While teaching in the San Francisco Bay area in late July, I was lucky enough to score tickets to the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the deYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park. I was fortunate enough to see the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit there in 2008, which was incredible, and I knew this exhibit would not disappoint.
If you aren't familiar with his work, you will at least be familiar with his work with the artist pictured below...in JPG. Madonna during her Blonde Ambition tour in the '90's.
Lots of pictures in this post. Lots. So grab a cup of tea or a glass of wine and hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy!
I was in this exhibit for 2.5 hours and I have friends who were there for over 4! Lots to see and I've only posted about 25! (Oh, pictures WERE allowed in the exhibit, so I didn't violate any museum policy by taking these. FYI.)
Below, while not part of the Gaultier exhibit, this fabulous sculpture hung at the elevator entrance to the exhibit. Pretty cool, and soooo hat like. (That's the shadow in the background.)
White board greetings from the man himself, who was on-hand for the opening.
WARNING! Actually, I didn't see anything too exotic. :-)
The jacket/hood piece below was the very first thing you saw as you walked into the hall. I absolutely love this and think it may be my favorite piece in the whole show. But that might be naive of me. I loved many of the pieces, especially the hats and headpieces, of which you will see quite a few in this post.
OK, I can't even describe the mannequins...who had moving facial features, almost holograms but not really. I had been told about them before I got to the exhibit, but nothing quite prepared me for the awesomeness of these ladies and gentlemen. Oh, and they sang...and chanted... and spoke...and cried...and laughed. Incredible!
Love this ethereal photo. All gauzy and angelic.
Gauzy and angelic. Only two adjectives to describe this beautiful piece. Smashing!
Another of the talking mannequins. Love her hat! So 1940's!
Close-up of the hat. Felt.
Another 1940's inspired hat, also felt.
Beading! Lots of beading!
You are going to see that I was mesmerized by the following headpiece. You'll see it from many angles. All wire and tulle and lace.
And the beautiful shadow it cast below.
Couple of Eiffel Tower shots.
Street fashion. Note that the dress is a black plastic garbage bag, the bracelet is a tin food can, the necklace is comprised of tops from tin food cans, steel wool scrubbies, and a tea steeper ball.
Madonna and Jean Paul with the 'infamous' Blonde Ambition corset. Corsets are a favorite of Jean Paul's and a whole section of the exhibit was dedicated to corsets.
Below...iconic Jean Paul Gaultier!
I loved the whole Friday night at the deYoung! There was a jazz band playing when I got there, then about 50 tango couples showed up to dance in the lobby (they are so serious!), and of course the exhibit. So much electricity throughout the building. If you are ever in the Bay area on a Friday night, I highly recommend...they are open late each Friday night for all kinds of events.
Next post will be about my second class at Lacis (first class is the last post here on the blog) and then later a post about my class at Wayne Wichern's millinery studio.
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