DressME 2020

International Contemporary Art exhibition

Concept edited by Erika Gravante, Art Curator, graduated in Product Design, Master in Visual Merchandising

“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art”

(Oscar Wilde)

“DressME” aims at expressing the idea of designing a journey which combines the worlds of art and fashion, two creative universes that are linked by an indissoluble relationship made of collaborations, dialogue, synergies and fusions: these aspects contributed to thin the traditional boundaries of genre and to create a melting pot of new styles and influences with a significant social and aesthetic impact. The acronym comes from a play on words for an exhibition which investigates the ambition and capability of art in “dressing” our everyday life with tendencies and personality; needless to say, it is clear and immediate the reference to Milan, the capital of fashion and the hotbed for talent, dynamism, innovation and brand new trends. Not by chance the project takes place during the Milan Fashion Week, the main meeting occasion and point of reference for designers from all over the globe. In this context the concept of exhibiting is of key importance and it is seen as a way of showing everybody’s true nature and identity without considering the common preconceptions, prejudice or opinions. It is in someway like being naked in order to be able to wear the universal dress of art and be free to choose the colour, the shape, the material that suits us best and becomes the texture of our character and vision. Nobody can deny the existence of a very close bond between artists and fashion designers where the play of shapes, rhythms, tints and decorations are the common elements of an instinctive research for harmony, for beauty and for a reading key of a reality in which fantasy and dreams are the protagonists of this theatre of emotions. Fashion is inherently a form of art. Each of the two feeds the other in order to give birth to organisms that are somewhere between the tangible and the ephemeral, constructions that manifest the human desire for widening the horizon of our perceptions and show who we are and we want to be, our uniqueness and originality. The paintings, the sculpture, the clothes and any other artistic production have the peculiar capability not only to offer us objects to adorn the exterior appearance of things, but they are first of all invaluable gifts that we can use in order to enrich or baggage in terms of feelings and intimacy and to convey a message. The common denominator resides in the fact of being against the tradition and in finding innovative expressive channels and figurative languages, even new codes and paradigms to interpret the continuous evolution of times. M.A.D.S is the inventor, the promoter and the ideal box to host this project and, for this event, it will become a vibrant and multicultural atelier where “the tailors of ideas” will have the chance of cutting, recomposing, modelling and tailor making their creations for us so we can wear their thoughts and treasure them. With my picture on the cover, in the role of curator and muse, I, Erika, invite you all to a challenge, the one of dressing and colouring us, as if we were blank canvas awaiting to be painted, in order to share with you this magical and captivating atmosphere.

DressME

Artists