Where Would You Wear That? The Mary Baskett Collection: Rei, Miyake & Yamamoto

[MissMagAddict]

Cincinnati Art Museum

Examine the work of several of the most forward-looking fashion designers of the twentieth century through this exhibition of more than fifteen pieces designed by Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, and other avant-garde Japanese designers over the past thirty years. This innovative, multimedia installation showcases designers who have changed the way we look at clothing.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, art historian, former museum curator and current gallery owner Mary Baskett jumped from the clean-lined, bold and slightly mod dresses of the Finnish firm Marimekko to the wild world of avant-garde Japanese clothing. She never looked back.

As curator of prints for the Cincinnati Art Museum, she was traveling to Japan searching out work by contemporary printmakers. While she adored the art - after leaving the museum, she opened her private Mount Adams gallery specializing in contemporary Far Eastern art - she was also attracted to the clothing in Tokyo's shops, where she whiled away off hours.
"Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo were just starting but caught my eye," she says.

The pieces were impeccably made but, well, even odder than they first appeared. Many were unfinished or mismatched or sporting quirky extras such as misplaced zippers and additional arms.

They had begun a counter-couture revolution. "Raw seams. Asymmetry. Deconstruction," she says.

"I loved it all," she says. She began buying dresses, pantsuits, jumpsuits, blouses, hats and shoes. Generally, snapping up an entire outfit from head to toe. "Otherwise, you don't have much," she says.

She limits herself to a few important outfits a year. "You have to spend several thousand to get something good," she says.

After a few decades, it has amounted to quite a collection, and this summer a selection of 20 pieces is on exhibit at the art museum in Where Would You Wear That?

Baskett has a ready answer for the exhibit title's glib question: "Everywhere - even to Kroger."

 

[SomethingElse]

Thanks, MMA! Baskett has such a refreshing presence. I wish I could really see what she is wearing, though.

 

[rangerrick14]

that was exhilirating, I wish I knew where I could buy Comme de Garcons and yohji and Miaki on the internet

 

[visconti]

Ugh. This is taking place in my hometown. I opted not to make a trip there last weekend because I assumed nothing notable would be going on. Too bad it's only there for another 10 days.

Thanks for sharing. That'll teach me to stop paying attention to their new exhibits.

 

[gius]

i think so too somethingelse she sounds like she has a lot of fun playing with the clothes; and i love the spikes at the back
we had a guest speaker come to our class once who loves collecting pieces by issey miyake. she had a purse that looked like that..with the seemingly sharp and dangerous spikes

 

[gius]

that was exhilirating, I wish I knew where I could buy Comme de Garcons and yohji and Miaki on the internet

i think i saw some at yoox

 

[softgrey]

very nice....thanks for posting that missmag...

so interesting to know who it is that is buying and wearing these types of clothes because i see so few of them...

i loved listening to her talk...

i think it's nice that they exhibit her clothes...
but wouldn't it be great if next to teh garment they actually displayed a picture of Mary wearing the garment out somewhere...?
especially since the whole theme of the exhibit is where would you wear that?...

i'd actually like to see her wearing them!...

 

[ilaughead]

That was a really interesting interview...but I still can't see how someone would be able to wear a lot of that.

 

[markie]

That lady seems so cool, I wish I could go see this exhibit.