Aware: Art Fashion Identity
Royal Academy of Arts/GSK Contemporary, 2 December 2010 – 30 January 2011
Widow is amongst the works included in Aware: Art Fashion Identity.
This exhibition will reflect upon the relationship between our physical covering and constructed personal environments, our individual and social identities and the contexts in which we live.
The exhibition will contain work by 30 emerging as well as established international contemporary practitioners including Marina Abramović, Acconci Studio, Azra Akšamija, Maja Bajevic, Handan Börüteçene, Hussein Chalayan, Alicia Framis, Meschac Gaba, Marie-Ange Guilleminot, Andreas Gursky, Mella Jaarsma, Kimsooja, Claudia Losi, Susie MacMurray, Marcello Maloberti, La Maison Martin Margiela, Alexander McQueen, Yoko Ono, Maria Papadimitriou, Grayson Perry, Dai Rees, Katerina šedá, Cindy Sherman, Yinka Shonibare, Helen Storey, Rosemarie Trockel, Sharif Waked, Gillian Wearing RA, Yohji Yamamoto and Andrea Zittel.
As a mechanism of expression, the exploration of the role of clothing has been at the heart of the artistic practice of a number of contemporary artists, and has particular resonance for those attuned to the social situations of their times. While frequently fulfilling a practical and occasionally protective function, clothing can be effective in celebrating or suppressing identity and in indicating allegiances. It has the ability to express our way of life and even our unconscious, communicating our positions, aspirations and desires.
The foundations of the exhibition are set through a select number of works from key artists of the late 1960s, when art and fashion first established meeting points as well as a new connection with society. These artists continue to be a point of reference for a new generation of contemporary artists and designers whose engagement in questioning cultural, geographical, political and social identity through their work forms the body of this exhibition.