"One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art," Oscar Wilde once famously said -- a sentiment I bumped head-long into one windy afternoon in late March at the Peabody Essex Museum.
From the beginning, visitors to Georgia O'Keeffe: Art, Image, Style are invited to explore the common nexus among the 50 works of art, 50 articles of clothing, and over 100 photographs on display (Who knew O’Keeffe was the most photographed artist of the 20th century?!)
Right off the bat, this idea of connection between visual art and fashion smacks you upside the head and sets the tone for what is to follow. The opening display highlight’s O’Keeffe’s attraction to “V-shaped” themes by juxtaposing her painting, “In the Patio XI” (oil on canvas, 1950), -- an abstract of blue sky above two abutting white homes with triangular black roofs
and a white dress with two fierce, black triangle patterns hugging either side; the work of Italian designer Emilio Pucci that made its way into O’Keeffe’s closet around 1954.
A bit further we see a picture of the artist decked out in her signature layers of androgynous-styled V-neck clothing. And so it goes throughout the exhibit…three handmade ivory blouses possessing the drape and color of a classic O’Keeffe floral painting hanging nearby them…A red and purple madras dress placed next to her “Stump in Red Hills” (oil on canvas, 1940) -- in which twists of the featured stump resembles the folds of fabric and the boldness of the red in the hills beyond harkens back to the Indian-inspired, robe-like wrap.
To be sure, fashion as art is nothing new. Yves St. Laurent’s couture reflected the cubist art movement of the 1960s and certainly took the idea of color blocking to a whole new level!
Or pair up surrealist Salvador Dalí’s 1936 creation “Lobster Telephone” with Italian designer, Elsa Schiaparelli’s “Lobster Dress” on which her friend, Dalí, collaborated with her in 1937.
But O’Keeffe, as I learned, was different; fashion and art were a way of life. Throughout a career that spanned seven decades, flourishing both in the bright bustle of NYC and in the hush of her desert home 60 miles north of Santa Fe, O’Keeffe embraced a kind of “unified aesthetic.” The art she created connected to the fashion she wore -- and often expertly sewed -- herself, and vice versa. Heavy on natural materials -- silks, cottons and wools -- O’Keeffe’s fashion sense was like her paintings -- somehow loose and billowy, yet stark and severe at the same time.
Considered “mannish” in the 1930s and 40s, O’Keeffe’s “look” became trendy -- and ultimately iconoclastic -- as time progressed. She embraced her individuality and was definitely ahead of her time.
As I meandered my way out of the exhibit, I couldn’t help reflecting on what Georgia O’Keeffe: Fashion Icon would think about Nick D’Alessandro were she alive today. A budding fabric artist, Nick is a recent recipient of The Pentucket Arts Foundation’s John McGrath and Margaret Duchemin Passion for the Arts Grant. The grant is helping to fund a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Pentucket 11th grader to participate in a Parson School of Design summer intensive held in Paris. Nick plans to develop his unique, hand painted line of clothing, “Up to Us”; and when he returns, he promises a pop up fashion show for the community this fall.
With “Up To Us,” Nick aims to challenge society’s typical definition of beauty and push for broader diversity -- starting with the fashion industry. Like O’Keeffe, he has a unified aesthetic -- the way he is designing his clothing line overlaps with the principles that guide other areas of his life.
In both cases, the artist underscores the sacredness of the individual -- a timely reminder in a society where too often the loudest voices rule and the bullies demand we all walk in lock step.
“To create one’s world in any of the arts takes courage.” --Georgia O’Keeffe
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