Yishu HANG
Title: Heavenly Bodies
Locations: The Met Fifth Avenue & The Met Cloisters
Dates: May 10 – October 8, 2018
Hi everyone! Greeting from Nanjing! Some of us just had a dynamic ASAP~ I will eventually have some time to record the exhibitions I saw this summer in the US and China. I will write several brief comments on them. To save time (for I still can remember some details now), some of the reports will be written in English. If you have any response to these, please feel free to write in Japanese.
The first report is about the ongoing show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art titled Heavenly Bodies. This show consists of two locations: the Met Fifth Avenue and the Met Cloisters. The exhibition “features a dialogue between fashion and medieval art from the Met collection to examine fashion's ongoing engagement with the devotional practices and traditions of Catholicism (from the official website).” Not only contemporary fashion designs are shown in this exhibition, papal robes and accessories from the Sistine sacristy are on view too.
The appearance of this exhibition is well-designed. In the Fifth Avenue part, fashions from the early twentieth century to the present are shown in the Byzantine and medieval galleries. The costumes from Dolce & Gabbana 2013-14 autumn/winter collection are set highly up in the center line of the Byzantine gallery. Visitors must raise their heads highly up to look at the costumes as if they are looking up to something holy. In the medieval art gallery hall, highlighted costumes inspired by popes or martyrs are set in the center line through the famous chamber gate. Those monochrome costumes inspired by church clergy are set on both sides parallel to the center line. Papal robes and accessories are shown in underground gallery. No wonder, gorgeous, glamourous, elegant.
In the Cloisters part, costumes echoed even more with the authentic medieval pieces and the environment. It was my first time to visit the Met Cloisters. Someone said to me that the Met Cloisters is a coarse imitation of real medieval cloisters. Windows, gates, columns of different ages from Italy, France, and Britain are put together in this strange mix of architecture. But for me, it’s not that bad. Museums are known as specimen rooms, this is not an exception. It’s just another exotic Wunderkammer. A mannequin wearing a wedding dress from Cristobal Balenciaga is standing in front of a crucifix hanging in a dome. A dress from Dior by John Galliano is lying level with medieval coffins in a line.
Fashion is always about concept. Designers borrow themes from every aspect of culture. However, religions treat fashion as tool of visual expression. The extreme beauty hidden behind the superficial austerity associated with consummate joy can always attract believers. They are good partners. The handsome secretary of Pope Benedict XVI, Georg Gänswein, even inspired the Versace spring 2007 collection by Donatella Versace.
To conclude, it’s an exquisite show. It just put all these beautiful things related to Catholicism together, but I still feel satisfied with it. It’s beautiful enough to enjoy.
Since I'm still in China this week, cannot upload all the photos in high quality due to the VPN speed, but I have bought the catalogue for this exhibition, so I will bring it to school.
p.s. I recommend the HBO TV show The Young Pope to you. Glamourous.
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