Marcia Kure’s “Dressed Up” at Susan Inglett Gallery is an irreverent and engaging tour de force.
Curiously humorous on the surface yet deadly serious in the questions it raises, Kure’s photomontage portraits of “characters dressed in runway mash-ups drawn from two distinct cultural areas” are thought provoking and beautiful.
The works in the show are large in both scale and ambition. Kure’s artist statement is clear – “Dressed Up explores symbolic codes of high fashion as imagined by hip-hop avatars and designers of historical haute couture. In bringing the two traditions into direct confrontation, these photomontages play on preconceptions as well as the manner in which we imagine or project personality through dress. The series suggests that the sense of decorum and gravitas conveyed by haute couture/Victorian fashion belies the colonial violence and decadence of that age; conversely, the near criminalization of hip-hop fashion fails to contend with the humanity of many of its avatars or their status as respectable global citizens”
I believe Kure was very successful in her stated goal. In an era dominated by conceptual art that is often esoteric in the extreme, Kure’s work is both intelligent and engaging while being visually clever and accessible. The work is stunning while providing fodder for those who enjoy the pleasures of scholarly conversation about empire, colonialism, racism and class.
Check out this show, you’ll be glad you did.
-Ricky
A MUST SEE!
CHECK IT OUT IF YOU CAN
IF YOU’RE IN THE AREA
