Monday 1 May 2023

Remembering Barry Humphries, the man who enriched the culture, reimagined the one man show and upended the cultural cringe

Barry Humphries painted by David Hockney at his studio on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles in 2015. Courtesy David Hockney. Photograph: Jean-Pierre Goncalves de Lima 


By Anne Pender, University of Adelaide

Barry Humphries in London in 1965. 
Barry Humphries began his career as a Dadaist. His street performances around Melbourne in the early 1950s foreshadowed performance art in Australia. He was the most daring student prankster Melbourne University had ever known.

Years later, academic Peter Conrad accurately described Humphries’ adolescence as a “one man modern movement”.

The young man secured his first paid acting role after a number of complaints from various women about a Dadaist event called Call Me Madman!, staged at the University of Melbourne’s Union Theatre in 1953. It was anarchic, just like the early Dada shows of the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich several decades earlier.

Call Me Madman! opened with a single musical phrase played on a violin over and over again, then a pianist sitting out of view of the audience sounded the same chords and notes in repetition, and ended in a ferocious food fight, with Humphries hiding in a cupboard from the outraged students who stormed the stage.

This parody taught him how to provoke his audience, securing their complicit and violent participation in his act. It also gave him his first taste of the power of an audience to determine what happens in the theatre. It was both risky and intoxicating.

When John Sumner, founder of the burgeoning Union Theatre Repertory Company (which would go on to become Melbourne Theatre Company), heard the complaints about the revue, he offered the young man a job.

The birth of Edna

On a tour of country Victoria with the company, Humphries performed a spidery Orsino in Twelfth Night, directed by Ray Lawler with Zoe Caldwell as Viola.

Humphries entertained the cast on the long bus rides, with falsetto speeches in cruel but hilarious parody of the predictable words of thanks given in every town by ladies of the Country Women’s Association over tea. The character invented to pass the time on the bus made her debut in Lawler’s Christmas revue in 1955.

Edna was a composite portrait of various women whose mannerisms had imprinted themselves in his brain as a boy, growing up in staid Camberwell.

With his new character, Humphries summoned a whole new world to the stage and created a comedy of ordinariness that had never been presented before.

This Mrs Average took on a life of her own and shone as the centrepiece of Humphries’ theatrical world for the next 60 years, becoming Dame Edna Everage – elevated by the Prime Minister Gough Whitlam himself – in Barry McKenzie Holds His Own in 1974.

Just two years later, Humphries’ extravaganza Housewife Superstar! charmed the West End. Wearing a massive hat sculpted to resemble the Sydney Opera House, Edna stopped the crowds at Royal Ascot that year.

The image of her in that sumptuous creation (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum) launched Edna and Humphries around the world.

Conquering the world

Edna hosted a series of chat shows on British television, watched every week by an audience of eight million. She skewered dozens of politicians, pop stars, singers and actors who graced the program every week.

Her appearance with Jerry Hall singing Stand by your Man remains one of the most hilarious television moments of that time.

Humphries’ success on British television in the 1980s and 1990s were among the major achievements of his career. He created his very own theatre of the absurd with his reinvention of the chat show. The me-generation could not get enough.

After that, Edna conquered Broadway.

Humphries’ theatrical magic also included dozens of other characters, all of them parodic and sharply satirical, such as the hard-drinking diplomat Sir Les Patterson.

He delighted audiences and prosecuted his satirical attacks on Australian life. On stage and on television, his ingenuity as a performer derived from his instinct for improvisation. At his best, the audience was treated to exceptional satirical theatre.

The early years

John Barry Humphries was born February 17 1934, the oldest child of Eric and Louisa Humphries. Eric ran a flourishing building business (he might be called a developer nowadays) and Louisa was a homemaker. As a child, Barry was close to his sister, Barbara. Barry also enjoyed adult company. He loved dressing up and accompanying his mother on trips to the city or out for lunch with other ladies.

At Melbourne Grammar, Humphries found the boys who excelled in sports rewarded and praised for their achievements. Everyone else was a second-class citizen. An interest in art or music was considered by the headmaster to be suspicious, a disappointment for Humphries, passionate about art.

In time, Humphries found a way to survive Melbourne Grammar – through provocation. When he was reprimanded for failing to cut his hair to regulation length, he stared coolly at the headmaster and said, “There’s one man in the chapel with hair that is longer than mine. His name is Jesus”.

Humphries’ comment was not punished. Before long everyone had heard of his audacious retort.

On icy winter afternoons at the MCG – compelled to watch the titans of the school wrestle in the mud – Humphries found an ingenious way of expressing his view of proceedings. He positioned himself in a chair with his back to the football field, facing the spectators.

Slowly he drew out of his specially made Gladstone bag a set of large knitting needles and ball of wool; he would sit for the duration of the match calmly knitting a cardigan.

