Christian Joy at AVA

Christian Joy, "Nightmare Catcher," 2009.

Another designers’ exhibition, which occurred in conjunction with fashion week, was Christian Joy’s The Visitors Must be Amused. It took place at Audio Visual Arts—a new gallery in the East Village, where it will be on view unti March 8. The premise for the exhibition is that Joy disposed of nine years of left-over, unwanted material in her studio and repurposed it into extravagent representations of female beings through garments. In a further twist, Joy based each sculpture/creation on descriptions given to her by a friend or family member who, in turn, had to incorporate Joy’s finished piece in their own photograph or creation. Among the collaborators were the Yeah Yeah Yeahs's Karen O and Nick Zinner.

The descriptions gave range to an array of seemingly disparate results running the gamut of a Thierry Mugler–inspired cyborg suit to a black body suit. The latter was reinterpreted into a funny night scene, where the black-clad wearer became reminiscent of the early-twentieth century proto catwoman Irma Vep.

One of the costumes involved a video projection, which seemed to be a commentary on a turn-of-the-century trans-Atlantic voyage, while what was perhaps the most interesting costume was “Nightmare Catcher”—a vaguely scarecrow-like attire made of stripes of burlap and gingham fabric.

It’s great to see more and more small exhibitions of experimental New York designers popping up around the city—a trend which will hopefully continue!

Francesca

Christian Joy, The Visitors Must be Amused, Installation View

Slow and Steady Wins the Race at Kiosk

Slow and Steady Wins the Race's Installation at Kiosk (February 14, 2009)

It’s interesting to see designers choosing to have exhibitions, as opposed to shows or presentations, in conjunction with fashion week. The New York–based conceptual designer Mary Ping of Slow and Steady Wins the Race organized a small exhibition for the 21st installation of her line. It was organized along the lines of a birthday party with piñatas and birthday cakes. The saccharine display seemed to do away with garments all together, but, at a closer look, one could see clothes dangling from one of the smashed piñatas. Each piñata actually contained Ping’s conceptually evolved and witty garments, yet their contents remained secret, but to the lucky buyer.

Slow and Steady’s production of slow, high-quality design at affordable prices seems perfect for our contemporary times and well aligned with the mission of Kiosk—the exhibition space/design store that hosted the event.

Other Fashion Weeks Part 1: The Foundry

New York Fashion Week was book ended by alternative fashion week events, which were, unfortunately, scarcely written about. Prior to the official beginning of fashion week, a number of independent designers staged a show in Long Island City inside a great industrial space—a repurposed foundry.

I was late to the show—and, oddly, was admitted to the backstage area as opposed to the actual venue. Despite its timely nature, the format of the show seemed similar to a traditional fashion show (at least judging from the view from backstage). It was organized by a boutique-cum-gallery in Queens called Subdivision, whose mission is to promote designers working across media; it hosts performances as well as art shows and carries an array of clothes and design wares.

Dress, Death by Drones

Among the most interesting designers were Feral Childe, the artist/designer duo of Moriah Carlson and Alice Wu, whose whimsical prints adorn their detailed garments. Another interesting designer, the young Brooklyn-based duo Death by Drone, was equally print-heavy. I had been meaning to write about them on occasion of their graduation exhibition at Parsons, where they hung their mostly black and white, heavily printed dresses from white and black balloons.

The palette for their work in the Foundry show was equally minimal. The prints adorning their clothes are deceivingly child-like. Upon closer look, they reveal disturbing, slightly perverse undercurrents. Their work reminds me of the Japanese artist Yumiko Inada, who was featured in the very first issue of Fashion Projects. Their pieces are similarly toying with the category of cuteness and turning it on its head. In addition to their clothes, their standalone Ubi Roi-esque illustrations "Tiny People" are not to be missed!

Henrik Vibskov "The Visit" at MU

Installation shot, Henrik Vibskov, "The Visit" at MU

A retrospective of the Danish designer Henrik Vibskov has just opened at MU in the Netherlands. An interesting space featuring art design and fashion exhibitions, MU has previously shown installations and performances by Cosmic Wonder and Susan Cianciolo.

In its unorthodox approach to exhibiting fashion, Vibskov’s exhibit entitled, “The Visit,” focuses on the designer's fashion presentations. More akin to performance art than traditional fashion shows, the presentations remind us of the increasingly blurred line between the two, particularly when it comes to avant-garde fashion. As a result, the exhibition-goer—or, according to the title of the exhibition, "the visitor"—becomes the performer of Vibskov's installation. Those are often interactive displays, that invite a range of activities, from music-generating cycling to lying down surrounded by disembodied giant breasts!

Thus, “The Visit”—an exhibition dedicated to the fashion show as opposed to actual dress—is a further reminder not only of the blurred line between fashion and performance, but of the centrality of image and spectacle in contemporary fashion. Francesca

Interactive Installation, (Music-bycicling and other instruments), Henrik Vibskov, "The Visit" at MU

Fashion For Action

Don't miss Housing Works' yearly benefit and sample sale. A venerable nonprofit organization—known for their pioneering work on behalf of the HIV-positive—is hosting their annual benefit at the Rubin Museum on Thursday November 13th. (The entry fee starts at $100—a relatively affordable benefit ticket!).

The organization is also known for its keen fashion sense as shown by the intriguing window display in their thrift stores across the city and their incredibly knowledgeable volunteer force, many of whom sport impressive fashion industry and editorial credentials. So make sure not to miss the sample sale on Friday November 14th at their Chelsea store location, which will feature designs by Philip Lim, Paul Smith, Yves Sain Laurent, Marc Jacobs and many others.