Exhibitions: Yvonne Todd at the Tauranga Art Gallery

3 September to 6 November 2016

In 2014 I was invited by the City Gallery in Wellington, to curate a ‘Frock Room’ as part of Creamy Psychology, a major retrospective exhibition of photographer Yvonne Todd. The ‘Frock Room’ featured glamorous gowns, including vintage ‘celebrity couture’, from Todd’s personal collection – among them a Bob Mackie sequined dress formerly owned by pop diva Whitney Houston, which Todd used to create Gold Study (Female), 2007.

Claire Regnault in the ‘Frock Room’ at Creamy Psychology, City Gallery, 2014. Photo: Mark Tantrum

I am currently working with Yvonne Todd and the Tauranga Art Gallery to mount an expanded version of the ‘Frock Room’. Fictitious Bodies: Costume in Yvonne Todd’s Photography opens on 3 September alongside a new suite of work by Yvonne curiously entitled Barnacles. Yvonne and I will be giving a floor talk in the galleries on Saturday 3 September at 11am. Entry is FREE.

Yvonne Todd, Pale Blue, 2016. C-type print
Yvonne Todd, Pale Blue, 2016 from Barnacles. C-type print

Fictitious Bodies includes 10 exquisite garments, dating from 1895 to 1995, and 15 of Todd’s most glamorous, off-kilter portraits. Meanwhile, in the adjacent gallery,  the models for Barnacles don a range of intriguing costumes designed by Todd. Furnishing cord looms large.

Ladies in waiting. Anne Peranteau, a Textile Conservator from Te Papa, has been helping staff from the Tauranga Art Gallery prepare the garments for display through National Services Te Paerangi's 'expert exchange' programme. Photo: Anne Peranteau, Te Papa.
Gowns in waiting. This photograph was snapped behind the scenes by Anne Peranteau, a Textile Conservator from Te Papa. Anne has been helping staff from the Tauranga Art Gallery prepare Yvonne’s collection for display as part of National Services Te Paerangi’s ‘expert exchange’ programme.

 

 

 

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