GSK Contemporary - Aware: Art Fashion Identity at the Royal Academy

GSK Contemporary - Aware: Art Fashion Identity at the Royal Academy

03 December, 2010
by: Jessica_dunn

The new GSK Contemporary opens at the Royal Academy, Jess Dunn checks it out.

GSK Contemporary take to the artistic stage again with their newest offering, entitled 'Aware: Art Fashion Identity' taking place at The Royal Academy. As the title might suggest, the exhibition investigates the role of clothing and fashion in its various forms.

Let's start with a breakdown, everyone loves a breakdown. The exhibition is split into four digestible sections, 'Storytelling' (role of clothing in personal and cultural histories), 'Building' (clothing as a form of protection), 'Belonging' and Confrontation' (political conflict and questions of nationalism) and 'Performing' (drama and presentation). From this you would expect it to be very clear, however the themes seem a little loose and the boundaries are heavily blurred. Looking at Marcello Malayerti's photograph of men in clothing, representing their country of origin, I find myself questioning how this is 'performance'. Why could it not be in 'belonging and confrontation' for example. The only really clear section seems to be 'Building' because it hosts a number of small scale adornable architectural constructions.

Like its two older GSK brothers, it contains some great work, but I cant help but get the feeling that the themes and links are a touch tenuous and in parts the exhibition a little bare. There is a muddling of various clothing-related projects, all with their own comment. However a costume made of Chinese flags is quite obviously going to make me think of China and from there my mind wonders to economic growth and global expansion, strange that. So you can see why I think some of the messages within are uninspiring and frankly disappointing. Acconci Studio offer up the' Umbruffla' which acts as a protective piece of clothing whilst reflecting the city around you, perfect! You may look like a bloody idiot and it's highly impractical, but points for the name.

However, it's not all doom and gloom, there are some exciting pieces on display here. The first piece as you enter, or exit, is Helen Storey's 'Say Goodbye' which tackles the issue of sustainable clothing, looking at how art, fashion and science can lead the future of clothing forward. Now this is something that interests me. The dress drapes in a bowl of water and the caption explains that it will eventually dissolve. It's a little impractical in England and doesn't exactly answer any questions but at least raises some interesting ones. Also a video by Marina Abramovich causes a sly giggle, as I watch people squeezing between two naked bodies to enter a gallery in Bologna. Hussein Chalayan's piece of Japanese puppet theatre 'Son of Sonzai Zuru' also catches my eye for its subtle beauty and points out the fashion industry's manipulative intentions. Oh, and Grayson Perry has a pretty cool cloak on show - the big names are scoring high.

With the title in mind, the use of the word 'aware' is perhaps a little generous but thankfully the exhibition is less ambitious than the last GSK which attempted to tackle the issues of climate change, not that these guys don't have a good go at tackling the world's problems one thread at a time. Although considering that fashion can be somewhat vacuous at times, it's nice to see this collection of artists working to a variation of worthy themes and there are a number of delightful pieces on show.

'Gsk Contemporary - Aware: Art Fashion Identity' is on at the Royal Academy from Thursday the 2nd of December to Sunday the 30th of January 2011.

Read Susie's review of Gsk Contemporary 1.

Read Tom's review of GSK Contemporary 2.

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Jessica_dunn