Ballet Russes Sketches

The Ballet Russes: The Art of Costume exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia was absolutely breathtaking. All the work was so inspiring, it's such a shame that costume design really isn't like that any more. The gallery focused on the designers work more than anything - exhibiting all the costume sketches and paying particular attention to the "artist" designers such as Picasso, Matisse and Giorgio de Chirico. Leon Bakst was the prize designer of the Ballet Russes with most of the exhibit dedicated to his work. But no wonder! His sketches were so detailed and the costumes were immaculate.

I want to share what I saw with you, but of course because it was an exhibit I wasn't allowed to take photographs. So I sketched instead. Below is a few of the pages in my notebook describing what I saw and absorbed.

Leigh Bowery

When I first arrived in Toronto, I was incredibly jetlagged. So while I stayed at my friend Geoff's house, he went out to go party and I stayed at home and watched Fashion Television. On the program "From the Vault" was archived footage of an interview with Leigh Bowery. Being an 80s baby, I had never heard of the guy. But, as it turns out, he's one of the most influential fashion icons every. Alexander McQueen even used him as the sole inspiration for his FW09 show.

Leigh Bowery (1961-1994) was an Australian performance artist, costume designer, club promoter, actor, pop star, and London scene socialite. His signature style is otherworldly, avant garde, even garish, with a hint of grotesque. He was living art.

I was so amazed by his interview and by his looks that I just HAD to research him to get inspiration for costume designs. They are so creative and elaborate.

Here's a snippit of his wardrobe and outrageous costumes. Click on the photo to go to the original site.

A Spider's Logic

During my trip to Toronto, I visited the Textile Museum and saw the most mind blowing exhibit ever. A beautiful Chinese Canadian artist called Kai Chan makes these extraordinary art pieces out of string and sticks. His signature is the red thread, and he explores the 3-dementiality of the thread, creating gorgeous sculptures. Here are a few of his pieces from A Spider's Logic.

Mirage

See what you see

Silk

Monroe

Aurora

From A to Z

Check out his website:

http://www.kaichan.ca/