Reflecting Fashion: Art and Fashion since Modernism

Wedding Dress 1967 by Christo at the Mumok, Vienna

The intersection of art and fashion is a topic that I never tire of, and the exhibition Reflecting Fashion at the Mumok in Vienna, Austria offers four floors of engaging examples that explore "clothing and fashion as an essential component of art".  The main themes of the exhibition include: Fashion as Modernism, Fashion as the eternal deputy of Surrealism, and From the Three-Piece Suit to the Deconstruction of Fashion.


Curators Susanne Neuburger in collaboration with Barbara Rüdiger explore the relationship between fashion, clothing and art, making reference to Charles Baudelaire in defining modernity through a concept of fashion and theorist Walter Benjamin in conferring a "revolutionary significance to fashion but also a certain primacy over art".

Regina Moller Dress and Photo at Mumok, Vienna

Some of the artists whose work is on display include Elsa Schiaparelli (Salvador Dali Lobster dress 1937), Ellsworth Kelly (Dress for Ann Weber 1952), Marcel Duchamp (Vest for Benjamin Peret 1958), Andy Warhol (Green Stamps Blouse 1965), Christo (Wedding Dress 1967), Cindy Sherman (Doll Clothes 1975 as well as photos from 1983-1990), among others.

Reform Dress early 1900s at Mumok, Vienna

This was an exhibition that I could have spent days in and I have to thank Valerie Steele for telling me about it. Valerie gave the keynote address "Is Fashion Art?" at the opening on June 15, 2012. This is an exhibition that I will long remember as offering one of the most comprehensive visual displays of the topic.

Reflecting Fashion: Art and Fashion since Modernism  
Exhibition runs until September 23, 2012
Mumok
MuseumQuartier, Museumsplatz 1, A-1070
Vienna, Austria