Opening November 3rd, 2O13
at the Gatov Gallery at California
State University, Long Beach ♥
NOV. 3-7
RECEPTION: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3 5-7PM
GALLERY HOURS:MONDAY, TUESDAY, THURSDAY 12-5PM
WEDNESDAY 12-7PM
MAX L. GATOV
CAL STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH
1250 BELLFLOWER BLVD.
LONG BEACH, CA. 90840
METERED PARKING LOT 8A-$2/HOUR
GENERAL PARKING: LOT 7 AND LOT 8 $5
CRIT W/KRISTINA NEWHOUSE:
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7TH
AT 3PM IN THE GALLERY
♥ Note from the curator: at Cal State University Long Beach Art/Fashion/Anti – Fashion
The exhibit, which will be held in the Gatov Galleries at California State University, Long Beach from Nov. 3 through Nov. 7, is curated by an art history seminar taught by Dr. Karen Kleinfelder.
Long considered a trivial (female) pursuit or a form of regulating gender and consumption that needs to be resisted, fashion has been pushed to the margins of the academy, critiqued by feminists, and seen in opposition to the fine arts. But recently the Metropolitan Museum of Art did exhibitions on fashion designers Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood; David Bowie was the star of a show at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, while “Glam: The Performance of Style” was shown at the Tate. Increasingly fashion runway shows are staged as performance art. We believe there is much to be learned by examining the interface between art / fashion / anti-fashion.
Because of fashion’s rapid change and mutability, it could be argued that fashion is a privileged site for doing cultural studies. Fashion not only reflects current trends; it also produces cultural meanings and shapes subjectivities. We are interested in how art uses fashion, how fashion uses art, and how anti-fashion operates subversively within both realms.
Because fashion is so close to the body, it raises questions of beauty, ideals, desire and anxiety. The body connection quickly leads to issues of gender and how fashion codes both regulate and scramble gender inscriptions and sexed identities. Drag, femininity as masquerade, the catwalk runway, fashion as image and spectacle all become relevant here. How much of fashion is socially regimented? How much is personal expression? Mechanisms of production and commodity—from shopping to sweatshops—must also be called into question. Globalization and digital technologies mean expanded audiences and more possibilities for cultural exchange in a postmodern world; we can, thus, discuss a politics of fashion extending from the street level to a global fashionscape.