A transformational artist

Humphries was resilient and indomitable. He defeated alcoholism. He was generous, competitive and single minded.

With his mask off he was as witty as when he wore it. He married four times and raised two daughters and two sons.

He is survived by his wife Lizzie Spender, and children Tessa, Emily, Oscar and Rupert.

Humphries transformed Australian comedy, bringing an astringent and anarchic Australian theatre to the world. Manning Clark called him one of the “mythmakers and prophets of Australia […] enriching the culture which had been dominated by the straiteners”.

He certainly enriched the culture, reimagined the one man show and upended the cultural cringe. Bravo Barry. Farewell.The Conversation

Anne Pender, Kidman Chair in Australian Studies and Director, JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice, University of Adelaide

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

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Wednesday 19 April 2023

Highlights of Milan Design Week: Qeeboo's New Collection by Stefano Giovannoni, Philippe Starck, Nika Zupac and Studio Campana

The new coat stand, Saguaro, shaped like a cactus and designed by Stefano Giovanonni. part of his company's new collection launched in Milan. 

Italian brand Qeeboo's latest collection features collaborations with renowned designers including Philippe Starck and Studio Campana, and founder, Stefano Giovannoni. Launched at Milan Design Week, the new works redefine the concept of tableware and the dreamy animal-sculptures have a strong expressive identity, writes Antonio Visconti

Philippe Starck's HelfYourself table, designed.
for the new Qeeboo collection in Milan.
THE most important event
on the international design calendar, the Salone del Mobile in Milan, plus all of the Fuorisalone shows, were back at full capacity this year after the pandemic. 

Italian design brand, Qeeboo founded by Stefano Giovannoni in 2016 launched a new collection at Milan Design Week. The ethos of the company, explains Giovannoni, is to create designs that stimulate self-expression and creativity.

Qeeboo's innovative designs have a twist of pop culture and a quirky individuality combined with attention to detail and high-quality production. 

This year, the company has launched a partnership with star designer Philippe Starck. The new works are called HelpYourself, and are made up of a collection of figurative tables (see above).

“The HelpYourselfs is a family of charming geniuses who watch over the happiness of the house by carrying the tables,” says Philippe Starck. Three legs and three arms are the base for two tabletops of different dimensions and materials. The bigger one (a dining table) holds a glass top while the smaller one (a sidetable) is moulded in one piece with a polyethylene surface.

Italian design brand, Qeeboo was founded in Milan by Stefano Giovannoni in 2016 with the aim of producing designs that stimulate self-expression and creativity

The Brazilian Studio Campana's new Bacana
chair, with its intricate, fluid design. 
Another exciting collaboration was with Studio Campana, the Brazilian design studio, that produced the Bacana, a vividly-colored chair which embodies the fluid lines the company is known for (see at right). 

Qeeboo's product development expertise, combined with Studio Campana's unique style, brings out the chair's intricate design. 

The Bacana chair is the first Campana project industrially developed, using 100% recyclable polypropylene, known for its durability and resistance. 

The winding curves and tangled knots of plastic represent the designers' way of communicating, their own language of forms. In Portuguese slang bacana means “cool”, and it sums up the Campana’s aesthetic. The new chair uses minimum quantities of material, establishing a new standard for sustainable design and mass production. 

The exciting collaboration with Studio Campana,  produced the Bacana chair, establishing a new standard for sustainable design and mass production

Stefano Giovannoni's bookcase inspired by
hollowed-out stones can be upright either
horizonally or vertically. 
Another Giovannoni creation is Koibuchi, a versatile, freestanding bookcase (see at left). Conceived as a wall of sectioned and pierced stones, the bookcase’s holes are configured as a series of interconnected, irregular spaces that can be used to place books, plants or other objects on. 

The bookcase can be standing either horizontally or vertically in any space you wish, in an office or home, and either stand alone to divide spaces or against the wall. 

Made in recyclable polyethylene and available in different colors, the library can be combined with additional units.

Saguaro, a coat stand in the shape of a cactus typical of the Sonoran Desert, is also a part of the new collection (see main picture above)

The cactus grows different branches as it ages and this inspired the tall stand, also designed by Stefano Giovannoni, for coats, hats and jackets. It comes in a variety of colours and is made in recyclable polyethylene and supported by a metal lacquered base: it would make a dramatic and eye-catching statement in any room. 

“The HelpYourselfs is a family of charming geniuses who watch over the happiness of the house by carrying the tables,” says Philippe Starck

Elisa Giovannoni's Cobble table and chairs that
 has central insert for a pot plant 
or for ice and bottles. 
Elisa Giovannoni's Cobble table features a slender top and a central insert that can be used to contain plants or bottles (see at right). 

The coordinated seats complete the set, creating a sense of harmony and balance.  

