All of us (bar a few naturists along the way) wear clothes to complete a necessary everyday routine. Whether much thought goes past the dressing up and dressing down is a whole other ball of yarn. Pulling together a group of artists and designers who have worked to reflect, expand, shred out and explore every inch of the nature of clothing, the GSK Contemporary - Aware: Art Fashion Identity exhibition at London's Royal Academy of Arts looks beyond fashion to focus on clothing in terms identity, nationality, displacement and conflict.
Alongside work collated from 30 contemporary practitioners including the likes of Marina Abramović, Andreas Gursky, Maison Martin Margiela, Alexander McQueen, Yoko Ono, Grayson Perry, Cindy Sherman Hon RA and Yohji Yamamoto, there will also be new work by Yinka Shonibare MBE and Hussein Chalayan commissioned for 'Aware' by the London College of Fashion and the Royal Academy of Arts.
The exhibition is divided into four sections - 'Storytelling' addresses the role of clothing in a historical and cultural sense, 'Building' confronts clothing being used as a form of protection, 'Belonging and Confronting' puts it in the context of nationality and politics, and 'Performance', which features film footage of Yoko Ono's performance of 'Cut Piece' at New York's Carnegie Recital Hall in 1965.
Broad reaching material, yes, but ultimately, the heart of the exhibition lies in the relationship between our physical covering and the countless ways it can work to either celebrate or suppress identity.
'Artist's Robe' by Grayson Perry, 2004
Embroidered silk brocade, leather, printed linen and ceramic buttons
Courtesy of the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, London
'Carapace: Triptych, The Butchers Window' by Dai Rees, 2003
15ml leather hide, leather marquetry, stainless steel, enamel, iodine.
Photography: Dai Rees
'Widow' by Susie MacMurray, 2009
Black nappa leather, 2 inch adamantine dressmaker’s pins
Manchester City Galleries (Gallery of Costume)
Photography: Susie MacMurray
'Say Goodbye' by Helen Storey, 2010
London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
Photography: John Ross
'Shelter Me 1' by Mella Jaarsma, 2005
Chinese – Indonesian shrine, bowls, beats, military costumes, essence, DVD
Courtesy of the artist and DACS 2010
Photography: Mie Cornoedus
'Cut Piece', 1965, Yoko Ono
A film by Albert and David Maysles of Yoko Ono’s performance of Cut Piece at Carnegie Recital Hall, New York, 21 March 1965
16mm black-and-white film with sync sound, transferred to DVD, running time 9’
Courtesy of the artist
'Autumn-Winter 1991–92 Yohji Yamamoto Femme Collection 1991–2', Yohji Yamamoto
Collection of Peter Saville
© Thierry Chomel for Yohji Yamamoto
'Autumn Winter 1998: Joan', Alexander McQueen
Photography: Chris Moore
Courtesy of Catwalking
INFORMATION
Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House
Piccadilly
London W1J 0BD
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