Fashion and art, what about wearable art?

Recently I posted a video from the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art which discussed the differences and similarities between art and fashion, as well as the place of both in our daily lives. It was an interesting and lively debate, but I felt one obvious area was overlooked and that is the area of wearable art.

Wearable art uses the body as a canvas and transforms something functional, like an item of clothing, into a piece of art that is worn. Conceptually this can take many forms. Haute couture, for example, can be regarded as art that is worn, due to the extensive skill and many hours of work that goes into each gown. It has elements of the realisation of an idea, that of the designer, as well as the collaboration of the artist/designer’s team, as in a traditional or contemporary workshop where ideas are carried out by crafts people. 

The garments created for performances such as Cirque du Soleil might be regarded as wearable art. The body paintings by Joanne Gair too contain skill, illusion as well as a focus specifically on painting.

The QAG/GoMA discussion centred on fashion, so there is acknowledgement that fashion can be art some of the time, and vice versa too. What was missing was the necessary suggestion that when art and fashion meet they can form wearable art, which can serve to blur the aesthetic intentions of both fashion and art.

Costumes which are created by a range of practitioners for the New Zealand World of Wearable Art Awards can certainly be seen as the pinnacle of this idea. Taking the concept literally and to its end points the creators of WOW aim to take art off the wall and place it on the body, combining elements of theatre, dance and fashion parade to present a brilliant show every year.

The images above are a collection I’ve put together of my favourites from among the winners, (obviously there wasn’t room to include them all.) See the World of Wearable Art website for more pictures. 

From the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, this video discusses the differences, similarities and nuances between art and fashion. This discussion happened in response to the announcement that Yayoi Kusama will be collaborating with Marc Jacobs on designs for Louis Vuitton. Questions at the end were particularly interesting.

Chaired by Dr Mark Pennings (QUT), panellists include Professor Suzi Vaughan (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Learning and Teaching, QUT); Ben Byrne (fashion historian and post-graduate secretary, QCA); and Alison Kubler (art curator and writer).

Roman Ondák discusses Performance 4, Measuring the Universe, at MoMA New York.

The gallery space allows for different participatory acts. The viewer is encouraged to take risks and have fun. In the past passivity was all that was expected - to look and appreciate. Today viewers frequently produce the artwork under the direction or suggestion of the artist.

Measuring up the Universe is formed entirely by gallery goers having their height, name and date recorded on the gallery wall. The installation would look different every day as the black marks increased and darkened the walls. This is a very versatile idea, I’d love to see it replicated in Australia, perhaps with white text on a black wall. Lighting up the universe.

Artist bio:

Roman Ondák (b. 1966, Zilina, Slovakia) is widely regarded as one of the most important neo-conceptual artists working today. His work is characterized by a minimal use of materials paired with a subtle humor. Inviting strangers to participate in the production of his works is also a common strategy for the artist. Ondák lives and works in Bratislava, Slovakia.

You might also like Yayoi Kusama’s The Obliteration Room  at the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art.

Review | Yayoi Kusama: ‘Look Now, See Forever’


Yayoi Kusama
Dots Obsession 2011
Vinyl balloons, dot sheets, paint, mirrors
Image: Exhibition catalogue 

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist whose paintings, sculptures, performances and installations have influenced generations of artists from minimalists in New York to contemporary practitioners the world over. Kusama was born in 1929, in Japan where she studied for one year before moving to New York in 1957/58 (reports differ). At the time New York was living in the shadow of Abstract Expressionism, a movement which had thrust the city to the centre of the art world. Kusama’s influence was to be profound as she defied definition, experimented and captivated everyone with her eccentric persona. In 1973 Kusama returned to Japan and her profiled waned in the US until retrospectives of her work brought her international attention, particularly the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993. During the exhibition she began selling the silver spheres which made up her installation Narcissus Garden for the equivalent of $2. Reuben Keehan, Curator, Contemporary Asian Art, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art suggests this was clearly a critique of the institutionalisation of contemporary art. This is just one example where her work defies the expectation of genre, audience and authority.

Kusama has been continually influenced by the hallucinations she had as a child in which she was surrounded by colourful dots, flowers and patterns. Kusama’s mental illness is not extensively written of, nor does it need to be. She has an obsessive compulsive disorder. In Japan she chose to live at the Seiwa Hospital in Tokyo. She continues to live there, painting everyday. Her art and her life are inseparable.

An exhibition of Kusama’s recent installation, and well as video and sculpture is on display at the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art. Her exhibition ‘Look Now, See Forever’ features samples from her diverse output, but is perhaps less indicative of her defiance of genre and authority than earlier exhibitions. This exhibition, however, is highly engaging and sure to excite return visits.

Read More

Yayoi Kusama - An Introduction. (Via KusamaDocumentary). 

An exhibition of Kusama’s work is currently on display at the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, until 11 March 2012.