The table is suitable for outdoor or indoor use. The sinuous chair is produced in the same colours as the table.

Kris Ruhs, an artist, joins Qeeboo's creative team and presents Kritters, a collection of animal-sculptures with a strong expressive identity. 

He designed the three ceramic vases in black and white. 

These represent different animals: a cat named Dalila, a dog named Bozo and an owl named Spike.

Elisa Giovannoni's Cobble table features a square top and a central insert that can be used to contain plants or bottles

The new Hungry Frog lamp launched in Milan
and designed by Marcantonio.
Marco Oggian, a multidisciplinary artist, contributes to Qeeboo's collection with a new range of products. 

These include tables, mirrors, carpets, doormats and vases, textile decorated products like cushions and poufs characterized by his unique style and bright colors. 

"A collection that pays homage to the monsters, creatures and all the different beings that make this world so colorful and wonderful," says Oggian.

In addition, Qeeboo is renewing collaborations with some familiar names, including Marcantonio, who presents Hungry Frog, a frog that eats a light bulb (see image at left),  

The Hungry Frog is a small table/wall lamp with the shape of a frog which has eaten the lamp bulb that is now lighting up in its stomach. The string which is attached to the bulb, coming out of the frog’s mouth, is covered in fabric with an integrated switch, allowing you to place it in any corner.

"A collection that pays homage to the monsters, creatures and all the different beings that make this world so colorful and wonderful," says Oggian.

Dai Sugasawa's quirky fish-shaped table lamp,
that is inspired by creatures in the deep sea
with their own internal "lights". 

Nika Zupanc introduces the Ribbon mirror, which hangs from a bow. The newly launched mirror is large and rounded and has the same signature motifs of the other products that make up this collection, including chairs and armchairs.

Dai Sugasawa's Abyss fish-shaped table lamp is inspired by the anglerfish swimming in the deep seas (see picture at right). 

The anglerfish are quite a bony fish (and not as cuddly looking as Sugasawa's design) with a luminescent fin ray that acts as a lure for other fish.

The rather lovable, rounded graphic lamp is designed in different colours and can be used at home, at the studio or the office and makes a singular talking point.

All of these designs are exhibited at the Qeeboo flagship Store in Via Crocefisso 27, Milan.

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Wednesday 12 April 2023

The Rossettis: Romantic Revolutionaries of the Art World

One of the richly atmospheric works at the Rossetti exhibition: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Mona Vanna, (1866) copyright Tate. 

Enter the world of the Rossettis, a family of rebels who challenged Victorian society with their radical approaches to art, love, and life. Dante Gabriel, Christina, and Elizabeth were pioneers of the Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic movements. London's Tate Britain has a new exhibition of paintings and drawings of all three siblings, writes Isabella Lancellotti

The romanticism of Dante
Gabriel Rossetti's Proserpine, (1874).
Copyright: Tate
Tate Britain’s newest exhibition celebrates the revolutionary and avant-garde spirit of the Rossetti family. Dante Gabriel, Christina, and Elizabeth (née Siddal) were not just siblings but also artists who challenged the status quo of Victorian society. 

Their lives and works were marked by a progressive counterculture, blending past and present to reinvent art and life for a fast-changing modern world. 

Tate Britain showcases their creativity and innovation through over 150 paintings and drawings, photography, design, poetry, and more.

The exhibition begins with a celebration of the Rossetti siblings' precocious talent, revealing the early sparks of creativity that would mark their careers.

 Christina's first edition of poems, published when she was 16, and Dante Gabriel's Ecce Ancilla Domine (The Annunciation) 1850, are the opening pieces, surrounded by an audio installation of Christina's poetry and examples of Dante Gabriel's teenage drawings. These works reflect their early skill and enthusiasm for original voices like William Blake and Edgar Allan Poe.

As visitors move through the exhibition, they are taken on a journey of the Rossettis’ artistic evolution, from the Pre-Raphaelite years to the imaginative and expressive Aesthetic style. 

Their lives and works were marked by a progressive counterculture, blending past and present to reinvent art and life for a modern world. 

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, La Ghirlandata,
(1874). Copyright: Guildhall Art Gallery
Works from the Pre-Raphaelite years demonstrate how the spirit of popular revolution inspired these artists to initiate the first British avant-garde movement, rebelling against the Royal Academy's dominance over artistic style and content. 

More personal forms of revolution are explored through the Rossettis' refusal to abide by the constraints of Victorian society. Works such as Dante Gabriel's Found (begun 1854), Elizabeth Siddal's Lady Clare (1857), and Christina's poem The Goblin Market (1859) show how they questioned love in an unequal and materialist world.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is Elizabeth Siddal's surviving watercolours, displayed in a two-way dialogue with contemporary works by Dante Gabriel, exploring modern love in jewel-like medieval settings. 

