Friday, March 9, 2007

Last Chance for Fashion

In Fashion the Art of Style artspace 2007Sequined Dress artspace 2007Feather Boa and Purse artspace 2007 taken by KateeCape artspace 2007 taken by KateeDetail from a Purse artspace 2007

"In Fashion: The Art of Style" now showing.

Feather Hat artspace 2007Shoes artspace 2007Detail of a Dress artspace 2007Detail of a Wedding Dress artspace 2007Maggie Martin artspace 2007

It closes March 10 at artspace on Texas Street.

Patric McWilliams artspace 2007Patric McWilliams

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a friggin' thrift store. Can't wait for this "show" to close.

Unknown said...

anonymous -- thank you for stopping by even though I hoped you wouldn't.

Why? Because I'd wanted to just post pictures on the "In Fashion" show so I wouldn't have to offer a comment but you, you sneaky tricksy, have forced my hand.

Here goes:

"In Fashion, the Art of Style" was ambitious but fell short from what I wanted from the show. Where was the local artist input? Stories gathered and old photos manipulated are just two ideas I'll toss out. Tales of shopping for fashions or working in clothing stores in downtown Shreveport would have been a great addition.

The front of the gallery with those blown up fashion magazine shots and snarky comments were okay but including an exhibit of mixed media feminist art by by Shreveport artist Deborah Buchanan Engle would have been smart and sassy (see her bio at westedgeartists.com).

Was there difficulty with local participation because of the jury process? After all, who wants to have their clothes American Idoled? I think there were enough 80s pieces hanging to indicate a lack of participation (the show was to originally focus on fashions from the 1940s to the 1970s but enough sparkle filled the room that as I sipped my Perrier I flashed back to the 80s and I could almost hear the strains of A Train wafting up from Humpfrees in Shreve Square).

A week before the jury process for the show I was at artspace and a local grande dame showed up with several boxes of shoes. She was told (nicely) she'd have to bring her items back to be judged. She looked confused and mumbled something about having to pay for parking downtown as she backed out the door.

What part of the show did I like best? Patric McWilliams work, the feather hats flying, the vodka bottle in one of the room scenes, Maggie's coat, and the blue wedding dress and hat and photo that accompanied it.