The Curated Object

Exhibitions Providence. Cocktail Culture: Ritual and Invention in American Fashion 1920–1980. The Museum of Art, RISD. The Curated Object

Lillian Bassman, The V-Back Evenings, Dress by Pauline Trigère, Model Suzy Parker, Harper's Bazaar, New York, July 1955. Courtesy of the artist.

 

Cocktail Culture: Ritual and Invention in American Fashion 1920–198

Friday, April 15 - Sunday, July 31, 2011

 Organized by the Museum’s Department of Costume and Textiles and curated by Joanne Dolan Ingersoll, Cocktail Culture is the first multi-disciplinary exhibition to explore the social ritual of drinking and entertainment through the lens of fashion and design. The exhibition will feature more than 150 objects—including decorative art such as barware and furniture and graphic arts, photography, and advertising—with examples of cocktail attire by Cristobal Balenciaga, Pierre Balmain, Geoffrey Beene, Pierre Cardin, Hattie Carnegie, Coco Chanel, Ceil Chapman, Oscar de la Renta, Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, James Galanos, Hubert de Givenchy, Halston, Mr. John, Sally Victor, Jeanne Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, Claire McCardell, Norman Norell, Jean Patou, Elsa Schiaparelli, Pauline Trigère, and other designers. 

Sponsors
Cocktail Culture is sponsored by Swarovski.
Additional support is provided by The Coby Foundation.

For more information please visit: The Museum of Art, RSID

Exhibitions Providence. STYROFOAM. Museum of Art, The Rhode Island School of Design. The Curated Object

Heide Fasnacht
Exploding Airplane, 2000
painted Styrofoam, urethane foam
Courtesy of Kent Gallery, NY and Bernard Tolle Gallery, Boston, MA
dimensions variable

STYROFOAM
March 14-July 20, 2008

Styrofoam, extruded or expanded polystyrene, is a material known for its resistance to moisture and its buoyancy. Its uses range widely from building insulation and model-building to product packaging and coffee cups. In recent years, artists have used Styrofoam in a variety of new and ingenious ways. Taking advantage of the material’s lightness, cheapness, and facility for shaping, they carve into it, mold it, and assemble it into entirely new forms and images. The artists’ adaptation or transformation of Styrofoam often contrasts with its original intended function, and environmental concerns about use and reuse may be implicit in some of the artworks.

This exhibition features work by artists who have experimented with Styrofoam, expanding definitions of what painting and sculpture can be in the process. Artists in the exhibition include: Heide Fasnacht, Tony Feher, Tom Friedman, Folkert de Jong, Steve Keister, Sol LeWitt, Bruce Pearson, Shirley Tse, Richard Tuttle, B. Wurtz.

For more information please visit: The Museum of Art, The Rhode Island School of Design
-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Providence. EVOLUTION REVOLUTION: The Arts and Crafts in Contemporary Fashion and Textiles. The Rhode Island School of Design Museum. The Curated Object

Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen. Molo Designs, Canada.
Soft Wall, freestanding wall
Tyvek and industrial felt
7 1/2 x 18'
Museum purchase, RISD

EVOLUTION REVOLUTION: The Arts and Crafts in Contemporary Fashion and Textiles
February 22-June 15, 2008

Designers from the United States, Britain, Europe and Japan have led the way for a new arts and crafts spirit in fashion and clothing. This exhibition explores ways in which fashion and textiles are a reflection of changing attitudes about design and consumption. Similar in philosophy with the late nineteenth-century British Arts and Crafts movement, contemporary designers are seeking ways to unify technology with the creative process.

Faced with near unlimited possibilities, there is a particular emphasis on the craft of “making” that employs both high and low technologies enabling designers to assert more control over how things are made.

For more information please visit: RSID
-Joanne Molina