Turn the first page of the spring 2007 Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) magazine and an Agent Provocateur advert is revealed featuring two languorous females scantily clad in translucent lingerie against a backdrop of a turbulent waterfall and erupting volcano.
Visit the V&A website and after a couple of clicks discover how to get your free 'kitty tie-side' panties from one of the museum's promotional partners. This heady mix of art, sex and commerce is central to the themes explored in the V&A's latest blockbuster exhibition, Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design.
Upmarket underwear brand Agent Provocateur is one of the show's sponsors along with Selfridges, Les Trois Garçons, the Brompton Quarter Knightsbridge and media partner Vanity Fair. These purveyors of luxury goods and services have a target customer group whose socio-demographic profile broadly matches that of the 'average' art fair and museum visitor.
The mutually beneficial collaboration between the V&A and its corporate partners highlights how the form of culture offered by the museum is closely aligned to that of the luxury marketplace.
Historically the V&A has had a complex relationship with commerce, preferring to emphasise the aesthetic qualities of its exhibits and the creative genius of designers at the expense of the economic realities that shape production and consumption. This makes the focus of its latest exhibition, described in a press release as the 'increasing commercialisation of surrealism's visual aesthetic', an unusual departure.
Its curator, Ghislaine Wood, explained how the show was not about a movement in design, but about how artists such as Salvador Dalí had become involved with design and how surrealism had inspired designers.
Wood, who previously curated the V&A's Art Deco 1910-1939 show, said the aim was to explore a cultural phenomenon that would be presented in a 'theatrical and fun' way, but which also involved important new research.
The exhibition begins with high drama as lush velvet curtains part to reveal the stage set designed by Max Ernst and Jean Miró for a Ballets Russes production of Romeo and Juliet in 1926. Here the tension between a movement that originated in radical literature and Marxist ideology and the pressures of the commercial world become evident.
The founders of the surrealist movement, André Breton and Louis Aragon, organised a demonstration at the Paris premiere of the ballet accompanied by leaflets stating that 'it is inadmissible that ideas should be at the behest of money'.
The theme of surrealism's complex association with the ma-terial world is exemplified by objects such as Oscar Dominguez's Wheelbarrow (1937). Photographed by Man Ray with reclining model in Vionnet evening gown, the image of the glamorous woman in the red satin quilted wheelbarrow provides evidence of the burgeoning relationship between designer fashion and the 'unique' surrealist artefact.
Today Dominguez's Wheelbarrow, Dalí's Aphrodisian Jacket (1936/1967) and Meret Oppenheim's Table with Bird's Legs (1939) although intriguing, have lost the power to shock. The process of creating new formations through unusual juxtapositions has become a familiar marketing strategy.
The 19th-century French poet Comte de Lautréamont's phrase about 'the chance meeting of a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissecting table' finds its modern equivalent in the marketing mantras of books such as Funky Business. Here, trendy Swedish authors Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell Nordstrom exhort 'marketeers' to embrace the 'cut and paste culture', because 'the weirder the combination, the more unique the result'
.
Interestingly a reproduction of Oppenheim's table, originally produced as a critique of consumer culture, is now offered for sale 'exclusively through the museum shop' at £1,295. Advertised on the V&A shop's website, the table, along with a number of other selected surrealist pieces, is accompanied by a description of the merchandise as detailed as any museum label.
From its focus on the surrealist object, the exhibition moves on to the domestic interior as the subject of surrealist paintings, and to the influence of surrealism on real interiors. One fascinating exhibit is Dalí's work on Edward James's house at Monkton in Sussex with its purple facade and extraordinary furnishings that includes the Dalí sofa modelled on Mae West's lips.
The least satisfactory part of Surreal Things is the section that explores biomorphism and the adoption of organic forms of language by artists such as Miró. In spite of the huge Miró-style mobile suspended from the ceiling, the room lacks the drama and quirkiness of the rest of the show.
