A Match Made in Heaven

Cute would be the first to admit that his interest in high fashion cannot be underestimated.   His fascination with all kinds of clothes is, at best limited. He is interested in photography, as you know, art, cars, and all kinds of other things.  Me?  I used to read Vogue and wondered how the models were so skinny and the clothes so outrageously expensive.

So last week he was willing, if not exactly thrilled, when I re-suggested the Nerman Museum as likely entertainment on a hot summer day. Several friends had already been and said we absolutely had to go, but somehow, we had not made it out to Johnson County Community College. 

An exhibit, A Match Made in Heaven: Katherine Bernhardt x Jeremy Scott, has been there for the last several months and has been extended.  I’ll tell you now, you should go.   It is a collaboration, suggested by the museum director there, that Kansas City native, Jeremy Scott, get together with St. Louis artist, Katherine Bernhardt and  do an exhibition combining shoes, clothing, and modern art.

It is, and isn’t about shoes, clothing, and modern art.  It is about pop culture, definitely.  The day we went, they were out of brochures or any kind of info other than brief bios on the wall and the kindly docent said we should go to the website for more information. (This paragraph was somehow missing from my first publishing, dunno why, so had to republish.)

So I did go to the website, later, and here is the most of the too short explanation:  it’s “..the first exhibition to explore the shared references that unites Bernhardt’s paintings and Scott’s iconic fashion looks. Bernhardt is known for her colorful, energetic canvases that juxtapose symbols of everyday life, such as Windex, the golden arches of McDonalds, and Lucky Charms cereal, with imagery sourced from pop culture, such as the Simpsons characters, E.T., and the Pink Panther. The symbols are repeated as motifs, resulting in patterned paintings that elevate kitsch into high art.

"Scott’s fashion designs, created for the Italian design house Moschino (2013-2023), Adidas, and for his namesake brand, Jeremy Scott, adapt pop culture iconography into haute couture. His designs have been worn by celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and Rihanna, all of whom understand and appreciate his cheeky humor and of-the-moment references.”

I couldn't stop taking pictures and smiling.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but these do NOT do justice to the fabrics, creativity (windshield wipers! paperdolls! can lids!). Some just beautiful, some truly funky, some laugh-out-loud.

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The text above may be more than you want to know, here, but I would have wanted to know who wore what, when, and why.  No luck on that.  Shame.  

But a good documentary on Jeremy Scott was made in 2022 which you might enjoy as a post-visit or prelude (skip the too long and silly cow part at the end but do watch it through the credits).

When you go, you do get to think about what constitutes ART and what happens when we take common consumer goods and either elevate (or demote) them as symbols of who we are. Big questions aside, it’s funny, creative, and highly unusual - and well worth your time. 

Catch it before October 26 this year. It’s a kick!