An exhibition celebrating Iris van Herpen, one of the world’s most forward-thinking living fashion designers, opens at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) from Saturday 29 July 10.00am to 5.00pm daily until 7 October. The exhibition will also open late every Friday with a bar and DJs from 5.30pm to 8.30pm from 12 July until 4 October.
DELVE DEEPER: An introduction to ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’
Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses
29 Jun – 7 Oct
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‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ features 130 of the renowned designer’s visionary Haute couture creations and accessories, fashioned from the most innovative materials and new technologies. Van Herpen’s extraordinary garments have been worn by the likes of Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Björk and Beyoncé, and most recently by Indian philanthropist Mona Patel at the 2024 Met Gala.
Developed by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the exhibition is a sensory exploration of the Dutch designer’s multidisciplinary practice that merges fashion, contemporary art, design, technology and science. This extensive survey highlights van Herpen’s unique approach to transgressing conventional clothing norms while embracing both traditional couture craftmanship and innovative techniques.
‘Sculpting the Senses’, features van Herpen’s Haute couture garments in dialogue with objects from natural history and works by artists including Megan Cope (illustrated), Cai Guo-Qiang, Yayoi Kusama, Kohei Nawa, Anne Noble, Sopheap Pich (illustrated), Japanese art collective Mé, Damien Jalet, Casey Curran, Rogan Brown, Ren Ri, Philip Beesley and Courtney Mattison (illustrated) and presented across nine chapters: Water and Dreams, Sensory Sea Life, Forces behind the Forms, Skeletal Embodiment, Growth Systems, Synaesthesia, Mythology of Fear, New Nature and Cosmic Bloom.
Installing works in ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’
Kohei Nawa, Japan b.1975 / PixCell-Double Deer #4 2010 / Mixed media / 224 x 200 x 160cm / Purchased 2010 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the QAG Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kohei Nawa
The exhibition includes an evocation of van Herpen’s Amsterdam studio, a Wunderkammer or cabinet of curiosities, and a space dedicated to the designer’s fashion shows. It is also accompanied by an immersive soundscape by van Herpen’s partner and collaborator, the Dutch sound artist Salvador Breed, which weaves the various works together and enriches the sensory experience.
In a fusion of art, fashion and technologies, ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ is a stunning retrospective of the designer’s award-winning sculptural designs, which are celebrated on catwalks and in museums around the world.
Born in 1984, van Herpen grew up in the village of Wamel, The Netherlands, in harmony with nature and the living world. Nature, along with classical dance which she practiced intensively from an early age, are the creative wellsprings from which she draws inspiration in her work.
After a formative period working with Alexander McQueen and Claudy Jongstra, van Herpen founded the Maison Iris van Herpen in Amsterdam in 2007. She has built an international reputation for combining the subtleties of craftsmanship with the pioneering spirit of innovation, opening up her practice to a host of other disciplines in sensorial designs that capture the intricacy and diversity of the natural world.
In 2010, van Herpen joined the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris and that same year she presented her first 3D-printed dress from the ‘Crystallization’ collection, which was named by Time magazine as one of the fifty most exciting inventions of the year.
Public Programs | Saturday 6 July
From 10.30 to 11.30am join designer Iris van Herpen in conversation with Cloé Pitiot, exhibition curator Musée des Arts Décoratifs, in Cinema A, GOMA. The event is free, no bookings required. Seating is limited and available on a first-in, first-seated basis.
At 11.45am and 2.00pm dancer Elijah-Jade Bowen (Mununjali & Guugu Yimithirr) performs a short dance in response to the exhibition soundscape. An exhibition ticket is required.
From 1.00 to 1.30pm join artist Megan Cope in conversation with Nina Miall, Curator of International Art, QAGOMA, speaking about her sculptural installation Whispers Wall 2023 featured in the exhibition. An exhibition ticket is required.
Iris van Herpen ‘Morphogenesis’ dress 2020
‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland’s Major Events Program, and Major Partners Shayher Group and Urban Art Projects. A full list of supporters is available online.
The exhibition is co-organised by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris and QAGOMA, Brisbane based on an original exhibition designed by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ is at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Brisbane from 29 June to 7 October, across the ground floor in The Fairfax Gallery (1.1), Gallery 1.2, and the Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery (1.3).
Featured image: Iris van Herpen (designer), Netherlands b.1984, Carla van de Puttelaar (photographer), Netherlands b.1967 / Synergia Series (detail) 2021 / Photograph: Carla van de Puttelaar / © Carla van de Puttelaar
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