Montreal’s Fashionista’s come out to see Jean Paul Gaultier’s Expo

Photographer: Jean-Baptiste Mondino © Jean-Baptiste Mondino

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts develops and produces the first international exhibition devoted to the celebrated couturier The premiere opening at the MMBA called upon a rolling crowd of Montreal’s fashionistas, by invitation only, the line up wrapped around the block. Dressed in their most Gaultier inspired-ware, the atmosphere was electric.

Once approaching the entrance to the exposition, you could catch a glimpse of what was to come, as a blue hallow skimmed the ceiling at the top of the staircase.

More of a contemporary installation than a fashion retrospective, this major exhibition, which features 140 ensembles and numerous documents, is particularly innovative in the theatrical mise en scène and multimedia approach provided by UBU/Compagnie de création’s animated mannequins. “I think the way people dress today is a form of artistic expression. Saint Laurent, for instance, has made great art. Art lies in the way the whole outfit is put together. Take Jean Paul Gaultier. What he does is really art,” said Andy Warhol (Mondo Uomo, 1984). Initiated, developed, produced and circulated by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to mark the thirty‐fifth anniversary of the designer’s own label, this exploration of Jean Paul Gaultier’s creative world has been organized in collaboration with the Maison Jean Paul Gaultier, which provided the Museum with exclusive access to its archives.

“I wanted to create an exhibition on Jean Paul Gaultier more than any other couturier because of his great humanity,” explained Nathalie Bondil, Director and Chief Curator of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. “Beyond the technical virtuosity resulting from exceptional expertise in the various skills involved in haute couture, an unbridled imagination and ground‐breaking artistic collaborations, he offers an open‐minded vision of society, a crazy, sensitive, funny, sassy world in which everyone can assert his or her own identity, a world without discrimination, a unique ‘fusion couture.’ Beneath Jean Paul Gaultier’s wit and irreverence lie a true generosity of spirit and a very powerful message for society. His humanist aesthetic touches me deeply.”

The Museum is innovating by collaborating with the Quebec‐based UBU/Compagnie de création for the design and animation of a poetic, playful multimedia creation. Denis Marleau and Stéphanie Jasmin came up with the idea of animating thirty faces through an ingenious projection system. Wearing remarkable wigs and headdresses by Odile Gilbert, founder of the Atelier 68 in Paris, these mannequins are placed throughout the galleries, surprising visitors with their lifelike presence.

http://www.mmfa.qc.ca/

Maria Salvati – Insomnia communications

The line up at the opening of the Jean Paul Gauthier exposition wrapped around the block

Cars dressed in traditional GaultierCrowds entering the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts