IMAGE DETAILS

Kimono Dress made by Kansai Yamamoto, Japan, 1971. Wool and cotton ikat, leather, snakeskin; appliquéd. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, museum purchase, gift of the Textile Arts Council Endowment Fund. Photo: Joseph McDonald

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18 May 2005

Artwear (or wearable art) is a concept which sprang from street fashions of the 1960s in San Francisco and New York, influenced by movements like Pop Art, the development of studio craft practice and interest in feminism and non-western art. The term encompasses one-off pieces, limited editions and performance costumes, made by artists, predominantly female, who have fine art backgrounds. Artwear is still a buzzword today but it is usually associated with fashion although its practitioners see it as an art form that is concerned with materials and processes, occupying a space somewhere between art, craft and fashion.

The exhibition 'Artwear: Fashion and Anti-Fashion', at the Legion of Honor, part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, looks at wearable art over the last 35 years. The 120 pieces on display include one-off artworks, performance work from artists such as Kaisik Wong, costumes from the movement's antecedents Wiener Werkstätte, Mariano Fortuny and Liberty of London and fashion pieces from designers including Kansai Yamamoto and Issey Miyake. One third of the exhibition has been drawn from the museum's holdings while the remaining objects come from public and private collections from the USA and abroad. Furthermore, a quarter of the costumes on show will change in a rotation of works in August.

Artwear: Fashion and Anti-Fashion

Legion of Honor

34th Avenue & Clement Street

Lincoln Park

San Francisco

CA 94121

14 May - 30 October 2005