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Culture and Arts

Culture Watch

 

Textile Arts at the Museums

Textile Arts shows appear to have become a way to display little seen museum collections as well as an economical approach to staging exhibitions.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is currently showing a three part exhibit of Luxury Textiles East and West; Opulent Interiors. The Introduction to the online exhibit explains the rationale for this particular show:

"Luxury Textiles East and West highlights extraordinary examples of the textile arts of Asia, Europe, and America, and is drawn exclusively from the department’s extensive holdings. Although the definition and appearance of textiles that are considered luxurious may differ among cultures or between time periods, all share a lavish use of exotic or expensive materials, display technical virtuosity, and were restricted to the highest levels of society either by cost or edict. These textiles survive not only because they had monetary value, but also because they were treasured for their aesthetic qualities."

An item of the exhibit is a woman's gown, petticoat and stomacher with an elaborate description: This gown and its strikingly three-dimensional ornamental surface incorporates more than fifteen yards of silk woven in a pattern of bouquets brocaded onto a satin ground. Additional bands are gathered (or ”ruched”) along the front openings and are used as ruffles along the petticoat hem. The edges of the fabric used to enrich the surface are finished with a delicate looped thread trim and a raveled ribbon trim known as ”fly” fringe, which fluttered as the wearer moved. Silk ribbon flowers and fabric bows are scattered across the dress, petticoat, and stomacher (the panel that fills the center front of the bodice), and the sleeves are finished with lace ruffles.

An exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is primarily drawn from the museum's collection as well as additions from other sources: Draped in Dragons: Chinese Court Costumes — Elaborate robes give a glimpse of life in the Imperial court .

The Metropolitan Museum in New York City is celebrating the art of seduction through the play of dress and interiors in an exhibit entitled Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century.

" ... the exhibition explores the dressed body’s spatial negotiation of the 18th-century interior as a choreography of seduction and erotic play. The coquettish Polonaise dress with its hem raised to reveal the ankle is juxtaposed with a side table that transforms into a dressing table through mechanisms similar to the gown’s hidden ties. The arch of the foot introduced by shoes with a Louis-style heel is seen with the scrolling legs of tables and chairs from the period shod in ormolu sabots. Lavish banyans, the “undress” of 18th-century rakes, and fans, an accessory that could be wielded with both decorous and flirtatious intent, are presented as the favored modes of beguilement of the 18th-century man about town and his femme du monde counterpart.

The idea of the exhibit is inspired, in part, from the book, The Little House, an Architectural Seduction by Jean François de Bastide. Some of the exhibit's engravings come from the Monument de Costume, a series of fashion narratives engraved over a seven year period. A doctoral dissertation will provide a thorough examination of the Monument de Costume.

Kent State's Museum is one of the best sources for costume and textile collections. Its current online exhibits feature Dyed in the Wool, Felt and Wearable Art by Horst. The art of felting has been rediscovered not only in the United States but in the United Kingdom where there are may artists working in this medium. Horst's technique is explained:

"Each garment is unique yet most follow a similar production process. A flat pattern is first cut out of plastic and slightly twisted strands of wool fibers (rovings) are then laid on its surface and a few inches beyond it. Additional layers of threads are placed perpendicular to one another and thoroughly wetted and drizzled with soap. Then electric palm sanders are used to mesh the threads and layers covering the pattern. Once the pattern's surface is felted, it is flipped over with the plastic pattern facing up. The threads of unfelted fibers extending beyond the original pattern are then folded over it so as to be fused with new layers of threads forming addition pattern parts. Using this process, seamless gowns can be created. As felt is capable of great plasticity and recovery, molding can transform the cloth further and new elements can be grafted. Though many pieces, such as Net and Coils, are created with this patterned process, others are produced as flat pieces that can be draped or wrapped around the body, as is the case for China Water and Symbiosis."

A special exhibit with eleven garments from the Kent State collection was displayed in Athens earlier this year: Ptychoseis, Drapery from Ancient Greek Dress to 21st Century Fashion. The word ptychoseis originates from the ancient Greek and means to fold, drape and pleat.

The purpose of the exhibit is described as exploring "the aesthetic qualities of the plasticity of drapery through selected works of art from the classical period of ancient Greece, regional clothing from around the world as well as high fashion and ready-to-wear creations by contemporary designers." Creations by Fortuny, Vionnet, Miyake, McQueen, Margiella and Kawakubo are to be included.

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