But exhibition designer Metaphor has more than made up for this with the spectacular fashion finale entitled Displaying the Body. This room is dominated by a sculptural form, which appears to unfurl like a roll of fabric. Part catwalk, part podium, the device is used to display such Elsa Schiaparelli garments as her Skeleton evening dress of 1938.
The section also features a reconstruction of the fashion designer's perfume shop in Paris and showcases Dalí's jewel-encrusted accessories. The darker side of surrealism is also captured here in Schiaparelli's fetishistic footwear and in the images of deformed dolls by photographer Hans Bellmer.
The exhibition shop, full of lobsters and dummy legs, deserves a mention. Designed in-house, it has become increasingly imaginative and more outrageously kitsch with each exhibition and is a lot more fun than the Central Hall Shop designed by Eva Jiricna.
The V&A shop's retail partner, Selfridges, is a collaborator in this surrealist homage, hosting an event that focuses on the movement's influence on contemporary, rather than historical, art and design.
Windows are given over to what the department store describes as 'surrealism-friendly designers' and there is a surreal shop-in-shop selling V&A products. A giant inflatable eyeball by artists Dadadandy dangles from the shop's facade and the promotion's strapline 'this is not a store' is a paraphrase of René Magritte.
Surreal Things is a terrific show with a clear thematic arrangement and strong narrative that avoids the visual overload of the survey blockbusters that preceded it. The V&A has managed to combine new insights and serious research with entertainment, theatrical spectacle and multiple shopping opportunities.
Three new books accompany the show and it will later tour to the Netherlands and Spain. As an artefact and event in its own right, the exhibition and its network of partnerships exemplifies the paradoxical relationship between commerce and culture.
Nicky Ryan is a senior lecturer in visual culture and theory, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
Project data
Cost: Undisclosed
Main funders: Friends of the V&A
Curator: Ghislaine Wood
Exhibition design: Metaphor
Lighting: DHA
AV hardware and software: New Angle Productions
Exhibition contractor: The Hub
Display cases: Armour Systems
Exhibition ends: 22 July
Visit the V&A website and after a couple of clicks discover how to get your free 'kitty tie-side' panties from one of the museum's promotional partners. This heady mix of art, sex and commerce is central to the themes explored in the V&A's latest blockbuster exhibition, Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design.
Upmarket underwear brand Agent Provocateur is one of the show's sponsors along with Selfridges, Les Trois Garçons, the Brompton Quarter Knightsbridge and media partner Vanity Fair. These purveyors of luxury goods and services have a target customer group whose socio-demographic profile broadly matches that of the 'average' art fair and museum visitor.
The mutually beneficial collaboration between the V&A and its corporate partners highlights how the form of culture offered by the museum is closely aligned to that of the luxury marketplace.
Historically the V&A has had a complex relationship with commerce, preferring to emphasise the aesthetic qualities of its exhibits and the creative genius of designers at the expense of the economic realities that shape production and consumption. This makes the focus of its latest exhibition, described in a press release as the 'increasing commercialisation of surrealism's visual aesthetic', an unusual departure.
Its curator, Ghislaine Wood, explained how the show was not about a movement in design, but about how artists such as Salvador Dalí had become involved with design and how surrealism had inspired designers.
Wood, who previously curated the V&A's Art Deco 1910-1939 show, said the aim was to explore a cultural phenomenon that would be presented in a 'theatrical and fun' way, but which also involved important new research.
The exhibition begins with high drama as lush velvet curtains part to reveal the stage set designed by Max Ernst and Jean Miró for a Ballets Russes production of Romeo and Juliet in 1926. Here the tension between a movement that originated in radical literature and Marxist ideology and the pressures of the commercial world become evident.
The founders of the surrealist movement, André Breton and Louis Aragon, organised a demonstration at the Paris premiere of the ballet accompanied by leaflets stating that 'it is inadmissible that ideas should be at the behest of money'.
