Mission impossible: Melbourne in a day (NGV 'n all that art)

OK, so aside from the fashion and textile exhibitions I also took in some excellent art while visiting the NGV. Luminous Cities: photographs of the built environment provided a photographic entree while Unnerved: the New Zealand project was a delicious mains. I was glad to stumble into Endless Present, the Robert Rooney and conceptual art show, which I hadn't planned on seeing due to limited time, but did, and was mighty glad I did as there were so many incidental humble thrills to be had for a 60s junkie like myself. Last but not least I also checked out Stormy Weather: contemporary landscape photography while over at the Ian Potter Centre but as that show has about much relevance to a vintage blog as a Kmart bra I'll leave it at that.

Unnerved: the New Zealand project

   Above: Unnerved exhibition views featuring Michael Parekowhai's McMurty inflatable 

rabbit, The horn of Africa seal balancing a piano and tool-kit for colonisation.

 

  Yvonne Todd riffs a thwarted and distorted take on 1960s-70s Americana beauty.

Luminous Cities: photographs of the built environment

 Lee Friedlander

Endless Present: Robert Rooney and conceptual art

 

Above: Robert Rooney photographs Fenced-off service station, Hawthorn July 1977 & April 1978 (top) and Holden Park 1 & 2 "bonus" photo version 1970. 

Below: An artist who obviously offered a great deal of inspiration to Rooney, Ed Ruscha. Pictured is the installation of Ruscha's book series which if you ever get a chance to look through offer a wry cruise through L.A.'s visual spectacle of the mundane. I love Ruscha. He the man.

Below: Joe Goode's Los Angeles artists and their cars calendar 1969.

The Man. Ed Ruscha.

Billy Bengston

Peter Alexander

LA artist. Not the pajamas dude.

Larry Bell

 Allan Kaprow's Days Off: a calendar of happenings 1970

"Jazz Man Blows"

That he does.

Allan Kaprow from Assemblage, Environments and Happenings 1966

 Above: Robert Rooney's N.E.W.S. (top & detail) and Meals (bottom, detail).

N.E.W.S. takes its title from the four compass points - the direction the artist's camera faced as it sat on the floor to take these non-news worthy images. I think there's a dry and absurdist humour to conceptual art that art historians for too long have failed to convey to the masses.

 YANG Yongliang
On a different bent Chinese artist YANG Yongliang's DVD Phantom landscape 2010, displayed opposite the upstairs restaurant offered a breathtaking and clever take on traditional Chinese watercolour landscapes. This contemporary version's mountains are subtly constructed from rising skyscrapers as traffic flows below the classic falling waterfall. An aeroplane dwarfs the final scene for good measure. I was particularly excited to see the DVD as I'd first seen the artist's photographic works last year while on holiday in Beijing at Galerie Paris-Beijing and had been really impressed. So it brought back that joy and the holiday vibes.

Mission impossible: Melbourne in a day ('Lace in Fashion' exhibition)

Lace bobbins, almost as beautiful as the lace they make.

Is it wrong to imagine Chantilly lace as a tattoo?

My favourite dress in the show was this Pierre Balmain chemical cotton lace dress, c1966. Worn by Lady Carmen Carnegie (1938-2008) it was purchased from Melbourne fashion boutique Le Louvre.

I normally balk at Edwardian blouses - that bulky overweight turkey bodice look has always been a bit of a turn off for me but when I saw the details on the garment above I thought I might have to reassess. I particular like the loose tiered sleeve so I've pasted the picture here to inspire some future creation (probably another Frankenstein sewing creation which will hide in the pile of unfinished things). PS Please suggest better terminology for this type of sleeve!

And below, the hand that creeps...

It blows my mind that you can make something as beautiful as lace by hand. I tried it once at a country fair where a group of lace makers were doing a demo. The kind lady lace maker told me I was "a natural". Considering I'd only twisted a few of few of the bobbins I assumed she was either desperate for new recruits or just very sweet (probably both). Anyway I hope one day I'll have time to give it another go... I just hope there are people still in the 'Craft!

Lace in Fashion
NGV
Fashion & Textiles Galleries
Curators: Roger Leong, Paola Di Trocchio
23 July 2010 - 23 Jan 2011

Are you a lace-maker? Ever twisted the bobbins? Collect lace bobbins? I'd love to hear about how you got started and anything else you care to share...

Mission impossible: Melbourne in a day ('Australian Made: 100 years of fashion' exhibition)

 While checking out the vintage shopping scene in Melbourne was high on the agenda, in reality the fact that I wasn't planning on doing any buying proved I was really there for other things. Going to see the Australian made: 100 years of fashion exhibition before it closed was probably top of the list and given  NGV had a stellar line up of other interesting shows I was sold. I think I'll take a look at the shows in separate posts to keep it simple.

But for now let's take a look at Australian Made: 100 years of fashion. Curated by Laura Jocic, and displayed in the Fashion & Textiles Galleries, Ian Potter Centre NGV, the exhibition was sumptuous and beautifully presented. If were local and hadn't left my visit until the last day of the show I'm sure I would have visited more than once - especially as it was free! My only complaint is I wanted more. More dresses more shoes gimme gimme gimme. 100 years of fashion - I want to see at least 100 dresses (and other things) LOL!

As wonderful as it must have been to work on the show I don't envy the curator's task of having to make the selection. I wasn't alone in hoping that the show continued on in the room next door - but no, in stepped the landscape photography show and it was curtains for the frills and spills of fashion.

Platypus fur cape (c1890). 
Happier days were spent at the bottom of a river.

  Yesterday's leather hat box... 

today's dream caramel leather tiffin carrier, no?

READ MORE... 

'From first European settlement the supply of clothing and the way Australian men and women presented themselves in the new colonies was of vital importance. Whether reflecting status and position, or exhibiting new found wealth and flamboyance, the nuanced language of fashion was of particular concern to Australia’s burgeoning and diverse society.

In response to the needs of this growing society, tailors and dressmakers established well patronised businesses, and numerous drapers and department stores were founded, with dressmaking departments providing for a fashionable clientele. Dressmakers such as Mrs Eeles in Melbourne in the late nineteenth century were precursors to the high end boutiques of the first half of the twentieth century, including Le Louvre in Collins Street.

Drawing on the NGV Collection of Australian fashion and textiles, this exhibition examines the rise of fashion in Australia from the 1850s to 1950s, while speculating on the fashionable trends and development of an Australian style of fashion. The exhibition will include rare early examples of labelled garments from the mid nineteenth century and a range of dresses, tailored items and accessories that were made and retailed in Australia.' - NGV 'What's On' exhibition guide