressing a story about a Russian woman hosting a ball for her filthy rich husband. Think the Tsar, Tom Ford, Batman, the fabulous CdG Tao, Madame de Pompadour, Chanel, Alexander McQueen and Heath Ledger's Joker!
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Maya Lin is a fascinating architect/artist, who at the age of 21, designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. I was exposed to her story though 'Maya Lin:A Strong Clear Vision', a film by Freida Lee Mock (1994), an excellent documentary concerning the "agony and ecstasy" of a modern artist's public work.
This site takes you to an interesting interview with Maya Lin, where you can get to know more about the Vietnam Veterans memorial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu3yVLoDc3A
When Maya was first approached regarding the collaboration with fashion designer Phillip Lim. she responded that she didn't do fashion. Eventually she was convinced and produced 7 towering mounds of nearly 200 tons of toxic-free compost to relate to Lim's S/S 2016 collection "Stop and smell the flowers."
Maya Lin said "I think we both appreciate the beauty of simplicity and the power of simple lines."
Watch this site if you want to see the full show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dzHJ81iNSE
I am so excited to have discovered that Maya Lin created a sculpture for Alan Gibbs Sculptural Farm on the Kaipara Harbour. 'A Fold in the Field.'
Quite a pertinent title considering what NZ has been through lately!
And for a fun creative vision of fashion being art, watch this video of Viktor and Rolf's A/W 2015/16 'Wearable Art' collection. Hinged frames on coats and dresses transform the garment into a literal artwork. It's a great concept.
I am so excited to have discovered that Maya Lin created a sculpture for Alan Gibbs Sculptural Farm on the Kaipara Harbour. 'A Fold in the Field.'
And for a fun creative vision of fashion being art, watch this video of Viktor and Rolf's A/W 2015/16 'Wearable Art' collection. Hinged frames on coats and dresses transform the garment into a literal artwork. It's a great concept.
An interesting article by Jacques Hyzagi from Issue 56, 10 Magazine, titled 'Art Story: Comme des Garcons'.
He writes about RK going to Paris and totally marching to the beat of her own drum. I particularly like this paragraph.
"It is nonetheless difficult not to see the mind-blowing beauty of her collections, where peace and violence often clash. Freud's The Uncanny comes to mind, as well as the new objectivity movement, such as the Christian Schad painting in which a beauty mark on the naked back of a woman, who could just as well be a man, might actually, on closer inspection, be a fly that just landed there, or the aperture of a bullet hole. But always the refusal of authority, the revolution."
A fascinating expression of CdG and Art
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| (Schad's portraits are a revealing record of life in Vienna and Berlin in the years following W.W.1) |
And now, something to really look forward to...The Metropolitan Museum of Art is going to hold an exhibition of the work of Rei Kawakubo from May 4 - Sept. 4, 2017.
This thematic exhibition will show approximately 120 examples of Comme des Garcons RTW women's wear from 1981 to the most recent collection. It will be the first show at the Met to focus on a living designer since its Yves Saint Laurent exhibit in 1983.
That is going to be something to look forward to!
Fashion and Art is a massive subject. Comme des Garcons and Art is a massive subject and I have only scratched the surface, but I hope you feel a sense of the artistic and cultural passion Rei Kawakubo brings to her concept and her craft. I view it as a wonderful learning experience because I am introduced to many an artist who otherwise could pass me by.
If you like to pursue the art theme, maybe not so much fashion-art, go this fabulous site. It is very interesting and informative as you can browse over 40,000 artists, if not more. Their aim is to make art and design accessible to anyone. The joy of the internet!
It really must be time I was...
SLTSLTBsigning off.
A Christmas elf bringing some 2016 Christmas cheer (Yr. 10, 2013, Fab.Tech.exam workshop style.)
But, just one more thing to share...a sentence I read on a poster in the Media Studies room at school....'The longer your post, the smaller the number of people that will bother to read it.'....so if you have just read this, thank you so much for being one of the small number of people sticking with my long and winding road of a blog!
I appreciate your fortitude.
Go well into the new year.
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