Plaster, wooden, acrylic paint. Lacquer on fibreglass. Oil pastel on a repurposed projector display screen. Silicone and pure dyed hair. Supplies that come to thoughts whenever you consider his clothes. Martin Margiela, the style designer who retired greater than a decade in the past, cited frustrations with the growing calls for of the trade as the explanation for his retreat. Recognized for the unconventional use of supplies, taking objects out of context, deconstructing and reconstructing them into outfits. Margiela continually questioned the boundaries, worth and that means of trend.
The ex-designer who’ve regularly withdrawn from the general public eye as his profession progressed, lastly “disappeared” in 2008. Properly, at the very least that’s what we thought. As just lately, he “reappeared” as an artist along with his first solo present at Lafayette Anticipations (till 2 January 2022).
Martin Margiela, DÉODORANT, 2021, Micro-perforated vinyl. Courtesy of the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp. Produced by Lafayette Anticipations.
Martin Margiela, FILM DUST, 2017-2021, Oil on microbead-coated canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp. Produced by Lafayette Anticipations.
Martin Margiela, INTERIOR, 2021, Oil pastel on velvet-laminated canvas, wood field and polyurethane foam. Courtesy of the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp. Produced by Lafayette Anticipations.
Martin Margiela, BUS STOP, 2020, Steel, soiled Plexiglas, and artificial fur. Courtesy of the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp. Produced by Lafayette Anticipations.
Martin Margiela, MOULD(S), 2020, Plaster, wooden, and acrylic paint. Courtesy of the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp. Produced by Lafayette Anticipations.
Martin Margiela, RED NAILS, 2019, Lacquer on fibreglass. Courtesy of the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp. Produced by Lafayette Anticipations.
Martin Margiela, MONUMENT, 2021, PVC tarpaulin print, classic couch, and audio loop. Courtesy of the artist. Produced by Lafayette Anticipations.
Martin Margiela, VANITAS, 2019, Silicone and pure dyed hair. Courtesy of the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp. Produced by Lafayette Anticipations.
Martin’s artwork, featured within the exhibition, will not be thrilling as a result of it’s revolutionary (as his trend as soon as was). It’s thrilling as a result of it considerably signifies Margiela’s existence. Lastly, after 10 years of silence, he “made a contact” with an viewers by means of his, conceptual but tremendously tactile, Artwork.
The weather that make up the showcase: drawings, portray, sculptures, movies and installations are supposed to be seen as one bigger art work. The person parts draw on themes which might be in step with Margiela’s earlier (trend) outputs. Transience and transformation, presence versus absence. Bricolage, Dadaism, Arte Povera.
The Martin Margiela, exhibition-turned-labyrinth, consists of greater than 20 works by the ex-designer. The present finally leaves questioning: was Margiela an Artist all alongside, and trend merely considered one of his artistic mediums?
Photograph Credit score: Pierre Antoine
