Gudrun Sjoden Exhibition finally opens at Nordic Heritage

Finally!

This show was due to open in April, got caught in the Coronavirus shut down, and just opened last weekend. 

https://www.gudrunsjoden.com/en-us/inspiration/spring-summer-2020/gudrun-sjoden-a-colourful-universe?

You've already seen the tunic from the online gift shop sale.

 I bought my timed ticket for Sept 6.

Of course, we are testing out how to maneuver in a museum now, so part of my interest was seeing how they would manage the space.

 Sorry, I did not take photos of the floor markers. Here's one from the Seattle Symphony offices.

The show is fine. The pieces aren't really separated by when they were designed, so there's no 'this is my design journey' here. More of a 'these are my influences' tour.

Which is a fine choice.

She does show her process with examples of inspirational items

these items were not identified either

The kantha embroidery on the upper textile and the textile without below, used in the same ensemble

Some embroidery examples from many places. Unidentified individually.

catalog cover collage

Close up on the 1980 cover, as that dress was a big revival piece that year. We were just coming off the whole Folkwear/Gunne Sax/ peasant dress style movement here in the US at that time. I can still see making a jumper/pinafore of this in striped ticking with rivets. Industrial adorable.

All of this is online at the exhibition website

Four outfits from different decades, with embroidery hoops for signs.

I'm not going into a lot of detail on this show. The show didn't, so I don't know how to.

 The clothes were not captioned or labeled, so if they were from different collections, I have no idea (and I'm kind of a fan from the beginning: I went to the Berkeley shop soon after they opened, and I live in Seattle so it's not like I drove around the corner for it).

(for more on the GS brand and fans in the USA

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-02-ls-34083-story.html)

It wasn't a museum exhibit giving you a third person view of the creator; it came as is from Sjoden's company.

 I didn't get the catalog of the show;

I felt a little let down by that point.

I do like the presentation. The paintbrush heads are cool

Lots of watercolors. They might be originals. 

There's no knowing that.

It felt like a pop up shop, with funky displays of clothes that look a lot like what is available for sale now (Sjoden's work is 'timeless', or very similar from season to season).

The gift shop is already out of the larger sizes (putting stuff on discount ahead of time ate into their stock).

I like her stuff. I get their emails. You get the emails if you have read this far. I like Tina Givens.

It's your lagenlook

with the same too-small sleeves and oversized body and cheerfully mismatched prints in coordinated color palettes.

I enjoyed seeing the clothes, but if you live near a shop, you're seeing the same things. I wanted to know more about her and the company, and I didn't get what I wanted. I often complain about reviews that just feature what the critic thought the program should have been, and I don't want to do that here, but it's apparently where I have landed.

It was a very pretty show.

I like this museum, I appreciate how it grew out of a community center and its struggle to be an international center of a part of the world's heritage.  It has that strivers' self congratulatory tone it's always had. At this point in time in America, I honestly feel a little weird listening to the recordings of Nordic people celebrating how wonderful they are, when all the people speaking are middle class white people.

Which is not the entire Nordic experience,

but it's the experience of the people who donated money here. Hard work, and Socialism Lite.

There's a tip of the hat to the Salmi, but they aren't in the videos.

I'm not knocking this place.

 This museum has done some nice work; 

recent example was a touring exhibition of the work of Jacob Riis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Other_Half_Lives

No photos allowed, so don't tell anyone. 

In the other end of the same exhibit room, they had large scale photographs of 21st century immigrants to Denmark. Also no photos allowed, but you can see some of them here:

https://www.nordicmuseum.org/exhibition/legacy

photo from "Legacy" exhibit Danish photography

It was really well considered, and I give them major props for combining the past poverty in New York with present poverty in Denmark in one room. It's the sort of thing a good curator can put together in a public space, given the latitude and opportunity.

So the Sjoden pays the bills. That's cool.

A (Mc)Queen Adorned - MoPop

Brief detour from bias stuff: this show ends Sept 2nd.

Yes, i could have seen it sooner.

"A Queen Within"

https://www.mopop.org/exhibitions-plus-events/exhibitions/a-queen-within-adorned-archetypes/

from the website: "Explore how contemporary fashion designers engage with feminine archetypes through more than 100 pieces of fashion, contemporary photography, and video.

Using the six personality types of a queen — Sage, Enchantress, Explorer, Mother Earth, Heroine, and Thespian — designers like Alexander McQueen, Selam Fessahaye , Ashish, Chromat, Gypsy Sport, Gucci, Prada, Chanel, and Iris van Herpen use their work to create a space for contemplating the relationship between dress, society, and our shared history.

A Queen Within highlights a broad range of designers—from the internationally famous to the currently emerging—resulting in a deep inquiry into the diverse nature of the feminine. Gowns, wigs, shoes, and photographs are presented in immersive environments rich in symbolism, inviting visitors to peer into the private worlds of deeply powerful figures. "

It's produced by Barrett Barrera Projects

https://www.barrettbarrera.com/services/

"We organize exhibitions for travel that assert non-traditional media as historically and artistically vital. We also produce an array of artist-centered cultural programs in collaboration with public and private organizations.

