McQueen's last works at the Savage Beauty exhibition
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty was an
runway shows. The exhibit was extremely popular in New York City and resulted in what was then record attendance for the museum.[1] The curators were Andrew Bolton and Harold Koda.[2]
The show opened on May 4, a little more than one year after McQueen's death, and closed on August 7. Savage Beauty was shown again at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London from March 14, 2015 to August 2, 2015, but with additional items of exhibits.
Contents
Savage Beauty exhibition at the V&A, clothes from the Fall/Winter 2008 collection
The exhibit was organized by the museum's
Victorian Gothic themes; "Romantic Nationalism", which examined Scottish and British identity; "Romantic Exoticism", which examined non-western influences in his designs; "Romantic Primitivism", which featured natural materials and organic designs; and "Romantic Naturalism", which featured his attempts to integrate themes of the natural world with technology.[3]
Dress from The Horn of Plenty, Fall/Winter 2009–10 collection
The exhibit included pieces from his first major collection,
hologram of Kate Moss), and Horn of Plenty.[4] Also included in the exhibition were works by McQueen's collaborators such as the milliner Philip Treacy and jeweler Shaun Leane who produced designs used in his runway shows.[6]
Reception
Queues outside the exhibition, August 3, 2011
The exhibit was widely praised by critics in the international press.
The International Herald Tribune also had some issues with the presentation, "Mr. Bolton might have discussed the designer's place in the British art scene, alongside the Chapman brothers, or compared his fascination with nature's decadence with that of Damien Hirst. Instead, we get Sarah Jessica Parker's breathless and witless take on the McQueen style." Overall, though, she said the exhibit "is exciting, stimulating and thought-provoking – and a raw vision of the wild McQueen imagination."[8]Judith Thurman of The New Yorker advised that "even if you never bother with fashion shows, go to this one. Andrew Bolton ... has assembled a hundred ensembles and seventy accessories ... and he gives their history and psychology an astute reading."[9]
Various jackets
The show was also extremely popular with the public, leading the museum to take extraordinary measures to meet demand. Originally scheduled to run only until July 31 that year, it was extended through August 7. Patrons waited in lines of up to two hours to see the exhibit.[10] To accommodate the large crowds, the Met offered a special $50 ticket to view the exhibit on Mondays, when the museum was usually closed.[11][12] Over 17,000 of these tickets were sold.[13] The Met also allowed its members to skip the line; museum membership increased 15%, with 20,000 new memberships sold during the show.[13] During the final weekend of the exhibition, lines stretched to over four hours,[14] and the museum stayed open until midnight for the first time in its history.[10] By the time the exhibit closed, over 650,000 people had seen it,[15] making it one of the most popular exhibits in the museum's history, and its most popular fashion exhibit ever.[16]
Subsequent showings
V&A
Savage Beauty exhibition
From March 14, 2015 to August 2, 2015, the exhibition was housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where it was similarly well-received.[17][18][19] The core of the exhibition remained the same as the one in the Metropolitan Museum, but 66 additional items of clothing and accessories were added, including rarely seen early works by McQueen. A new section was added focusing on pieces from his early career. The exhibition was the largest collection of works by McQueen and his collaborators ever assembled.[20] Ticket sales exceeding 480,000 prompted museum management to implement overnight hours during the show's final two weekends in order to meet demand.[21] This was the first time the museum had ever extended its hours this way to accommodate interest in an exhibition.[22]
Gallery
McQueen's fascination with the elemental—earth, wind, fire and water—imbued his collections with primordial drama. Nature and its materials were a constant in McQueen's work.[23] Each piece was made from unique materials, which suits each item. McQueen did not use any leather; he used recycled and natural materials to substitute the collection as up-cycled. For example, some materials he usually used in his work included hair, wood, taxidermy, horns, and coral. In addition, he also referenced reptile skin and blood onto his work. Cotton used in McQueen's pieces to represent a natural product because of the way it is designed.[clarification needed]
Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims, MA graduation collection
Black suit Spring/Summer 1997
The Birds, Spring/Summer 1995
Highland Rape, Autumn/Winter 1995–96
Givenchy Autumn/Winter 1997–98
No. 13, Spring/Summer 1999
Eshu, Autumn/Winter 2000–01
Parachute Cape, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Autumn/Winter 2002–03
The Horn of Plenty, Autumn/Winter 2009–10
One of McQueen's last works
