T H E C I T Y E DI T
AGENDA
Experience the season’s noteworthy events and festivals of fashion, theatre, arts and design. By Juliette Baxter
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Large-scale polychromic sculptures offer bold contrast to black-and-white murals depicting an emotional crowd. Nicolas Party, Head, 2021. Private collection, courtesy of Xavier Hufkens, Brussels. © Nicolas Party. Photo: Rebecca Fanuele
“Legend of the Dragon.” Guo Pei autumn/winter 2012 collection. Courtesy of the artist. ©️Guo Pei/Asian Couture Federation. Photo: Lian Xu
MONTREAL
SAN FRANCISCO
LIFE OF THE PARTY
COUTURE GOLD
February 12 – October 16
April 16 – September 5
If Swiss-born contemporary artist Nicolas Party is not on your radar yet, he soon will be. For his first solo exhibition in Canada, Party’s fantastical colourdrenched paintings, painted sculptures and installations are being showcased at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. On view are his massive oil pastel murals, created in situ, alongside a curated selection of works from the museum’s permanent collection. The nature-themed show — “L’heure mauve” — is a nod to the iconic painting by Ozias Leduc that references the fleeting purple haze of twilight hour. Quite apropos to Party’s penchant for depicting the enigmatic beauty of the natural world. mbam.qc.ca
Guo Pei, China’s first couturier, has been designing since the early ’90s, but the moment she first wowed the Western couture scene was in 2015, at the Met Gala. That was where pop star Rihanna made her appearance, clad in Guo’s magnificent embroidered golden yellow gown. Since then, there have been books, extensive media coverage and documentaries about the Beijing-born designer. Now, Guo has the distinction of having designed the first clothing piece to be auctioned by Sotheby’s as a work of art rather than a collector’s item. It took five years to complete Guo’s traditional Chinese bridal dress, handsewn with gold thread and 30 stitching techniques. More than 80 of this master couturier’s stunning designs are on exhibit at the Legion of Honor fine arts museum in Lincoln Park. legionofhonor.famsf.org
