Hand, Heart, Fashion and Art

What brought me to see the Balenciaga exhibition at De Young is the catch line that (Balenciaga) is called "fashion's Picasso", quoting the English photographer and designer, Cecil Beaton.

Walking through the gallery, what came to my mind first was that I would wear any of these garments today and still look fashionable although these 120 pieces of work were created almost 40 years ago.

(The above picture is taken from the Internet, not from the exhibition.  But several pieces in this picture are included in the exhibition.)
The seemingly simple architectural lines form elegant and mordern shapes, the color pallets are candies for the eyes.  Classic and mordern are in such harmony. 

A self-taught fashion designer from a small Spanish fishing town, Balenciaga drew inspirations from his culture, even long after he moved away.  From royal court to fishing town, from solemn monasteries to colorful flamenco stage, from church to bull ring, the Spanish influences can be traced in these garments throughout his career.  However, what made Chanel commented him as "the only coutourier" is his technical perfectionism in dress making from start to finish.  He not only could make dresses from start to finish, but also tailored them so perfectly for his clients that "(his dresses) are nearly more beautiful on the inside than the outside,"  said his longtime client Sonsoles Diez de Rivera in a recent interview. 

When the technical ability meets the creativity power house with a passion for his heritage, a lifetime of innovative yet personal designs came along.  That is what made him the icon of the fashion world and what pushed his works cross the border beyond fashion.

At the same time, on the other side of the City, is the other amazing exhibition on fashion, Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave.  If you have watched the documentary, you would not want to miss this comprehensive exhibition of the artist's re-creation of historical costumes, all made from paper.

We brought the kids along to the exhibition.  The highly active Little Miss Giggles wasn't too thrilled at the entrance of the exhibition.  However, when we stepped into the main gallery, she stopped wiggling and gasped with her eyes wide open, "Mommy, princess dresses!"  Of course, an active 3-year-old didn't have the patience for all of the pretty dresses no matter how much she liked dressing up.  But she directed me to stop at the blue Maria de'Medici dress (shown on the exhibition poster), and examined each intricate detail, the head piece, the necklace, the collar, the "pearls", the ring, the gold "threads", the glove ...

For me, knowing everything was made from two types of paper only created a sensation of admiration.  Seeing the level of details and the illusion of fabric (even lace) and realizing the medium is so common and simple just blew my mind away.  However, what was most admirable to me was the authenticity and imagination in these costumes made alive from masterpieces and famous coutures.  Looking at the life-size costumes side-by-side with the inspiring paintings from the museum's collections, the charaters from the far-away world came alive next to us.  Including in these four collaborations was one of my favorites of the museum's collections, The Russion Bride.  But the artist picked the blue dressed bridesmaid for recreation because "she is the most beautiful one".  de Borchgrave's passion for costumes and art shines through these works. 

I'm not a fashionista yet I am much inspired by these two exhibitions about fashion, no, more about the heart on the art of creation. 

The Pulp Fashion exhibition is extended to June 12th, the coming weekend and the Balenciaga lasts until July 4th.

The next exhibition cannot be missed will be the authentic Picasso, the most influential artist of the 20th century, starting June 11th at the de Young.  It is most appropriate to end this post with Picasso's quote, "I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them."