The Curated Object

Exibitions Lower Hutt, NZ. Beasts. The New Dowse Museum, New Zealand. The Curated Object: International Decorative Arts Exhibitions

Jessica, Val Sutherland, 2002

Samantha, Val Sutherland

Domestic Buttons, Andrea Gardner, 2000

Beasts
December 2 - April 27, 2008 

Candy–coloured pig girls, buttoned-up bunnies, benevolent frog-men and preppy show dogs take centre stage in this fantastical menagerie entitled ‘Beasts’.

Bringing together ajungle of images from impossible hybrids to gritty black-and-white photographs, this playful exhibition sheds lights on our relationship with animals, as ‘beast mates’, ‘beastly foes’ and showy side-kicks.

Drawn from The New Dowse’s collection, the exhibition contains over thirty-five photographs, sculptures, prints from famed New Zealand artists such as Ans Westra, Barry Cleavin, Glenn Jowitt, and Ann Verdecourt, as well as film footage from Grant La Hood’s quirky short film The Singing Trophy.

For more information please visit: The New Dowse Museum, New Zealand
-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Lower Hutt, NZ. When Philip Met Isabella: Philip Treacy’s Hats for Isabella Blow. The New Dowse Museum, New Zealand. The Curated Object: Decorative Arts Exhibitions

When Philip Met Isabella: Philip Treacy’s Hats for Isabella Blow
October 6, 2007 – February 3, 2008

When Philp Met Isabella showcases 32 stunning avant-garde hats made by the world’s most adventurous milliner, Philip Treacy for his friend and muse, the late style-icon, Isabella Blow.

Since their first meeting on a fashion shoot in 1989 when Treacy was a student at the Royal College of Art in London, Blow became his staunchest supporter and a constant source of inspiration. Many of his most surreal and sculptural hats were made for her. “Issy never said: ‘You’ve gone too far,’” says Treacy. “She always said: ‘You haven’t gone far enough.’”

Developed and toured by the Design Museum London, this exhibition celebrates their collaboration over twenty years. The wonderful array of hats range from The Ship, an astonishingly realistic replica of an 18th century French ship with full rigging made from miniature buttons, to the rose pink damask Pope modelled on the papal hat. Then there is the Birds of a Feather hat, made from gilded eagle quills that Isabella wore perched on her head with an accompanying ball and chain. The enchanting Arrows of Love hat is part hat, part mask, and with its moulded pink form framing Isabella’s face, it truly transformed her from elegant party guest, to a living, breathing work of art.                    

Developed and toured by the Design Museum, London

For more information please visit: The New Dowse Museum, New Zealand

 

-Joanne Molina