This weekend I went to Stockholm. Since the ’90s it’s developed a reputation as the ideal destination for design junkies and more recently it’s become known for its street style and general Scandinavian cool. It didn’t disappoint although it’s quite unlike any city I’ve visited before. For a start it’s freezing cold and austere, but in a very beautiful way. The sun also sets incredibly early, so it’s not that surprising that lots of Swedes suffer from depression in winter. There’s also a palpable sense of control in the city. You can only buy alcohol in specified shops, taxes are sky high, restaurants close very early and people go to bed around about when Spaniards and Italians are just sitting down for dinner.
That’s not to say that the city isn’t a friendly place. Christmas seemed like the best time to go! The streets are filled with Christmas markets, cafes are lit by candlelight and everything seems conducive to a tankard of hot chocolate or a restoring dose of glog (like Swedish mulled wine). We also noticed how trusting the city seemed. Crime is notoriously low and the hotel where I was staying skipped the usual paranoid confiscation of passports etc and didn’t even know my name until I checked out. No one even really seemed to bother locking up their bicycles. (Boris would find it heavenly!)
The highlight for me was the Moderna Museet. The building isn’t that spectacular but there is a great permanent collection with some fantastic Irving Penn photographs. There was also a Salvador Dali exhibition and a small exhibition of Anthony McCall’s light projections. They were breath-taking! This Youtube video of his work when it was in the Serpentine in London,really doesn’t do his work justice, but it might give you some idea.
Anthony McCall has been working since the 1970s, creating work that is as much an experience as it is an object or installation. His genius in these projections is that he magically transforms light into something solid in a way that is almost surreal. The shafts of light travelling through the smoke filled gallery before they hit the wall are mesmerising. Lots of modern artists, and sculptors in particular, talk about wanting the viewer to move around their work, but McCall is actually really successful. People moved around the space peering up and crouching down to perceive the subjective nature of the shapes and ‘surfaces’ first seen. The potent projection on the wall isn’t still either. It moves at an intoxicatingly slow pace; the lines evolving and forming new shapes. Although originally from the UK, McCall’s Solid Light films were originally shown in Stockholm in 1973 so there has always been a connection between the city and his work, and Scandinavia instinctively felt like a good place to be seeing it.
There was also an exhibition looking at Salvador Dali and Francesco Vezzoli alongside each other. Vezzoli is a contemporary artist who is profoundly influenced by Dali’s aesthetic (and his moustache)! The idea behind the exhibition was to look at Dali in a contemporary context, especially in terms of the cult of celebrity, and to look at Vezzoli in a historical context.
This Vezzoli image references the playful side to Dali which has made him such a popular art icon. The exhibition also featured this hilarious clip from Dali on a 1950s game show which I had to share with you! I think it really sums up the childlike witty side of his character.
Similarly, this photograph of the artist taken by Philippe Halsman in 1948 and entitled Dali Atomicus is, despite being intended to address the idea of suspension, like a scene from Mary Poppins! What I particularly love is that if you look on the left hand side you can see a man holding up the chair. It was originally published, unedited as you see it here, in a magazine.
But his painting also reveal a much darker side to his identity. And they are images that I often find it uncomfortable to view- the sensation I get is much the same as looking at the work of another immensely powerful artist- Francis Bacon. They are visceral, grotesque and often desolate; and they present a landscape of dreams which I don’t easily identify with. What do you think of this painting entitled The Persistence of Memory?
Dali the Surrealist also has some very interesting connections with fashion.
Some of his costume designs were not very wearable.
But when he collaborated with the great Surrealist of Fashion, Elsa Schiparelli, they created the now infamous Lobster Dress, based around the lobster motif which also inspired Dali’s Lobster Telephone.
I think the dress is not only witty and fascinating for its connection to such an iconic motif, but is also very beautiful. Voila!
As if it wasn’t intriguing enough already, the dress gained even more notoriety after it was worn by femme fatale Wallis Simpson.
Schiaparelli had a very distinctive and witty sense of style, which also inspired the wonderful Shoe-Hat which she is now famous for.
I was reminded of her playful, surrealist aesthetic when I saw this editorial shot from AnOther magazine. The model even has a shoe in her version of a hat!
I like the way the accessories have been used to completely transform the look from a simple black dress with minimal make-up into something spectacular. The stacked bangles look I posted about previously is also perfectly pulled off in this look. The Mawi bracelet she wears looks hip and almost casual with the ebony bangles and the dramatic studded cuff.
Autumn Winter 2009- Costume Luxe Collection- Metal Dome Watch-strap Bracelet £351
