Category Archives: Exhibitions

Culture: ‘Les Maîtres du Désordre’

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One of the most ambitious and imaginative exhibitions I saw this summer was ‘Les Maîtres du Désordre’ (translated as ‘Masters of Chaos’) at Musée du quai Branly in Paris. The building itself is an incredible piece of design defined by a lush vertical garden against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower.

The constant fight waged by gods against demons in the cosmologies of many different cultures illustrates this fragile equilibrium of the world. Order and chaos, destruction and creation follow each other cyclically and are at the root of the founding myths of our societies.

These are the words at the entrance of the exhibition which is then divided into three sections: ‘imperfect order’ deals with “figures of destabilization” like Dionysus and Thunder who “introduce confusion in the sequence of rules and the human condition” and by doing so, set the world into motion. ‘The Mastery of Chaos’ brings up the idea of rituals – a way to communicate with the powers that be so as to restore balance and alleviate human suffering. But in order to do so, there must be a middleman – a shaman, avatar, or genie who must take a magical journey to negotiate with celestial beings. these are in the shape of “ascending ladders, levitation, on the backs of flying animals, or through psychotropic substances like peyote.”

‘Catharsis’ marks the the “unleashing of the body in the excitement of celebration.” From Bacchanalias to carnivals and a video installation of our very own Holi celebrations, it seems “such excesses are necessary for the renewal of nature or society.”

Although curated by a (clearly) structuralist point of view, the exhibition was informative, engaging and spanned a wide variety of cultures. A definite must-see.

Luckily this is travelling exhibition so if you’re in Germay or Spain you can catch it here:

- Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Bonn, Germany) from 31 August to 2 December 2012

- Fundació “la Caixa” (Madrid, Spain) from 7 February to 19 May 2013

Source:
www.quaibranly.fr/en

 

Heavy Lies the Crown

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Created by De Beers for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Talisman crown has 974 polished and unpolished diamonds. “Rough diamonds were once worn exclusively by kings and queens, [and were believed] to bring power, protection and prosperity,” says De Beers’s C.E.O., François Delage.

The top of the crown sees a 73 carat diamond in the middle of an open cross. Negative spaces around the rim are meant to signify opportunity: “future aspirations and accomplishments to come,” Delage says.

The crown will be on display at Harrods London till 15th June.

Image source:
telegraph.co.uk

Playing with Space: Yayoi Kusama at the Tate

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The title of Yayoi Kusama’s new exhibition explains it all: Infinity Mirror Room – Filled with the Brilliance of Life. Using mirrors and LED lights which change color, the 82-year old Japanese artist explores the idea of infinite space.

“Since 1977 Kusama has lived voluntarily in a psychiatric institution, and much of her work has been marked with obsessiveness and a desire to escape from psychological trauma. In an attempt to share her experiences, she creates installations that immerse the viewer in her obsessively charged vision of endless dots and nets or infinitely mirrored space.” – Tate Modern

In another installation by the same artist at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, a blank canvas in the form of a room mimicking a household setting was created.

This interactive exhibition encouraged kids to stick multi-colored dots all over the room in any way they chose,

creating a space bursting with color.

Image source:
designyoutrust.com

A Woman’s Heart, (most likely) by a Man

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‘The Open Country of Woman’s Heart, Exhibiting its internal communications, and the facilities and dangers to Travellers therein’ (1833-42) – a print from the the exhibition Beauty, Virtue and Vice: Images of Women in Nineteenth-Century American Prints

The largest regions, Love of Admiration, Love of Dress, and Love of Display, all suggest that women are also essentially shallow and frivolous. Although the image claims to have been drawn by “A Lady,” it is just as likely that it proceeded from the imagination of a man. - American Antiquarian Society

Image source:
americanantiquarian.org

 

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement

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I queued yesterday for an hour to see the Degas exhibition at the Royal Academy and it was well worth the wait.

While the exhibition was centered mostly around his Ballet works, there were early sketches of laundresses and milliners - women at work, in motion – which were precursors to the dancers.

It also discussed the artist’s relationship with the advent of camera and even film. While he was said to have initially belittled it, he found it extremely beneficial and put it to effective use when sculpting The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer – an example of of the new movement at the time: Photosculpture.

Among the works I saw, the ones I liked best were his pastels, some of which have elements of finger painting. I also liked the charcoal sketches of the dancers at rehearsal.

The exhibition is on at the Royal Academy of Arts till the 11th of December, 2011

Lying Down, Watching Cartoons

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Haven’t you ever been to a museum, seen a wonderful piece of art and wanted to take it all in in your own time? Soon you realize you’re blocking other peoples’ view, you’re getting tired with all the standing and the uncomfortable wooden benches have been taken.

Not if you visit London’s Victoria & Albert Museum to have a look at Raphael’s Cartoons. As part of the London Design Festival, French designers Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec have created a foam cushion installation titled ‘Textile Field’, which allows visitors to relax and engage with the artwork in an informal way.

“Our intention is to propose a different, casual approach to freely experience what can be a quite intimidating environment, such as a museum. We conceived an expansive colored foam and textile piece with gentle inclinations to produce a sensual field on which to comfortably lounge while meditating on the surrounding gallery. Everyone can immerse within this temporary installation, for a minute, an hour or more. That is the idea. No efforts, no apprehension, just contemplation.”

These people seem pretty happy

Image sources:
intoform.wordpress.com
creativereview.co.uk

 

‘Wastelandscape’

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‘Wastelandscape’ is an installation made up of 65,000 CDs, hand-sewn together. The piece is on display in Paris at the moment and will change form each time it travels, before finally being recycled.

Created by French artist Elise Morin and architect Clémence Eliard, they say “…this reflecting slick of CDs forms a still sea of metallic dunes;  the artwork’s monumental scale reveals the precious aspect of a small daily object.”

Image source:
dezeen.com

 

‘Savage Beauty’: McQueen at The Met

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A little over a year later, Alexander McQueen lives on. When it comes to the brand, Sarah Burton has done a remarkable job in taking over the reigns of a fashion house that seemed so intrinsically connected to the designer’s personality that many thought it wouldn’t survive his death.

And come this May, in what is sure to be the design exhibition of the year, ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’ will open at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute.

Curator Andrew Bolton said in an interview, “McQueen had such a singular voice and he was a remarkable technician….He really was one of the most provocative voices of the past 30 years in fashion. His catwalk presentations were outstanding and straddle art and fashion. We want to get across two elements – the spectacle of the runway presentations and the beauty of his craftsmanship.”

McQueen’s pieces for the exhibition catalogue were photographed by Sølve Sundsbø. They were first placed on live models to give the pieces movement, and were then digitally altered to look like mannequins so the focus would be entirely on the clothes.

A few weeks ago, on a cold grey morning in London, the collection was previewed at the Ritz. The Ritz is also the scene of the now infamous tale of McQueen showing his graduate collection while Isabella Blow ran up and down the corridors calling people to see his clothes.

Here are some of the most evocative pieces:

It’s a Jungle Out There, A/W 1998

Voss Collection, S/S 2001

Voss Collection, S/S 2001

Irere, S/S 2003

Widows of Culloden, A/W 2007

Sarabande, S/S 2007

The Horn of Plenty, A/W 2009

A/W 2010

Plato’s Atlantis, S/S 2010

A/W 2010

Image Sources:
huffingtonpost.com
guardian.co.uk