As a working-class artist who was largely self-taught, Elizabeth's work was highly original and inventive, but has often been overshadowed by her mythologization as a tragic muse. Her and Dante Gabriel's work together mark the turning point from Pre-Raphaelitism to the imaginative and expressive Aesthetic style.

The exhibition also takes a fresh look at the unconventional relationships between Dante Gabriel, Elizabeth Siddal, Fanny Cornforth, and Jane Morris. The Aesthetic portraits from the later part of Dante Gabriel's career, such as Bocca Baciata (1859), Beata Beatrix (c.1864-70), and The Beloved (1865-73), are shown in the context of the achievements and experiences of the working women who inspired them. 

Works from the Pre-Raphaelite years demonstrate how the spirit of popular revolution inspired these artists to initiate the first British avant-garde movement.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Venus Verticordia, 
(1878). Copyright: Private Collection 
The exhibition also explores how the poetic and artistic evolution of the femme fatale informed works such as Lady Lilith (1866-8) and Mona Vanna (1866).

Alongside art and poetry, visitors can experience how the Rossettis' trailblazing new lifestyles transformed the domestic interior through contemporary furniture, clothing, and design. 

The exhibition concludes by showing how the Rossettis inspired the next generation, including William Michael's teenaged children who ran the anarchist magazine The Torch, and how they continue to influence radical art and culture to this day.

This exhibition is not just a retrospective of the Rossetti family's work but also a celebration of their revolutionary approach to life, love, and art. It showcases the interconnectedness of their works, their influence on each other, and their legacy in the art world. The Rossettis were true visionaries, pushing the boundaries of art and society, and this exhibition evokes their creativity and innovation.

The Rossettis, 6 April – 24 September 2023, Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG.Open daily 10.00–18.00.


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Wednesday 29 March 2023

Melbourne Now: A Vast, Sprawling and Inspiring Exhibition that Seems to Burst out of its Architectural Framework

Painting above, from the Melbourne Now show, by Julia Ciccarone, Witness, 2021. Cover image: Julia Ciccarone, The Other World, 2021. © Julia Ciccarone and Niagara Galleries. Both photographs: Mark Ashkanasy






By Sasha Grishin, Australian National University

Review: Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria.

Melbourne Now 2013 is still spoken about with reverence.

It was a memorable exhibition: a shot of Viagra to the exhibiting of contemporary Australian art by a public art gallery. It was immense, occupying both buildings of the National Gallery of Victoria and surrounds, and it brought to the fore much art that had never been seen before, combined with some well-known artists still making interesting work.

Melbourne Now 2023 is a more targeted exhibition, confined to the Federation Square building, with roughly half the number of exhibitors compared with its predecessor a decade earlier.

The show does combine the work of some well-established artists, including Shaun Gladwell, Christian Thompson, Katherine Hattam and Julia Ciccarone, with a splurge of fresh blood, names largely unknown outside a tight circle within the arts community.

Portrait of Georgia Banks © Georgia Banks. Photo: Kerry Leonard

Art is treated within a broad spectrum of the cultural landscape to include not only painters, printmakers, sculptors, photographers, filmmakers and installation artists, but also designers, studios, firms, practising architects, ceramicists, video artists and those working in virtual reality, jewellery, performance, product design and publishing.

These are some of the people who now, or in the near future, will design the way our world looks, feels and operates.

In a vast, sprawling and inspiring exhibition that seems to burst out of its architectural framework, it is pointless to debate omissions in the selection of artists when we are surrounded by so much vital and interesting art that challenges us on so many levels.

Intense visual excitement

Many of the artists are making their NGV debut. This is not a “stable” of artists that has been fostered by a gallery, an accusation that has been levelled, with some justification, at several state galleries.

Many of these artists are not new to the institutional exhibiting scene and may have been seen in some regional galleries, public art spaces and dedicated municipal art centres, but they are new to the NGV and the broader public.

There is a sustained and intense visual excitement that pervades all levels of The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

We move from Rel Pham’s huge shrine-like “temple” in a darkened room, accompanied by a chorus of 640 computer fans with their cyberspace breeze, to Jenna Lee’s illuminated lanterns in forms reminiscent of traditional Gulumerridjin (Larrakia) dilly bags, and Troy Emery’s quirky nearly three-metre-long textile sculpture, Mountain climber, ready to pounce on the viewer.

Installation view of Rel Pham ’s Temple 2022 - 2023 on display as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne from 24 March – 20 August 2023. Image: Sean Fennessy

Although each of these works is spectacular and packs a considerable wow factor, they cannot be dismissed as purely hedonistic eye candy designed as an escapist parachute out of reality.

