About

Fashion, art, design, science and technology collide in the world of endlessly innovative and internationally acclaimed Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen.

Exclusive to Brisbane, this exhibition is an immersive sensory exploration of her practice with close to 100 garments in conversation with contemporary artworks, natural history specimens and cultural artefacts from which the designer draws inspiration.

Created for the likes of Beyonce, Björk, Cate Blanchett, Lady Gaga and Tilda Swinton, van Herpen’s sculptural silhouettes stem from a deep curiosity about the universe and a highly collaborative approach to haute couture. Her unconventional and dynamic approach to fabrics and techniques combines subtle hand-crafting with sophisticated technologies such as 3D printing to evoke the intricacy and diversity of the natural world, from marine biology to quantum physics.

Curated by Cloé Pitiot and Louise Curtis from Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, in collaboration with Nina Miall and Jacinta Giles from QAGOMA, ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ includes an evocation of the designer’s Amsterdam studio, revealing the stages of a dress in development, and a space dedicated to her fashion shows. The entire exhibition is accompanied by a new soundscape by artist Salvador Breed.

In addition to van Herpen’s garments, footwear and headpieces, the exhibition features an installation of Biospheres by Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno, astronomical photographs, documentary footage of blooms of phytoplankton and fungal networks by Yann Arthus Bertrand and Michael Pitiot, colourful photographic abstractions by Kim Keever, sculptures in beeswax by Ren Ri and Tomáš Libertíny, a kinetic artwork featuring 300 gold seed pods by Casey Curran, and two immersive installations by the Japanese art collective Mé.

Exhibition co-organized by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris and QAGOMA, Brisbane, based on an original exhibition designed by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.