METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART TO PRESENT MCQUEEN EXHIBITION

THE SPRING 2011 EXHIBITION ORGANIZED BY THE COSTUME INSTITUTE OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART WILL BE ALEXANDER MCQUEEN: SAVAGE BEAUTY, IT WAS ANNOUNCED BY THE MUSEUM TODAY. THE EXHIBITION, ON VIEW FROM 4.MAY THROUGH 31.JULY2011, WILL CELEBRATE THE LATE MCQUEEN'S EXTRAORDINARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO FASHION. FROM HIS CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS POSTGRADUATE COLLECTION IN 1992 TO HIS FINAL RUNWAY PRESENTATION, WHICH TOOK PLACE AFTER HIS DEATH IN FEBRUARY 2010, MCQUEEN CHALLENGED AND EXPANDED THE UNDERSTANDING OF FASHION BEYOND UTILITY TO A CONCEPTUAL EXPRESSION OF CULTURE, POLITICS AND IDENTITY. THE EXHIBITION, IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM'S SECOND-FLOOR CANTOR GALLERIES, WILL FEATURE APPROXIMATELY 100 EXAMPLES OF MCQUEEN'S WORK FROM HIS PROLIFIC 19 YEAR CAREER. DRAWN PRIMARILY FROM THE MCQUEEN ARCHIVE IN LONDON, WITH SOME PIECES FROM THE GIVENCHY ARCHIVE IN PARIS AS WELL AS PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, SIGNATURE DESIGNS INCLUDING THE BUMSTER TROUSER, THE KIMONO JACKET AND THE ORIGAMI FROCK COAT WILL BE ON VIEW. MCQUEEN'S FASHIONS OFTEN REFERENCED THE EXAGGERATED SILHOUETTES OF THE 1860s, 1880s AND THE 1950s, BUT HIS TECHNICAL INGENUITY ALWAYS IMBUED HIS DESIGNS WITH AN INNOVATIVE SENSIBILITY THAT KEPT HIM AT THE VANGUARD. GALLERIES WILL SHOWCASE RECURRING THEMES AND CONCEPTS IN MCQUEEN'S WORK BEGINNING WITH 'THE SAVAGE MIND' WHICH WILL EXAMINE HIS SUBVERSION OF TRADITIONAL TAILORING AND DRESSMAKING PRACTICES THROUGH DISPLACEMENT AND DECONSTRUCTION. 'ROMANTIC GOTHIC' WILL HIGHLIGHT MCQUEEN'S NARRATIVE APPROACH TO FASHION AND ILLUMINATE HIS ENGAGEMENT WITH ROMANTIC LITERARY TRADITIONS SUCH AS DEATH, DECAY AND DARKNESS. IT WILL ALSO REVEAL THE MAIN CHARACTERS OF HIS COLLECTIONS, INCLUDING FEMME FATALES AND ANTI-HEROES SUCH AS PIRATES AND HIGHWAYMEN. 'ROMANTIC NATIONALISM' WILL LOOK AT MCQUEEN'S FASCINATION WITH THE DISTANT PAST, WHILE 'ROMANTIC EXOTICISM' WILL EXAMINE HIS FOCUS ON DISTANT PLACES. 'ROMANTIC PRIMITIVISM' WILL EXPLORE MCQUEEN'S ENGAGEMENT WITH THE IDEAL OF THE 'NOBLE SAVAGE'.
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