The theme of surrealism's complex association with the ma-terial world is exemplified by objects such as Oscar Dominguez's Wheelbarrow (1937). Photographed by Man Ray with reclining model in Vionnet evening gown, the image of the glamorous woman in the red satin quilted wheelbarrow provides evidence of the burgeoning relationship between designer fashion and the 'unique' surrealist artefact.
Today Dominguez's Wheelbarrow, Dalí's Aphrodisian Jacket (1936/1967) and Meret Oppenheim's Table with Bird's Legs (1939) although intriguing, have lost the power to shock. The process of creating new formations through unusual juxtapositions has become a familiar marketing strategy.
The 19th-century French poet Comte de Lautréamont's phrase about 'the chance meeting of a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissecting table' finds its modern equivalent in the marketing mantras of books such as Funky Business. Here, trendy Swedish authors Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell Nordstrom exhort 'marketeers' to embrace the 'cut and paste culture', because 'the weirder the combination, the more unique the result'
.
Interestingly a reproduction of Oppenheim's table, originally produced as a critique of consumer culture, is now offered for sale 'exclusively through the museum shop' at £1,295. Advertised on the V&A shop's website, the table, along with a number of other selected surrealist pieces, is accompanied by a description of the merchandise as detailed as any museum label.
From its focus on the surrealist object, the exhibition moves on to the domestic interior as the subject of surrealist paintings, and to the influence of surrealism on real interiors. One fascinating exhibit is Dalí's work on Edward James's house at Monkton in Sussex with its purple facade and extraordinary furnishings that includes the Dalí sofa modelled on Mae West's lips.
The least satisfactory part of Surreal Things is the section that explores biomorphism and the adoption of organic forms of language by artists such as Miró. In spite of the huge Miró-style mobile suspended from the ceiling, the room lacks the drama and quirkiness of the rest of the show.
But exhibition designer Metaphor has more than made up for this with the spectacular fashion finale entitled Displaying the Body. This room is dominated by a sculptural form, which appears to unfurl like a roll of fabric. Part catwalk, part podium, the device is used to display such Elsa Schiaparelli garments as her Skeleton evening dress of 1938.
The section also features a reconstruction of the fashion designer's perfume shop in Paris and showcases Dalí's jewel-encrusted accessories. The darker side of surrealism is also captured here in Schiaparelli's fetishistic footwear and in the images of deformed dolls by photographer Hans Bellmer.
The exhibition shop, full of lobsters and dummy legs, deserves a mention. Designed in-house, it has become increasingly imaginative and more outrageously kitsch with each exhibition and is a lot more fun than the Central Hall Shop designed by Eva Jiricna.
The V&A shop's retail partner, Selfridges, is a collaborator in this surrealist homage, hosting an event that focuses on the movement's influence on contemporary, rather than historical, art and design.
Windows are given over to what the department store describes as 'surrealism-friendly designers' and there is a surreal shop-in-shop selling V&A products. A giant inflatable eyeball by artists Dadadandy dangles from the shop's facade and the promotion's strapline 'this is not a store' is a paraphrase of René Magritte.
Surreal Things is a terrific show with a clear thematic arrangement and strong narrative that avoids the visual overload of the survey blockbusters that preceded it. The V&A has managed to combine new insights and serious research with entertainment, theatrical spectacle and multiple shopping opportunities.
Three new books accompany the show and it will later tour to the Netherlands and Spain. As an artefact and event in its own right, the exhibition and its network of partnerships exemplifies the paradoxical relationship between commerce and culture.
Nicky Ryan is a senior lecturer in visual culture and theory, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
Project data
Cost: Undisclosed
Main funders: Friends of the V&A
Curator: Ghislaine Wood
Exhibition design: Metaphor
Lighting: DHA
AV hardware and software: New Angle Productions
Exhibition contractor: The Hub
Display cases: Armour Systems
Exhibition ends: 22 July
