After stops in Shanghai, Milan, Tokyo, São Paulo, and Düsseldorf, the Lady Dior As Seen By collection will head to the German capital from June 12-27.
The traveling exhibition, which spans work across mediums such as sculpture, photography, and video, features leading artistic talents capturing their interpretations of Lady Dior, the iconic Christian Dior handbag first made famous by the late Princess Diana in 1995. More than three decades later, Lady Dior still reflects the timeless glamour and enduring style of both Diana and the French fashion house.
The cult accessory’s long-standing influence continues with Lady Dior As Seen By, which since 2011 has grown to a collection of more than 150 works. Housed at the Michael Fuchs Gallery, the Berlin exhibition will unveil interpretations by three additional artists — sculptors Tomislav Topic and Michael Sailstorfer, and photographer Debora Mittelstaedt — all with ties to the German capital and each bringing a distinctive style and background to the collection.
Born in Hannover and now living in Berlin, Topic is well known for his colourful, site-specific art installations and murals, with a nonrepresentational style that lends itself equally well to a small gallery format and large-scale urban canvases. Sailstorfer, who hails from Velden, specializes in sculpture and installation, with his work featured as part of many major international public collections across Europe; his “Heavy Bag” interpretation features Lady Dior in cast iron, with other industrial elements. Born and raised in Cologne and now based in Berlin, Mittelstaedt specializes in narrative portraiture, with a variety of clients and projects across the commercial and editorial sectors. (Berlin-based artist Gregor Hildebrandt, a master of using audio and video tape as a unique medium, also is featured. His previously showcased work was inspired by the bag’s repeating rhombus shape, which Hildebrant says “has exactly the same width as two VHS tapes and one audio cassette.”)
These Berlin-based talents add yet more layers of complexity and nuance to the traveling exhibition — which is free to the public and a must-see for art aficionados, fashionistas, and anyone with an appreciation for the exquisite beauty, power, and possibility of a show-stopping handbag.
On view until June 27th at Michale Fuchs Galerie, Auguststrasse 11
Tuesday to Sunday 11AM – 6PM