Drawing on Style is an exhibition clustered around the reception of Dovecot Studios. The works can be found sitting in the café, the staircase wall and the micro gallery which includes the entrance to the bigger paid exhibition– IKEA: Magical Patterns. But this free exhibition is more than decorative, light touch works that move as though you’re flicking through a magazine. These are original fashion illustrations from the 1960s to 1970s— the golden age when Art Nouveau and Art Deco changed the game forever. This was a revolution charged with bursting expressive freedom; a new taste captured with fluid lines, organic motifs and asymmetrical compositions.
Fashion illustration is more than sophistication etched on paper —it tells the story of creation, a sketch that would be carried to the bench. Featuring works by Antonio Lopez, Kenneth Paul Block, Tod Draz, René Gruau, Gladys Perint Palmer, Caroline Smith and Steven Stipelman, Drawing on Style showcases acute observations of the human body as well as layered identity. Sweeping moods and gestures contour the bodies, entangling elegance with wit. Each artist has their own way of working their mediums, of intertwining discipline with spontaneity, and accentuating the rush of bold experimentalism in the 1960s to 1970s.
Fashion is not just clothes, but social commentary; a testament to creativity and character.
Photo provided Alyssia Wihardja with permission from Dovecot Studios