Pham questions the ecological sustainability in our reliance on technology with the colours of the neon illumination chosen for symbolic considerations in Asian cultures. He creates an environment where the physical and digital worlds blur.

Lee, a Larrakia, Wardaman and Karajarri artist, views her lanterns as illuminating her ancestry and its mystical complexities.

Illuminated yellow dilly bags
Installation view of Jenna Lee ’s Balarr (To become light) 2023 on display as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne from 24 March – 20 August 2023. Image: Sean Fennessy

Emery’s work affected me more directly than I anticipated. I was prepared for an encounter with something approaching high kitsch with brightly coloured pom-poms forming the surface of this creature. For all its playfulness, there is something quite sombre in an encounter with this giant feline, shown like a specimen taken out of the wild, now beautified and preserved in a museum.

It’s possibly something to do with animal extinction and an interrogation of the relationship between us and non-human animals.

It will become a new icon for our time.

Installation view of Troy Emery’s work Mountain climber 2022 on display as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne from 24 March – 20 August 2023. Image: Tom Ross

Art meets design

The distinction between arts and crafts dissolved many decades ago. Melbourne Now continues the process in dissolving the distinction between the visual arts as studio practice and functional design, fashion and applied photography.

The Design Wall that caused major ripples a decade ago has returned as a large-scale installation representing 23 Victorian design studios that over the past decade created new consumer products from guitars, pink cricket balls to electric motorbikes.

Guitars, skateboards and showers.
Installation view of Design Wall on display as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne from 24 March – 20 August 2023. Image: Peter Bennett

Fashion Now brings together about 20 local fashion designers including J’Aton Couture, Ngali and Kara Baker.

Jewellery Now carries out a similar exercise with contemporary jewellers spread over about 60 new or recent pieces that explore a variety of forms. They include incredible pieces by Inari Kiuru, Tessa Blazey, Kirsten Lyttle and Anke Kindle.

Rings
Installation view of Tessa Blazey’s work on display as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne from 24 March – 20 August 2023. Image: Tom Ross

As so much in this exhibition, fundamental questions are raised concerning boundaries. What constitutes jewellery practice today and how is jewellery consumed by society?

Civic Architecture investigates five award-winning civic projects by Melbourne architects where different neighbourhoods have been transformed.

No House Style assembles some Melbourne-based furniture designers and architects who have departed from mainstream trends to create their own unique language.

Wooden furniture.
Installation view of No House Style on display as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne from 24 March – 20 August 2023. Image: Tom Ross

Vessels examines 15 artists who create containers from materials as varied as ceramics, fibre, mixed media and experimental biomaterials.

The art of photography is interrogated through Slippery Images, a glance at the work of 12 photographers. Printmaking is represented with a Print Portfolio by 12 printmakers plus the irrepressible Gracia and Louise and their bat installation.

Artwork of a bat.
Installation view of Gracia and Louise’s The remaking of things 2023 on display as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne from 24 March – 20 August 2023. Image: Sean Fennessy

A memorable exhibition

Conceived as a snapshot of visual culture in Melbourne and Victoria, this exhibition is challenging, visually exciting and memorable.

If you find it a little bewildering, you can turn to Gee, an AI chatbot developed by Georgia Banks, who has been programmed as a target for your affections or lie down for Shaun Gladwell’s out-of-body experience.

Melbourne Now is at the The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia until August 20.The Conversation

Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

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Wednesday 22 March 2023

Entrancing New York Exhibition at the Frick Madison: The Gregory Gift

Portrait of Woman, ca. 1730 by Rosalba Carriera (1673 ~1757). Pastel on paper, glued on canvas. Cover detail of a 16th century plaque, by Jean de Court. Limoges, enamel on copper, parcel gilt. Both from the Frick Collection, Gift of Alexis Gregory, 2020 and 2021. Photographs: Joseph Coscia Jnr. 






Prepare to be transported through time and space to a world of exquisite decorative arts as we explore The Frick Collection's latest exhibition. The Gregory Gift, a bequest from the collection of Alexis Gregory, is a beautifully curated show of twenty-eight objects rich in historical and cultural significance. Among them are fifteen Limoges enamels, two clocks, and two ewers, to name just a few.  The collection echoes the Kunstkammers created by princes during the Renaissance, where they would display a variety of precious objects, opening new areas of research, writes Antonio Visconti 

James Cox (British ca. 1723~1800)
Musical Automation Rhinoceros Clock
ca.1765~1772. Gilt bronze, silver, enamel,
paste jewels, white marble and amber.
39.5 x 21.3 x 8.9cm. The Frick Collection
Gift of Alexis Gregory, 2021.
Photograph: Joseph Coscia Jnr.


The Frick Collection
in New York City has long been a home for some of the finest collections of decorative art in the world. The museum has been able to enrich its collections over the years through the generosity of various collectors who have donated important objects. 

