Antwerp’s Fashion Museum is featuring a retrospective of Man Ray’s work about fashion. The American born photographer had a huge influence on the way fashion is portrayed and photographed an influence which can still be felt today. The MoMu exhibition features photographs he took for prominent couturiers - Coco Chanel, Paul Poiret, Elsa Schiaparelli as well as fashion magazines he worked for - Vanity Fair, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, among others. Man Ray was under contract with Harper’s Bazaar, which gave him a lot of freedom. Through his technical ingenuity and his sense of humor, Man Ray, born in 1890 in Philadelphia, who had moved to Paris in 1922, changed fashion photography. Starting in the early 1930’s his technique of solarization, superimposition, “découpage” is a completely new way fashion is presented in magazines. His work influenced by Surrealism brought art and fashion closer. It continues to inspire some of today’s most important designers. The exhibition included creations by Chanel Madeleine Vionnet, Yves Saint Laurent, Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten.
Jean-Sébastien Stehli
Man Ray and Fashion. MoMu, Fashion Museum Antwerp. April 22, 2023 - August 13, 2023. Momu.be.
