Museum PR Announcements News and Information

Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design opens Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion

Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design opens Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion an exhibition on view April 28 through August 18, 2013. Drawn from the museum’s collection and loans from other national and international organizations and private individuals—the RISD Museum celebrates the dandy, tracing the variety of ways in which this personality has blazed through two centuries and investigating where he resides today.

Sartorial Anarchy #5, 2012. Iké Udé, photographer. © Iké Udé. Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery & Iké Udé.
Sartorial Anarchy #5, 2012. Iké Udé, photographer. © Iké Udé. Courtesy of Leila Heller Gallery & Iké Udé.
Rather than following strict definitions, Artist/Rebel/Dandy features myriad manifestations of the dandy’s style and persona, from the discreet sophistication and consummate elegance of Beau Brummell (1778–1840) to the romantics and revolutionaries of today—including Rick Owens, Patti Smith, Ouigi Theodore, and Waris Ahluwalia.

The deft workmanship and particular style of a tailor or designer features alongside representations of the personalities who wore these garments—as seen in portraits, caricatures, fashion plates, fashion photography, and media representations. Likewise, representations of dandies—from George IV to Oscar Wilde and Iké Udé, and from Lord Byron to Sebastian Horsley and Sruli Recht—are grounded in the concrete and tactile nature of the clothing itself.

Artist/Rebel/Dandy is accompanied by an illustrated book (Yale University Press, 2013), with essays by exhibition curators Kate Irvin and Laurie Brewer, fashion historian Christopher Breward, and Barnard College English Professor Monica L. Miller; a preface by menswear designer Thom Browne; and “musings” on artist-dandies by 15 contributors, including Glenn O’Brien (Beau Brummell), Patti Smith (Charles Baudelaire), Merlin Holland (Oscar Wilde), Horace Ballard (W. E. B. DuBois), and Scott Schuman (Luciano Barbera). http://risdmuseum.org