The Gregory Gift, a bequest from the collection of Alexis Gregory, has been one of the most significant contributions to the museum in recent times. This remarkable bequest, which was received in 2020, comprises twenty-eight objects that are rich in historical and cultural significance.

The Gregory Gift is a collection of exquisite objects that are crafted in a variety of media and forms. These luxury objects suggest a fine collector's cabinet or Kunstkammer. 

Among the items are fifteen Limoges enamels, two clocks, two ewers, a gilt-bronze sculpture, a serpentine tankard, an ivory hilt, a rhinoceros horn cup, a pomander, and two stunning pastels by Rosalba Carriera. The collection is beautifully curated and is exhibited together for the first time at the Frick Madison until July 9, 2023.

Ian Wardropper, the Director of the Frick, expressed his gratitude for the bequest and announced that the exhibition would be mounted in memory of Alexis Gregory. Wardropper stated that "Alexis Gregory had one of the finest collections of Renaissance and Rococo decorative arts in this country. His deep affection for the Frick led to his bequest of a selection of a superb group of objects, and we are gratified to mount this exhibition in his memory."

The Gregory Gift is a collection of exquisite objects that are crafted in a variety of media and forms.

Attributed to Domenico Cucci and workshop
Manufacture des Gobelins, Paris, 1662~1664.
Figure of Louis XIV. Gilt bronze on a
porphyry base. 30.6 x 30.3 x 17.9cm
The Frick Collection, Gift of
Alexis Gregrory, 2021.
Photograph: Joseph Coscia Jnr
Alexis Gregory was a man who had an abiding passion for the arts. His career in book publishing led him to establish the celebrated Vendome Press, which published significant volumes on French culture and art. 

Gregory's contributions to and engagement in the arts included serving on art committees at several cultural institutions in the United States. 

He served on the visiting committees of European Paintings and European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His history with the Frick began with frequent visits to the museum as a youth. 

On one occasion, Gregory left the boarding school he was attending with a classmate to visit the museum and managed to convince his friend that he lived in its mansion, as everyone they encountered on staff seemed to know him extremely well.

Gregory's interest in collecting art began early in life. At the age of eighteen, he purchased his first Renaissance bronze, which marked the starting point of his collection. Gregory collected widely, from paintings and works on paper to bronzes and sculptures. 

In the 1980s, his deep interest in European decorative arts prompted him to exchange one of the Impressionist paintings he had inherited from his parents for an assortment of bronzes, sculptures, and Limoges enamels, as well as a watercolor. He later expanded his collection with additional sculptures, Italian bronzes, and Limoges enamels, continuing throughout his life to acquire objects from the United States and Europe.

At the age of eighteen, Gregory purchased his first Renaissance bronze, which marked the starting point of his collection.

Pierre Reymond, French 1512 ~ after 1584
One of a Pair of Covered Tazzas, 16th Century
Limoges, enamel on copper, parcel gilt
21.6 x 18.4cm. The Frick Collection
Gift of Alexis Gregory, 2021.
Photograph: Joseph Coscia Jnr


Gregory's collection echoes, in many ways, the Kunstkammers created by princes during the Renaissance, where they would not only display enamels, faience, carved ivories, automatons and clocks, and precious and mounted metalwork, but also show exotic natural specimens. 

His bequest to The Frick Collection, therefore, opens new areas of research and lays the groundwork for exciting projects. 

From research into the context of their creation to technical analyses expanding our knowledge of how these objects were produced, the exhibition at Frick Madison celebrates Alexis Gregory's generous gift and The Frick Collection's commitment to the display of European decorative arts.


The Gregory Gift exhibition is on show at the Frick Madison until July 6th, 2023, 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, New York, NY 10021. Museum hours: Thursday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; closed Monday through Wednesday.

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Wednesday 15 March 2023

Designer in Focus: Yuima Nakazato ~ Creating a Sustainable Fashion Future

Portrait of Yuima Nakazato at the Maison Baccarat in Paris and cover picture of the designer's Spring/Summer 2023/24 collection at the Palais de Tokyo by Elli Ioannou for DAM
Japanese designer Yuima Nakazato has gained international recognition for his innovative approach to fashion and sustainability and his passion for the environment. Called Inherit, his latest collection is inspired by the mountains of discarded clothing he witnessed in Kenya. In an exclusive interview, he discusses his pioneering design philosophy and vision for the future. Story by Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Reporting by Antonio Visconti.  Photography by Elli IoannouNathan Geary & Matthew Fisher

Designer Yuima Nakazato backstage 
at his haute couture show in Paris.
Photograph: Nathan Geary
Yuima Nakazato not only creates avant-garde designs incorporating new technologies but uses his fashion collections to address environmental issues in unprecedented ways. When the designer travelled to Kenya, he wanted to see the waste situation and also to understand how people live there by using only what they get from the land. 

