HEAVENLY BODIES

AN EXHIBIT BOTH NAUGHTY AND NICE

It was a first as far as I know. The Met was allowing visitors to walk through parts of the museum as the museum staff was in the process of assembling their new fashion show, "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination".  Black platforms had been wheeled into the medieval hall some of them empty while others held mannequins wrapped in plastic and duck tape with only their heads exposed.

The tease was on and I had genuflected at the altar of anticipation. I couldn't wait for the opening to see the reveal.

Once the Met Gala was history and the exhibit had opened to the rest of us my journey started down the corridors adjacent to the massive grand staircase at the center of the Met's entrance. Perched on stilts a series of stoic forms shimmered in couture sequins and metallic threads overhead, a foreshadowing of the angelic forms yet to come.

I headed straight for the platform I had seen during the installation phase and there she was unwrapped from her plastic sheath and duck tape bondage and given a pair of wings for flight.

I'm sure I should have paid much more attention to the designers but I was too swept up in the sheer beauty of the costumes. I let myself be pulled as if on a cloud through the exhibit always looking upward rather than down at the ground where the designer notes had been placed.

The Met had transformed the huge gates of its medieval room into the pearly gates of heaven with the stern presence of the Catholic church's heavy hand of judgment there to greet you.

That sense of submission to one's ultimate fate on earth was present in the weight of the garment's materials and the accessories that tethered the wearer to earth with the massive embroidery and elaborate headpieces.

Contrasting that sense of earthly bound sin was the rising lightness of the airy ensembles that pointed toward the reward of heaven.

Mystery permeated the exhibit in the halls of the Met proper. So much so that I began to see things that weren't there. As with a fire and brimstone sermon the lace covering this face brought me right back to my childhood nightmares of the big bad wolf of Little Red Riding Hood fame.

There was a conscious choice by the exhibit designers to have all the mannequins appear hypnotized with closed eyes as if in a trance in the presence of God.

But to pull me out of my nightmares there were the beaded jackets of Versace a bright light, a beacon to lead me on to the next level of the exhibit.

Down in the Anna Wintour Costume Center were the real regalia of the Catholic Church, the robes and jewelry of former popes. Photography is barred from this part of the exhibit so you'll have to rely on my description and your imagination.

The actual vestments of the Catholic Church are opulent, beautiful, ostentatious, master crafted, oppressive and total art pieces. They incorporate precious metal threads, silks, diamonds, rubies and emeralds spun into wearable tapestries and miters that rival the crowns of kings and queens. They are all simply displayed but not to be missed.

Yet the crown jewel of the entire exhibit is not to be found at the main museum but at its exquisite sister site, the Cloisters.

Located in northern Manhattan the Cloisters is by far the best place to absorb the extraordinary beauty of this exhibit.

The Cloisters is comprised of four sanctuaries; the perfect setting for this very secular theme

Here a virgin bride seemed to float up to an altar in a way that defied gravity

The sense of ceremony and the gravity of faith are so expressive in the solemnity of this spiritual experience. A bride's vow and its importance are felt so deeply at these spatial points of devotion.

It shows itself once again in the faces of the mannequins who all seem to be ensconced in deep prayer.

With many of the ensembles enclosed in glass cases the reflection cast back at the viewer of the space and its visitors brings a sense of time and mortality to the exhibit that was a bit eerie.

That skin crawling feeling peeked out from hidden spaces like a walk through a haunted house. You just knew that underneath this dress was an iron locked chastity belt imprisoning her sexual desire!

The macabre continued to scare as if a horror show was on the cusp of happening around the next corner.

But just as you began to feel the hands of death touching your shoulder a breath of relief came to light in a flirty yet secularly influenced dress.

Pink leg ties under the hem of a mini dress with a playful whimsical print brightened my last good-bye to this impressive exhibit.

Beauty,

Faith

and Catholicism were so mythically intertwined at the Cloisters.

It is a must see. It's a haunting yet serene look at Heavenly Bodies and the Catholic Imagination.






















THE GALLERY

Paris 48 degrees 51' 03" N 2012-07-19 lst 19:46
Thierry Cohen, photographer
Represented by Danzinger Gallery, NYCs