We offer art consulting to individuals as well as public and private organizations. Additionally, we represent our clients at auctions and private negotiations, when requested.

We provide collections management services to individuals and institutions requiring ongoing support beyond traditional consulting services. Currently, we manage one of the world's largest private collections of Alexander McQueen's work."

Is it worth $30 (adult in person ticket, $28 if you buy online)?

Well, the whole museum is.

https://www.mopop.org//exhibitions-plus-events/exhibitions/

The Fantasy section has Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, LOTR, Princess Bride and Highlander costumes. So it is a long afternoon of stuff if you've not been before.

This exhibit is up some stairs (there's an elevator, but you miss the display at the turn of the stairs).

wall for posing for selfies cause #selfies

It's worth the $30 if you want to see some McQueens.
Right in the very front.

(Warning - these photos are dark. Lighting for conservation purposes mostly. Also for drama. Probably 80% drama, honestly)

you can see more of the blue velvet jacket behind this (the gold embroidery on blue over a white tulle dress)

It's almost impossible to see the sequined image of Ms Blow, but it's there.

And right opposite: the David Lachapelle, blown waaaay up

photo of Lachapelle photo. Original at National Portrait Gallery, UK

I still love this photo from Vanity Fair, of McQueen and Blow, at her castle. Two crazy kids making history.

But wait, there's more (photos follow captions)

The jacket is barely visible, and I've really hoinked up the contrast here. Midnight blue velvet will do that.

Hand picked zip, of course

sorry it's blurry

Ookay, there are other things in this show. 

There's some themes.

Look, a table of touchy stuff. To get your touchy itch scratched.

And an info sheet.  I'll be honest, i really do like knowing what the argument for the show was. Leaving this page on display took an extra big set of balls (the mission of MoPop has been a bit of a mystery for grants writers and development (IE fundraiser)) to admit that it needed to be argued for.  

MoPop did really well with the Wearable Art Clothing Show two years ago*, and hey! Something for the girlfriends!

Author's message

And there were a lot of women with guys trailing after them.

MoPop is a weird museum. It started out as Paul Allen's place to put his hoped for Jimi Hendrix Experience Museum, but that fell through. It still hosts the Pop Conference for music writers, and has lots of local music related displays. And Paul Allen's collections. It's still looking for a purpose, but in the meantime it's a kick in the pants.

I mean, you have Star Trek uniforms, Wizard of Oz costumes, lots of swords and a six fingered glove, an Imperial Dalek, one of the Jason Voorhees masks (they took out the living typewriter from Naked Lunch but they left in all the Alien and Dune props).

And a ton of rock and roll memorabilia.

Yeah, we'll pull this apart another time.

I'm here for the clothes.

The exhibit was broken up into themes.

I really didn't pay any attention to these.

Ooops.

obligatory videos - this is denim refashioned fashions

Body distortion stuff

This is the best optical illusion I've ever seen. They are real sweaters. This is exactly what it looks like.

A start at adaptive clothing from Hilfiger

and one Iris Van Herpen piece

This Van Herpen has the central place of honor. This photo doesn't entirely do it justice, but have I mentioned that the first thing you see is a set of McQueen?

Was there anything else?

I forget. 

More stuff on the walls

Different materials for clothes were featured

 Mushrooms and roots

 Wait, there's a Comme des Garcons 

aaaaaaand

more McQueen.

And here is my favorite piece of the show.

This....mobius strip of a vest by McQueen is fully half of the photos and drawings I did.

You will see this again. 

Black velvet is hard to photograph, and the back was very hard to make out.

I am leaving out a fair amount, but I like what I like. One display I liked was a white plastic walled display with peek a boo windows, crammed full of things..

Look for the shoes with teeth.

More Lee! And Sarah Burton!

Many things

Even more many things

The back of the big feather breast rig is a lovely set of straps and hardware.

Shoe with teeth. To go with your shoehorn with teeth.

And then there's your political clothes over there.....

Westwood

Bea Szenfeld

Burton for McQueen, stuck in a dark corner

I'm hiding. Shhhhhh

HEY! an A-POC/Miyake.

I saw another of these examples of the knit as one dress on a roll, decades ago, at Bellevue Art Museum. This really should have been a bigger presence, but it does look a little stretched and exhausted.

I would have loved to see the back of this.

I'm exhausted just editing this. There was a lot, and it was crammed into a fairly small space. I'm wagering the 'it's not music' argument worked against it.

Just outside the show, there's a kid's participation table set up.

Because grants money has requirements.

That girl on the stool was working it, but her bro was the one checking on what the fabrics did when you draped them on an angle. YO KLEIBACKER JR

And one last item.

Looong sleeved shirt

*I never reviewed the Wearable Art show (the NZ competition greatest hits tour) in 2016, because I started disliking it about the moment I left this building. And then I went to see it again and that was the nail in the blog post for sure.

https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/visual-arts/anything-goes-in-world-of-wearableart-exhibit-at-emp/
(this may not open for you. Sorry)

You get a better sense of how far the sleeves have been extended into the rafters.