Gallery Visit | Alexander McQueen

Recently, I visited Alexander McQueen’s exhibition ‘Savage Beauty’ at the Victoria and Albert museum. McQueen is known for creating explorative, Avant-Garde fashion, which pushes the boundaries of the classic silhouette. The curation of his work was like a journey, with each collection/ room having a dramatic theme, and therefor creating a new experience for the viewer. The atmosphere mirrored his runway shows to almost make it feel like it was a theatrical production.

Voss Spring/ Summer 2001 collection

There was such a mass of work to look at, with one of my favourites being this dress, which is heavily encrusted in razor clam shells. The dress itself is very contradicting as it was meant as a wedding dress but is covered in sharp objects, creating a barrier. I really like the simple use of one material and the repetition of the shapes. The exploration of mixed media materials is influential towards my preferred textiles pathway, as McQueen does not just stay within the traditional connotations of fashion and textiles.

‘It was about trying to trap something that wasn’t conventionally beautiful to show that beauty comes from within.’
- Alexander McQueen

Romantic Primitivism Collection

The ‘Romantic Primitivism’ room/ collection had a strong concept, exploring the relationship between predator and prey within tribalism. The walls were covered in bones, highlighting the fashion pieces. Again, McQueen approached this collection by the heavy use of mixed media, using materials such as hair, latex, beads, mud and crocodile heads. The horns on the mannequins introduced a fetish quality.

Plato Atlantis/ 2010 Collection

Plato Atlantis/ 2010 Collection

McQueen’s most recent collection before his death was ‘Plato Atlantis’, which has a strong theme of nature, inspired by Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859). He explored the devolution of the humankind, creating digital engineered prints, and exhibiting them aside a visual piece. Nature in a way is put side by side with technology. I like that the digital printing makes it look very futuristic and modern. The simple use of reflection make it unified and create a kaleidoscopic view. I’d like to explore digital printing more within my practice and i think it would be relatively easily to achieve. I’m also really intrigued but the colours and finishes inspired by fish and reptiles.

It’s amazing to see how much work McQueen created through his career with such a high quality. The presentations of fashion, performance and installation expressed his creativity and his aesthetic point of view. I love that he pushed the confinements of fashion, turning his pieces into beautiful pieces of artwork.