Global Blue

 

Inside the fashion world of Jean Paul Gaultier

by Emily Scrivener

 

8 April 2014

 

This spring the Barbican will host the Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: from the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, the first major exhibition of French designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s work. For the exhibition, British artist Annie Kevans has been commissioned to create a series of artworks on the avant-garde designer’s muses

 

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier arrives in London on 9 April as part of an international tour dedicated to the work of fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier. The retrospective exhibition will look back at the French couturier’s iconic designs, including costumes made for Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga and Madonna, as well as photographs, artwork and performance excerpts.

 

Depicted through artist Annie Kevans’s oil paintings, part of the exhibition will be dedicated to the artists, models and performers who have inspired Gaultier’s work. The paintings honour Gaultier’s admiration for many different types of beauty; he is renowned for inviting people of all ages, body types and genders on to the catwalk.

 

The 30 muses featured in the collection range from artists Amy Winehouse and Boy George to models Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Andrej Pejić. Annie Kevans has also produced a painting of Jean Paul Gaultier himself, a copy of which is available to buy as a limited-edition print through the Barbican.

 

The exhibition runs until 25 August 2014.