The Vancouver Art Gallery Announces the Major Fall Exhibition Guo Pei: Couture Beyond
The Vancouver Art Gallery announces the Canadian premiere of Guo Pei: Couture Beyond, an exhibition of breathtaking designs from China’s foremost couturière, to be presented October 13, 2018 to January 20, 2019.
Exquisite, theatrical, inimitable, Guo’s oeuvre of immaculately-crafted masterpieces evoke the decadence of China’s historical dynasties and have secured her place amongst the world’s premier fashion designers.
This exhibition will begin with a lively installation in the Gallery’s rotunda featuring the collection Guo produced to launch her collaboration with MAC Cosmetics in 2015. It will continue with a number of works presented in Guo’s Legend of the Dragon (2012) collection, which animates the mythical dragon motif that figures prominently in the Chinese zodiac. Two important pieces from her critically lauded Paris Collections will conclude the exhibition: shimmering metallics from Encounter (2016) and ornate garments inspired by Switzerland’s Cathedral of Saint Gallen in Legend (2017).
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Visitors will be invited to feast their eyes on Guo’s artistry such as her imperial canary-coloured cape. Famously worn by recording artist Rihanna at 2015’s Met Gala, the piece propelled Guo into the international spotlight. Constructed from fifty-five pounds of silk, layers of embroidery, and featuring an elaborate five meter train, the piece has since come to epitomize the detail and craftsmanship of Guo’s designs.
Guo Pei: Couture Beyond is organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery in collaboration with SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film and curated by Diana Freundl, Associate Curator, Asian Art and Stephanie Rebick, Associate Curator