Elusive Elegance

Cavemen enfolded by their sabre-toothed tiger furs, imperial Romans draped in their togas and, to the present, that most ancient of clothing, the sari of the Indian sub-continent, worn since sanskritical times: these images of primal memories are evoked in the exhibition “Every garment tells a story” created by Kerry Bell at Barga’s Oxo gallery and viewable until September 30th.

It was the folds in the dresses that principally engaged my attention: those sinuous contours, the interweaving lines, highlighted by the subtle use of lighting, which continued their journey, projecting multi-layered silhouettes onto the gallery walls and forming a profound dialogue between the object and the aura it created.

Kerry has had long experience in fashion design and the industry it has formed. From those draperies differently textured dresses and costumes have been cut and tailored; strict forms have evolved which mark each age as the harbinger of a particular way of interpreting that most public and, at the same time, most intimate of artistic expressions: the manner in which we elaborate the cover to our original nakedness and make statements about how we see and feel ourselves or want the world to see and feel us.

Kerry has described the way she wishes her exhibition to be self-revelatory: each garment can generate feelings and emotions which may naturally be quite different for diverse people. Does the clearly unfinished appearance of this dress point to some tragic incident? Are the bleached colours of that gown related to the wearer’s character? And what social enigmae are prefigured in the classical folds of this blouse?

There is an arcane visual poetry in these items which seduces one with distant associations of place and time, whether they be Cunard line elite of the thirties or fin de siecle salon hostesses or street sleepers of every age (but especially ours.)
Food for thought or drink for the soul? Make up your own minds and go to be captivated by this alluring show.

Enter a caption