The specific exhibition I decided to research into was the ‘Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between’ exhibition due to the fact that it was a current and recent up-to-date exhibition in which has been seen profusely by others. The exhibition was open on May 4th, 2017 to September 4th, 2017 at ‘The MET Museum, Iris and B.Gerald Canton Exhibition Hall, New York, USA’ previewing the works of Rei Kawakubo’s earliest collections, dating back to 1981, to her latest collections today – showcasing 140 examples (following nine dominant and recurring aesthetic expressions) in which created quite a thematic style exhibition as its shown in a more uncongenial way through taking the viewers through the designers development stages over a period of time rather than a more conformed and traditional array of exhibitions. The exhibition is all about her unsettling aesthetic brought on by expressing themes of:
- ‘ABSCENE’ and ‘PRESCENE’,
- ‘FASHION’ and ‘ANTI-FASHION’,
- ‘MODEL’ and ‘MULTIPLE’,
- ‘HIGH’ and ‘LOW’,
- ‘SELF’ and ‘OTHER’,
- ‘OBJECT’ and ‘SUBJECT’,
- ‘CLOTHES’ and ‘NON-CLOTHES’.
All of which creates an intense and invigorating atmosphere just purely due to the fact its presented in quite an interstitial artistic manner. This basically implies that the exhibition itself is an art form which falls between the familiar boundaries of common genres/media, therefore making the work more difficult to categorize and comprehend in a way where it will fit within a singular artistic discipline. By having such an unconventional layout and previewing such avant-garde and conceptual design ideas/concepts it gives me an in-sight into another designers varied-style of working in terms of fashion design (i.e. Rei Kawakubo’s adaptations of the uses of avant-garde couture and conceptualism). I like the fact that the exhibition has such a wide and broad variety of themes, ideas and concepts as it allows you to see her, the designer (Rei Kawakubo), development through the stages of her career (which in itself gives me inspiration through the design development and design process). As well as this, I feel that the exhibition once seen and taken all of it in it will leave you broadening your own potential of creativity allowing you to have no limits and break the boundaries of conformity. I felt whilst looking at this particular exhibition it was quite intuitive and contained a vast amount of intellectual design in contrast to other exhibitions I could rarely see therefore in my opinion I feel if I was to have attended this exhibition I would have thoroughly enthused myself into it and gain a lot of knowledge, creativity and experience from going.
https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/rei-kawakubo-comme-des-garcons-art-of-the-in-between
Main Entrance to the ‘Rei Kawakubo/ Comme des Garçons’ Exhibition:
Inside the ‘Rei Kawakubo/ Comme des Garçons’ Exhibition:
References
Information:
- https://fashionunited.uk/news/culture/the-10-must-see-fashion-exhibtions-of-2017/2017010322981 – Due to the fact that I had not been to any exhibitions recently I decided to research online and see what kind of exhibitions happened recently this year, in which led me to this specific website in which I found the exhibition (with a little description of what the exhibition is about and when it took place).
- https://www.metmuseum.org/press/exhibitions/2016/rei-kawakubo – When looking on the first website I researched, I found that it was very vague and did not leave me with enough information about the exhibition so I searched and found this website which led me to more in-depth and analytical information on the exhibition – allowing me to focus more and known more about the exhibition itself.
- Video: ‘Rei Kawakubo, Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between – Gallery Views.’ – On the website stated above, I came across this video in which spoke about the different key themes the exhibition has to offer and how each one is portray in juxtaposition of each other (as they all contained opposites of some form).
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstitial_art – Researching more about the exhibition itself, I came across this phrasing in which I did not truly understand so I looked up the definition and researched into the basis of the idea more – therefore allowing me to understand and connect more with the exhibition and what it is truly based upon (and to gain a better understanding of the word).
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiguity – Researching more about the exhibition itself, I came across this phrasing in which I did not truly understand so I looked up the definition and researched into the basis of the idea more – therefore allowing me to understand and connect more with the exhibition and what it is truly based upon (and to gain a better understanding of the word).
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrospective – Researching more about the exhibition itself, I came across this phrasing in which I did not truly understand so I looked up the definition and researched into the basis of the idea more – therefore allowing me to understand and connect more with the exhibition and what it is truly based upon (and to gain a better understanding of the word).
Images:
- https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/rei-kawakubo-comme-des-garcons-art-of-the-in-between – took some images from a slideshow on the ‘Vogue’ website so I could see what the exhibition could look like and how it was displayed visually and aesthetically.