In my almost two decades of visiting the MMA, I have never heard or seen of such a throng, the line waiting to get into the special exhibition stretching all the way from the galleries of the Impressionists to the halls of Asian ceramics. I suppose it takes a proper genius to turn an exhibition into a phenomenal event for the whole town, and the untimely death of that genius to secure his legacy til kingdom come.
My mind is triggered by images, weaving tales based on what I see. The exquisite artworks, for to say otherwise would be gross understatements, by the late Alexander McQueen transcend the realm of fashion into the worlds of fantasy, brimming with notions of ornithic fever dreams, fairy tales, romantic encounters, legends uttered in secrecy. Admittedly, there is a dark undercurrent throughout the exhibition, and some pieces certainly border on the fetish and the grotesque (the spine corset, for example, immediately called to mind the creature in "Alien"), but after all, the theme of the exhibition is "savage".
The exhibition included different chambers, each showcasing a unique collection, together making up the highlights of the artist's career. The viewers stood in awe, wide-eyed, gawking this way and that, not just at the pieces on display, but at the chambers themselves, completing the atmospheric effects created by the curators. What incredible curating! Every chamber fit McQueen's artworks as aptly as a tailored story fit a designated character. What a memorable ensemble! I was mostly impressed, mesmerized almost, by the romantic gothic chamber. Simple black and white were the predominant colors used, materials ranged from leather straps (fetish/cult), intricate and extravagamt lacework(dark filigree) to voluminous silk cape, masks and, last but not least bird feathers dyed black and gold. The pieces were propped up on platforms surrounded by rusted frames showing seemingly age old patina. I felt I was whooshed back in time, to a period of Byronic heroes and dark knights and dames shrouded in mysteries and secrecies, to a time when vampires and fiends roamed the earth in luxurious capes and satin, silk and velvet (getting carried away here)~~~
This was a hopelessly romantic designer, and how delicately yet powerfully this collection of his magnum opus, the embodiment of the artist's soul, pulls on the heartstrings of those also possessed with the notion of romance.
My absolute favorite piece of the entire exhibition is, as the piece is so aptly named, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Yes, thats exactly how I felt when I saw this jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, soul-wrenching of a thing. (And of course, the "raven" is absolutely stunning as well!)
