With confident handling of a limited palette, Eva Gonzalez (1849 – 1883) elevates a pair of evening slippers into a mysterious and enigmatic portrait of modernity for The Pink Slippers (1880). A crucial element of a woman’s wardrobe, footwear was often fetishized because shoes and slippers were not meant to be seen, hidden as they war under voluminous dresses. Gonzalez emphasizes the intimate nature of these accessories by isolating them within dramatic play of light and shadow. An ethereal reflection is visible on the polished surface upon which the shoes rest.
Photographed as Part of The Exhibit Women Artists In Paris, on View Through September 3rd, 2018 at The Clark Institute, Located in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Marilyn Minter’s sensual paintings, photographs, and videos vividly explore complex and contradictory emotions around beauty and the feminine body in American culture. She trains a critical eye on the power of desire, questioning the fashion industry’s commercialization of sex and the body. Marilyn Minter: Pretty/Dirty, now on view at the Brooklyn Museum, is the first retrospective of her work.
Lauren Kalman’s Tongue Gilding (2008), a digital print laminated on acrylic, entertains questions like, “Where does adornment end and body modification begin? How do we use jewelry to create and ‘ideal’ body? Can it create an ‘abject’ one?”
Trained as a metalsmith, Kalman has made gold body embellishments which, in order to be worn, alter the body in a way that may seem unusual or off-putting. She then documents the works through photographs that focus on these performative elements. At once seductive and repulsive, Kalman’s images ask us to question the ways in which we present our adorned bodies to the world.
Photographed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Geez, how creepy is this thing, amiright? How many of you are thinking about The Gimp scene in Pulp Fiction right now? But really, this isn’t your garden variety fetish hood, but rather a work of art by Nancy Grossman (b. 1940). Snarl is a strikingly realistic sculpture created from patent leather, wood, paint, epoxy and zippers. On exhibit at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in the Chelsea Gallery District.
If you are what some people refer to as a “Shoe Freak,” or even a fan of Art, Design and Fashion, you will want to hoof it over to the Brooklyn Museum to see Killer Heels, a fantastic exhibit of High Heeled Shoes that opened just yesterday. Geoffrey and I were lucky enough to attend the opening reception and party this past Saturday and we had all kinds of crazy fun.
Let’s Party
Let’s relive the good times now, by enjoying some of my photos from the party and the exhibit.
To get people in the mood for shoes, Party-goers were able to get a temporary tattoos with one of two designs based on the shoes pictured below (which, obviously are part of the exhibit):
I got this one of a pair of Wedge Heels decorated with Flames! Fast!
Or you could choose a design based on these “Kinky Boots” fetish style Red Thigh High Boots!
They were also giving out the latest issue of W Magazine with Rihanna on the cover. She does nothing for me but people seem to like her for whatever mysterious reason.
Piper-Heidsieck was a sponsor for the party and their delicious Champagne flowed freely.
In addition to an open bar and passed hot Hors d’oeuvre, there were also some sweet treats.
Such as these Vanilla Cake Balls and also Milk Chocolate Miniature Gold Pumps.
Mmm…Little Chocolate Shoes.
Speaking of Sweet Treats, check out this rad cake made in the likeness of Salvatore Ferragamo’s very famous multi-colored suede platform sandal created for Judy Garland back in 1938! As far as I know, nobody even got to eat this cake, and that’s just a shame.
OK, let’s leave the party behind and go look at some Killer Heels. Here we go!
Killer Heels explores fashion’s most provocative accessory. From the high platform chopines of sixteenth-century Italy to the glamorous stilettos on today’s runways and red carpets, the exhibition looks at the high-heeled shoe’s rich and varied history and its enduring place in our popular imagination.
Candlestick Heel Boots
As fashion statement, fetish object, instrument of power, and outlet of artistic expression for both the designer and the wearer, throughout the ages the high-heeled shoe has gone through many shifts in style and symbolism.
Deadly sharp stilettos, architecturally inspired wedges and platforms, and a number of artfully crafted shoes that defy categorization are featured among the more than 160 historical and contemporary heels on loan from designers, from the renowned Brooklyn Museum costume collection housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and from the Bata Shoe Museum.
Close Up of Black Spiked Stiletto Boot from Above Display
Designers and design houses represented in Killer Heels include Manolo Blahnik, Chanel, Salvatore Ferragamo, Zaha Hadid X United Nude, Iris van Herpen X United Nude, Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, André Perugia, Prada, Elsa Schiaparelli, Noritaka Tatehana, Vivienne Westwood and Pietro Yantorny.
Here’s That Ferragamo Platform Sandal Again. It is so Legendary.
Platform Boot With Spur
Presented alongside the objects in the exhibition are six specially commissioned short films inspired by high heels. The filmmakers are Ghada Amer and Reza Farkhondeh, Zach Gold, Steven Klein, Nick Knight, Marilyn Minter, and Rashaad Newsome.
“Everyone loves to wear shoes inspired by the Guggenheim Museum!” I heard someone say about this pair of silver space age shoes. Coincidentally, there was a lady at the event wearing these exact shoes!
Shoe Hat
Horse Hoof Boots
Red Wedgewood Pumps
Almost Like Going Barefoot?
Chanel Light Bulb Heels
If Ace Frehley had been a woman, surely he would have worn these boots as part of his Space Ace costume in Kiss.
There is just so much great art tied into the design of all of these shoes, it was easy to feel a bit overwhelmed by the flood of genius and beauty.
What a great show! I recommend you go see it as soon as possible!
Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe will be on Exhibit Through February 15, 2015 in the Robert E. Blum Gallery (1st Floor) at the Brooklyn Museum, Located at 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York 11238-6052. Take the 2 or 3 Trains Right to the Eastern Parkway Stop.