For this end of the year 2022, the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia, will host an exhibition dedicated to the late designer, Alexander McQueen.
“Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse” will open at the National Gallery of Victoria this December and feature more than 100 of the iconic designer’s designs. Sixty garments and accessories will travel from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) to Melbourne and another 50 designs will come from the NGV’s archives.
Katie Somerville, senior curator of fashion and textiles at the NGV, described the museum’s existing McQueen collection as “a real strength.” The NGV’s exhibition even promises to be almost twice the size of the one on view in Los Angeles.
Indeed, the NGV began acquiring McQueen designs in 1995, just three years after the creation of his eponymous label in London, also including pieces from the designer’s time at Givenchy, between 1996 and 2001.
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Alexander McQueen was known for his surprising fashion shows and for his creations incorporating natural history, mythology, sex, death and violence. The upcoming exhibition will juxtapose his designs with more than 70 historical works of art from the artistic movements that inspired him. “We can’t know every time if [McQueen] was inspired by the exact works” in the exhibition, admits Clarissa Esguerra, LACMA’s associate curator of costume and textiles, but the curators hope to create “more conversation” around his influences.
The exhibition will be divided into four themes: mythos, fashion narratives, evolution and existence, and technical innovation. “Alexander McQueen was fascinated by the power of storytelling,” commented Michaela Hansen, curatorial assistant in costume and textiles at Lacma. He tackled controversial themes and ideas in his fashion shows, some of which will be on display in the retrospective.
Read also > ALEXANDER MCQUEEN AND VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE UNVEIL THEIR LASTING COLLABORATION
Featured photo : © Alexander McQueen