A documentary film directed by Tokyo-based Kousai Sekine about this trip, the creation of the Spring/Summer 2023-24 collection and the designer's vision for the future of fashion, will be released later this year. 

Nakazato's impressions of Kenya remain kaleidoscopic, he felt both hope and despair throughout the visit, and was touched by seeing the handmade details of what the tribespeople wore, and the intricate beaded jewellery they made themselves. But he was stunned by the enormous amount of garbage piling up in the country.

"My journey began with coming face-to-face with a vast amount of leftover clothing, an experience that left me feeling completely overwhelmed," he explains. "Gazing upon mountains of discarded garments, I was tormented by a sense of despair. It was undeniably obvious that cheap and generic attire such as denim and T-shirts had become utterly universal. A simple yet fundamental question arose in my mind: 'Do we really need to make any more clothes?''

"Gazing upon mountains of discarded garments, I was tormented by a sense of despair...A simple yet fundamental question arose in my mind: 'Do we really need to make any more clothes?'''

A shimmering, diaphanous design from 
Yuima Nakazato's latest collection.
Photograph: Elli Ioannou
"The amount of unwanted, disposed-of clothing is almost beyond counting. Left untreated, these discarded garments are a shameful epitome of the social issues we face today. 

"As someone who is responsible for designing clothes, I felt an urgent need to visit Kenya and witness this situation with my own eyes," says Nakazato

The designer's latest collection was presented during Paris Haute Couture week and was inspired by the trip to Kenya. "Rather than allowing myself to be overwhelmed by these issues, this collection represents my determination to continue searching for ways to make our world a better place," he explains.

Nakazato has been collaborating with Japanese company Seiko Epson for the past three years. The designer reveals that the collaboration is a partnership that combines the various technologies of Epson with his creativity to solve problems. Working together with the company, he hopes to change the future of the fashion industry by continuing to experiment with new sustainable technology and implement the successful results. 

"Rather than allowing myself to be overwhelmed, this collection represents my determination to continue searching for ways to make our world a better place."  


Beautiful, rich colours contrasted with
the more earthy pieces inspired by 
the African desert. 
Photograph: Nathan Geary
The production of the Spring/Summer 2023-24 collection began when 150 kilograms of used clothing was brought back to Japan from Africa. As most of the clothes did not have proper labels, it was impossible to tell where they were from or what they were made of, 

"These sorts of clothes are generally very difficult to recycle, but with Seiko Epson's dry fibre technology (DFT) we were able to convert them into new textiles for creating garments," Nakazato says. "It was almost as if we were rescuing clothes that had nowhere else to go." This technology pulverizes old clothes and turns them into new materials. The designer has high hopes for its potential as a form of recycling in the fashion industry.

"DFT is really new, and we were introduced to it only recently, but our response was quick, and we are the first to bring this technology to real clothing, " he explains. "We are also using Epson’s Digital textile printing, which reduces the amount of water and the environmental impact while at the same time, not impairing the expressive power of prints." 

"It was almost as if we were rescuing clothes that had nowhere else to go." 

The enveloping swathes of silk organza
using the new textile printing technology 
by Epson where hand-drawn sketches 
can be scanned on to the fabric.
Photograph Matthew Fisher 

This technology also allowed Nakazato to transmit his impressions of Africa onto fabric. The diaphanous, chiffon-like colorful textiles used in the collection were created using Epson’s digital textile printing. 

The rich hues and earthy tones were printed on silk organza fabric using this technology by scanning sketches inspired by Kenyan landscapes.

Nakazato learned how important water resources are in Kenya, and he embraced the importance of Epson’s technology, which enables printing with less water consumption. 

Photographs were also printed for an installation designed to show Earth’s destruction by humanity at Yuima Nakazato's haute couture show at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. 

The models appeared to walk over the "mountains of garbage" the designer had seen in Kenya. After the show, the set design was repurposed using Epson’s recycling technology.

Nakazato says he is continuing to experiment with his Type-1, Brewed Protein and Biosmocking projects. 

"Many items from this collection’s 29 looks are Type-1 products which are continually improved, and they remain our signature/standard items. Regarding Biosmocking using Brewed protein™, we also gathered stones from the largest desert in East Africa and ground them down to nano-size natural pigments using submicron/nanoparticle technology developed by the Japanese Painting Laboratory at Joshibi University of Art and Design."

Yuima Nakazato learned how important water resources are in places like Kenya and uses new technology which enables printing with less consumption.   


Swathed in Yuima Nakazato's creations, models
wait backstage before the show at the Palais de Tokyo
 in Paris. Photograph: Elli Ioannou
"These pigments were used to make dyes, which were employed to colour the synthetic Brewed Protein™ materials developed by Spiber Inc. that feature in the collection. 

