Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History
New York: Jewish Museum -
Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History. Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History, until August 7, organized by Chee
Pearlman and curated with Kelly Taxter, is the first
museum exhibition to focus on the influential American fashion designer,
artist, and entrepreneur Isaac Mizrahi. It explores Mizrahi’s unique position at the
intersection of high style and popular culture. While best known for his
clothing designs, Mizrahi’s creativity has expanded over a nearly three decade
career to embrace acting, directing, set and costume design, writing, and
cabaret performance. Spanning his first collection in 1988 to the present day, the exhibition weaves together the many threads of
his prolific career, juxtaposing work in fashion, film, television, and the
performing arts.
Above. The video installation showcases a variety of
content drawn from film and television cameos and runway shows.
Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History
The Swatches Wall greets you at
the entrance
“Color is the biggest luxury there
is. It affects you on a deep, emotional
level that most people don’t think about.
If you get the color right, you have the whole thing. If you get it wrong, it becomes a big
distraction.”
Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History
Isaac Mizrahi’s inventive
and provocative style advances complex issues within the fashion arena,
igniting a spirited discourse about high versus low, modern glamour, and
contemporary culture. For example, his runway shows were cast with
unconventionally beautiful models of all ethnicities dressed in Star of David
belts, Western-wear infused handmade lace, Adidas sneakers in place of high
heels, handbags worn as hats, or humble cotton undershirts paired with
floor-length taffeta skirts. Uniting opposites is a Mizrahi signature, which
arises in his many combinations of evening and sportswear, formal and casual,
and couture and mass market.
Above. Blossom Blazer –
1991 – double silk gazar and Ball Gown Sport – 1994 – silk taffeta and cotton
T-shirt.
Sea Island – 1990 – apron
shirt-waist
Lumberjack Ball Gown – 1994 –
impermeable-silk down-filled jacket – silk taffeta skirt
“The brilliant light of a Flavin sculpture
makes any kind of natural light seem sickly by comparison.”
Kitchen Sink Pink – 2006 – wool
silk, synthetic dress
Cotton Candy Dress – 1994 –
mohair, sequins, double-face satin ribbon
“I
love sketching. That was my favorite
part of making clothes – and it was also the most horrible part. But once I got into it, I was gone. You couldn’t talk to me. I was just lost in the bliss of making
drawings.”
“The
most fun thing in the world is to design costumes, because their only function
is to create fantasy and tell a story.”
Platee - 1997 – hand-painted
Lycra spandex and stretch georgette
Two Frog Attendants – 1997 -
hand-painted Lycra spandex bodysuits – molded rubber heads
Isaac Mizrahi:
An Unruly History. The exhibition is organized thematically, exploring key
trends in Mizrahi’s work — from the use of color and prints, to witty designs
that touch on issues of race, religion, class, and politics. The core of the
exhibition features iconic designs from the Isaac Mizrahi New York clothing
label (1987 – 1998), the “semi-couture” collections (2003 – 2011), and the
trailblazing line for Target (2002 – 2008). The show is comprised of 42 “looks”
that include clothing, hats, jewelry, shoes, accessories, and costumes for the
theater, the opera, and the Mark Morris Dance Group.
“Sometimes
the most beautiful thing is the raw construction.”
X-Ray – 2010 – cashmere, acetate
coat
The Real Thing – 1994 – Coca-cola
can paillettes
Mizrahi worked
with the charity We Can, which employed homeless New Yorkers to gather and
flatten Coke cans. These were then
shipped to the luxury Parisian sequin maker Langlois-Martin, who cut the aluminum
into paillettes. They were sent to India
along with the dress patterns, where they were hand-embroided onto silk before
finally being returned to the designer’s workshop in New York.
Colorfield – 2004 – hand-painted
linen canvas, double-faced alpaca boucle – custom-made engraved Baccarat
crystal buttons
Tee Pee Shearling – 1991 – beads,
shearling, stretch wool crepe
“I
think that the ability to laugh at myself sets me apart. I don’t understand people without humor, and
I just like certain things because the have no humor. Like when you walk into some boutiques and
they feel like mausoleums, with rows of ridged black handbags.”
Louis Vuitton Centenary
Celebration Tote Bag – 1996 – acetate, saddle leather, canvas.
Dress-up Rain Booties – 2010 –
tulle, acetate, plastic
Lobster Epaulet – 2010 – Lucite, leather
Jewish Museum – Museum shop – Isaac
Mizrahi gifts
Jewish Museum - Russ and Daughters Museum Restaurant. After
102 years on the Lower East Side, Russ and Daughters, the landmark New York
City appetizing shop on East Houston Street, has opened a new location uptown
at the Jewish Museum.
Russ and Daughters
Museum Restaurant. Purveyors of the highest quality smoked fish, bagels, and
traditional baked goods, the Russ family for four generations has owned and
operated Russ and Daughters since 1914.
Above. The take-out
appetizing counter, offers traditional smoked fish
and spreads by the pound, as well as bagel sandwiches.
Vegetarian Chopped Liver
Nut-Based with Toasted Matzo,
Pickled Onion
Red and Golden Beets Salad
Walnuts, Grapefruit, Watercress,
Pumpernickel, Goat Cheese Dressing
Russ and Daughters
Museum Restaurant. The restaurant is situated in the lower level of the museum and
seats seventy, the walls are decorated with an assemblage of Maria Kalman’s
pen and ink drawings, entitled In This Life, There Was Very Much, 2015, given
in loving memory of Rella Wieder by her mother Edith.
Challah Bread Pudding
Dried Apricots, Caramel Sauce
Jewish Museum – Valeska Soares –
Time Has no Shadows
Using Walls, Floors and Ceilings:
Valeska Soares
In the main
lobby of the Jewish Museum the site-specific installation of artist Valeska
Soares Time Has No Shadows - 2015, is a work that attempts to give form to the passage
of time and connect its ungraspable infiniteness with the slipperiness of
language and the instability of meaning. Soares’s
artworks are often assembled from antiques and used materials, like those
included in this work. This process of
recirculation gives new life to the discarded and disused, and adds to the
stories accumulated across their scratched and faded surfaces. In Time Has No
Shadows, poetic texts are placed on the carpet in a spiral shape, with a subtly
altered antique pocket watch hanging above each text.
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