Couture, Giant Bees + Melting Flowers

The opulent Somerset House.

Another post about my quest for never-ending cultural enlightenment. A brisk walk into that glacial wind that has been thrashing London for the past few weeks and across Waterloo Bridge, eyes firmly set on the end location; a eutopian (i think i may have just made that word up?) paradise located in the urban landscape of London: Somerset House.

Greeted by a giant unfolding white rose at the entrance to the Valentino Master Of Couture exhibition, i knew this was going to be an amazing experience. I wasn't wrong either. The exhibition starts by completely enchanting you with yet again another huge white unfolded rose, centred on the back wall of the exhibition space, looming over you. A series of animated projections are thrust upon this rose mimicking embroidery that embellishes the Valentino garments. Inside glass cabinets around the walls of this room there are: sketches, letters, invitations and photographs documenting high points and prolific acquaintances throughout Valentino Garavani's accomplished career. You then take a journey up Somerset House's glass gently spiralling staircase and enter 'the catwalk'. Met either side by an army of mannequins, with some of Valentino's very best couture bestowed upon them as you walk down 'the catwalk'. As you reach the end, the bride is there waiting to finish the show- true to the running order of most couture fashion shows. The lavish gown takes centre stage for a large finale to the exhibition. A small room draped in Valentino red plays on a loop an interview with the master himself as well as his business partner. An absolute must see, not only is it hugely educational and filled with beautiful garments, breath-taking couture! But it is a perfectly executed approach to exhibiting garments as well as all the other documentation; the whole idea of the show being centred around a couture fashion show was brilliant. (On til March 3rd 2013).

Tim Walker book Story Teller. Image not my own.

Crossing the courtyard of the marvellous Somerset House into the east wing for a joyous wander through the Tim Walker: Storyteller exhibition. The constructs and layout of the exhibition was less narrative than the Valentino one in a sense of fluidity; although the Tim Walker exhibition has rooms that were very much narrative and the story telling was confined by each individual space. The exhibition is like a fairground for the creative mind, full of highly detailed, largely scaled props which were used in Tim Walker's extravagant shoots. These remarkable objects were featured around Tim Walker's photography. For those who entered who only knew of Walker's work as highly theatrical and bustling with dream-like creations and ideas certainly would leave knowing another side to this photographers great works. As well as these huge photo shoots that were part of this exhibit, more parred back simpler photographs were displayed, yet they never lacked character or that electrifying quality that is unique to his work. Another showcase worth losing yourself in, let yourself get transported into an engaging, humorous, fantasy that Walker creates so wonderfully. (On til January 27th 2013..HURRY!)

The last stop of the day and for this post was the mighty ShowStudio space in Bruton Place. A small gallery displaying the magnificent collection Flora by Nick Knight, a great and iconic man in terms of fashion film/photography and pioneering the live streaming of fashion medias. The small studio space holds a deceiving amount of artwork but never did it feel cluttered, in fact it remained very crisp and clean which oddly mirrored his work. The pieces were a selection of large works of what looked like melting, running painted flowers, contrasted against the delicate and pure looking studies of various types of flora. I believe all of which was either digitally manipulated before printing or manipulated once printed. It was the large melted looking art works that really captivated me, they were unlike anything i had seen before and so absolutely stunning. It was the kind of art i could happily sit and stare at for hours, until the image was imprinted onto my eyes. Unfortunately this was the after the exhibition had ended so i can't tell you to go and see it but, please look online and check out some works by this truly talented man.

Nick Knight Flora. Image not my own.