Witnessing the reddish-brown landscape from the desert being dyed into the artificial protein fibres was quite beautiful, as if the hot, dry African air itself was being carried into the fabric."

The voluminous designs in the new collection allow great freedom for the wearer. "Like the Shibori technique, which has been evolving for the past three seasons, holes are made in the fabric and strings are passed through, making the rectangular fabric three-dimensional and wrapping it around the body in a special way," the designer explains.

"This idea was inspired by the fact that kimonos are made from rectangular pieces of cloth, and this season I felt that the pattern of the Kenyan tribesmen wrapping the cloth around their bodies resembled the pattern of kimonos and the idea expanded from there."

"This season I felt the pattern of the Kenyan tribesmen wrapping the cloth around their bodies resembled the pattern of kimonos."

The jewellery specially designed for the
 collection worn with the fabric that 
captures the earthy Kenyan landscape.
Photograph: Elli Ioannou
 
The designer's startling neckpieces provided a dramatic foil to the fluid and flowing designs in the collection, "The ceramic jewellery was inspired by the beadwork worn by Kenyan desert tribesmen," he comments. 

"In the course of my research, I discovered that bead decorations have been handed down from the most ancient times of humankind for 100,000 years and exist all over the world.

"Wearing decoration is the root of fashion, it is an act of wearing culture and is the basis of jewellery design. I wanted to once again propose bead decoration as a cultural act that should not be lost in contemporary fashion and in thinking about future clothing." 

The designer travelled from Nairobi to the hinterland of Northern Kenya and witnessed tribespeople living in the desert, suffering from the harsh conditions created by water shortages, caused by climate change. The people dress in vivid clothes and yet endure a life in an inhospitable environment.  

The designer's startling ceramic neckpieces provide a dramatic foil to the fluid and flowing designs in the collection.

The colours in the new collection were
inspired by the vivid hues of the clothes
Nakazato saw in Kenya.
Photograph: Elli Ioannou

"I was particularly captivated by their clothing: against a backdrop of desert sand, the tribespeople wrap their bodies in many colorful fabrics, utilizing oranges, greens, and purples and wearing beaded necklaces and earrings."  

Nakazato is an idealist and has always seen his work as not only about creating beautiful, useful garments but also about using fashion as a tool for positive change. 

"I want to create clothes that have a deeper meaning, clothes that will inspire people to think about the world and how they can contribute." His dedication to sustainable practices and his respect for tradition are evident in all of his collections,

From the start of his career, Yuima Nakazato has been driven by his own particular vision. Seven years after he graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in 2008, Nakazato had already established his eponymous fashion label by the time he was 30 years old. The following year, in 2016, he had been formally selected as a guest designer for Haute Couture Week, cementing his place as one of the rising stars in the industry. He has since continued to showcase his collections at Paris Fashion Week, where he entrances audiences with his unique fusion of technology and craftsmanship.

"I want to create clothes that have a deeper meaning, clothes that will inspire people to think about the world and how they can contribute."

Yuima Nakazato continues to develop
his Type-1 designs and Biosmocking 
projects that also contribute to 
creating sustainable fashion.
Photograph: Matthew Fisher
 
Nakazato has shown each season that he is more than just a talented designer but a deep thinker who is using his work to address social and environmental issues and push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of fashion. In 2021, he launched the Fashion Frontier Program, an educational initiative designed to empower the next generation of fashion designers.

With the launch of the program, Nakazato is on a mission to discover and nurture future fashion designers who share his vision and courage. The program aims to both educate young fashion designers and encourage them to overcome challenges and create a better society. While the program is currently based in Japan, designers from all over the world can submit their applications.

Through his collections and his work with the Fashion Frontier Program, Yuima Nakazato is redefining what it means to be a fashion designer in the 21st century. He is breaking down barriers and challenging conventional ideas about fashion, harnessing both science and industry, to create a greener, more inclusive, and socially conscious industry.

Highlights of Yuima Nakazato's Spring/Summer 2023/24 Haute Couture Collection in Paris 

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Matthew Fisher



Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Matthew Fisher



Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Nathan Geary


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Matthew Fisher

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Matthew Fisher

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Nathan Geary

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Nathan Geary


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Elli Ioannou


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Elli Ioannou


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Matthew Fisher


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Nathan Geary


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Matthew Fisher


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Matthew Fisher

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Nathan Geary 


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Nathan Geary

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Matthew Fisher

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Matthew Fisher

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Matthew Fisher

Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Nathan Geary





Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Elli Ioannou


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Elli Ioannou



Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Elli Ioannou



Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Nathan Geary


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Elli Ioannou


Yuima Nakazato Inherit Haute Couture Collection Spring/Summer 2023-24 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Photograph: Elli Ioannou


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