Monday, October 8, 2018

Heavenly Bodies at the Met Fifth Ave

Heavenly Bodies at the Met Fifth Avenue is a beautiful show that displays extravagant clothing designs based on the Catholic religion. The main portion of the exhibition takes place in the  medieval gallery. This is unexpected but contextualizes the fashion with earlier objects that it relates to. It features mainly designers who grew up in the Catholic faith and then explored their relationship with the religion through their art, fashion. Many of the featured designers and brands are well known such as Versace, Yves Saint Laurent,  Alexander McQueen, and Valentino. The show however seems to display significantly fewer pieces than in previous Costume Institute shows. There is limited space available in the medieval gallery and the show is spread over multiple locations including the Anna Wintour Costume Center, in the basement of the Met Fifth Avenue, and the Met Cloisters further uptown. Because of this the effect of the pieces is more underwhelming. The way the show is spaced over different locations around the city gives less flow to the exhibition. Because you have to walk through so many different and unrelated exhibits in order to see only the second part of the show, there is a distraction that leads to a choppy experience. 


  1. I have never seen the previous costume institute shows at the Met before so it was interesting that you pointed that out. As a first time viewer, I thought the show was over the top and very overwhelming. Do you think the Met did a proper job of presenting the Catholic religion? As you mentioned, a lot of contemporary designers were featured along with holy vestments so it encourages an environment for comparison. I enjoyed your piece and it made me think about other aspects of the show I did not realize before.

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  2. I like how the section of the show we saw in the Met is taking place in the medieval gallery. I always fascinate about how the curator of the Met recreate the interior design and decoration of the related culture to make the viewers feel like being in the culture. However, I agree how you mention about the space is limited in there and the whole show spread out in different location in the city and makes it choppy. Also, you give a really elaborate background information and criticizing about the show. How do you think the curator could do to improve the experience of the audiences? Also, regarding the structure of the review, it might be more intriguing if there is some narrative parts to make the reader to understand and feel about the exhibition.