Savage Beauty - Alexander McQueen at The V&A …The brightest stars burn fastest
The last day of the exhibition 02/08/2015: 7pm
The Alexander McQueen exhibition.... Such a phenomenol showcase of a life's work, albeit short-lived.
The brightest stars burn fastest.
An intensely and significantly spectacular contribution to fashion history.
We salute you Lee McQueen
Standing face to face with the designer marks the beginning of this fascinating journey into McQueen’s world…
A larger than life image of a changing face that is Alexander McQueen, an image originally produced for the invitation to Natural Dis-Tinction, Un-Natural Selection, Spring/Summer 2009; which shows Lee’s face changing slowly into that of a human skull.
A poignant and stark reminder of his short-lived career, one which will leave an un-tamed legacy of his all encompassing passion for fashion, tailoring, art, nature and our relationship with it, in all its savagery and beauty.
Opulent….ethereal…extensive….beautifully overwhelming.
His Scottish Heritage shines through in a brilliant display and homage in tartan….a roomful of grandeur.
A tortured mind brought to life in all manner of glorification.
No limits.
I stood in wonderment at every turn…the theatrical vigour of all of his collections was abounding, without, to me, any of it being grotesque or peverse because everything was beautiful in its own way.
He made it all beautiful somehow.
Bejeweled, feathered, gilded; brocade and mirrors, shadowy corners, angled visions. A master puppeteer of the shadows of the mind; projecting patterns through laser cut leather, swirling round and round into his Cabinet of Curiosities, like stepping inside Alexander’s mind. Intense, direct, mind blowing; all the senses, spiked, hairs standing on end. Ringing in my ears were music boxes, as Russian dolls and music box ballerinas sprang to mind. Then, the sound of the breath: what it feels like to wear a creation of his: metal on skin, paint, blood, tears, pain and strength from within. The beauty deep inside, bursts out unapologetic, tribal and savagely exquisite, in the way we all know nature to be, our very own nature, and the discovery of beauty in life, death and tragedy. A full sensory experience.
Fear inducing, Alexander McQueen exposes the beauty in that discomfort and discontent through his extensive body of works, in all manner of dress, and through structured architectural accessories and creations.
A celebration and showcase, embracing death and beauty together, the sinking, falling; opulence in life, juxtaposed with ones own individual and unique reality, and at once united in a creative clash of divine torture.
The collaborations he made with craftspeople to realise his ideas were astounding. How someone could utilise others to project their own concepts and ideas, in such a huge way, in the making of his creations is awe-inspiring.
I admired Shaun Leane’s powerful metalwork. Headdresses and facial metal structures, armoured breastplates and masks, pushed the jewellers own boundaries through pattern cutting metal for the first time. Bringing forth a powerful collaboration, which appeared effortless and synonamous with McQueen’s collections. The work was seamless with Lee’s vision as if it came from one person.
A very clever collaboration.
The brightest stars burn fastest
Kate Moss in an ethereal cinematic 3D hologram evoked a metaphor of Alexander McQueen himself, like a star, shining so bright, turning beautifully and slowly into a mesmerising vision in McQueen’s white tulle ruffle dress; moving through time and space, a supernova ending its existence, back from whence it came.
And, in the case of Lee, burning into an explosion and then, oblivion.
Set within a pyramid, it first appeared in McQueen’s 2006 ‘Widows of Culloden’ show in Paris, as a dramatic and emotional finale.
Knowing and seeing this concentrated body of work as a life’s work makes you realise the quality and consistency during his short-lived career. It seems no wonder that it was cut short in some ways. Such an intense expression of creativity.
The sheer consistency and concentration of brilliance is breathtaking. The same might have been achieved by one over a much longer period and still be an astonishing feat.
A mind-blowing and overwhelmingly beautiful and poignant exhibition
Life / Death
Happiness / Sadness
Good / Evil
Pleasure = Pain
Love = Hate
were all opposites drawn for comparison as I made my way through the exhibition.
How we all suffer ourselves in beautifying, denying; we can all relate. Beauty is complex and savage to a point and, increasingly so in our cultural comparisons and representations.
So, why shouldn’t we showcase and celebrate savagery in beauty?
It clearly exists. It is the reality of beauty in many ways.
It’s what we have created, as humans.
It is our humanity.
Such a phenomenal showcase of a life’s work, albeit short-lived.
An intensely and significantly spectacular contribution to fashion and art history.
When a mind explodes in creativity such as this, it has no boundaries.
And no, creativity and fashion needn’t be limited by function.
Alexander McQueen… Fashion Impresario.
All flowers die eventually
All birds are prehistoric survivors
A beautifully curated exhibition that I feel privileged to have seen
‘The debut Scarf collection by Gary James McQueen, Life - Death - Rebirth is available now. This collection focuses on strong influences from the designer's late uncle Alexander McQueen and serves as the life cycle of creative heritage passed down to continue it's evolutionary path.’