Collar (Shade)- Nigel Ellis

Schmatte Couture –a title of contradictions. ‘Schmatte’ is the Yiddish for ‘rag’, overly-worn, worthless, ‘couture’ is high fashion- aspirational, expensive and ideal. Embracing these tensions Schmatte Couture is a group show of 16 international contemporary artists, presented by The Ben Uri Gallery, London Jewish Museum of Art, at The Rivington Gallery, EC2. Aptly, The Rivington Gallery begins to be transformed into a shop of mostly unwearable items and through this process questions arise regarding our relationship with clothing: what are the clothes we wear or don’t wear, and how do we build a wardrobe through our lives, literally clothing our experiences? And can this show begin to stitch together ‘schmatte’ and ‘couture’?

Schmatte Couture began as an artist group meeting on a monthly basis. Drawing together artists interested in clothing and textiles the aim was an exhibition that was as much the construction of an artist community as a display of works. Instead of artists solely presenting work and meeting each other on the private view, many of the artists contributed to the development of the show, its themes and ideas. In essence this is the work of a sewing circle, faced with the challenge of creating a patchwork quilt of artworks, personalities and histories, individually rich and yet different, with a shared goal. The decision was to find an off-site exhibition space, that fitted with the theme of the show, instead of it being held in The Ben Uri Gallery at St John’s Wood. Eventually The Rivington Gallery in the heart of the East End was found, suiting the show well since it is situated where Jewish tailors and seamstresses plied their trades in the recent past and is now near the cutting edge designers and shops of today.

For an artist clothing is a rich source of inspiration. What we wear carries with it our history and selves and our life journeys as illustrated in Sue Cohen’s Oh Gilda. Gilda’s life and experience spill out of her wardrobe with music and paints itself on her dress. Sue explains: ‘In Oh Gilda the everyday objects including Gilda’s clothes are beginning to absorb her life events. Stories become locked into the atmosphere - some are hidden away in wardrobes, absorbed by her houseplants, some even appear as the design on her curtain fabric.’

Clothing can express our fears and personalities and societies expectations as in Sue Goldschmidt’s ceramic piece, Under My Skin which is loosely autobiographical, and where clothing is harnessed as a metaphor for human experience. The artist describes: ‘Through imprints and traceries, the work employs contradictions, juxtaposition and correspondences. Under My Skin is a darker reflection on notions of Jewish heritage.’ Meital Covo’s dress and bracelet, Hers, have prints of hair all over. Meital explains the works are a conceptual art clothesline consisting of skirts, vests, bags and bracelets, onto which a realistic image of women's hair are printed. ‘The objects evoke a dual physical sensation, of both repulsion and attraction. They might look beautiful, but also might not be acceptable to look at. The work questions conventions in relation to consumerism and the female body.’

The process of making clothes, through sewing and patching can also be a metaphor for how our lives develop as in the work of Anita Ceballos Stitched and Patched. Anita tells how: ‘working within self-portrait, needlework becomes a metaphor for the development of the self: construction, de- construction and repair.’ The transforming of clothes is explored in Stuart Mayes Buddies where with deftness and skill the everyday can become special, and the elements of conformity around us can become organic and expressive. Stuart relates: ‘These roses fashioned from gentlemen’s neckties make reference to a colourful exuberance a city man might afford himself. The necktie is transformed from item of a man’s professional wardrobe into something live and organic, with a twist of the hand they slip from something businesslike into something sensuous and intimate.’

Transformation and subversion of clothing is also evident in Nigel Ellis’ painting Collar (Shade). The image has been subtley and delicately reversed - literally. The artist clarifies: ‘Collar belongs to a series of Shade paintings of hanging coats and jackets, where the tones and colours are reversed, like a photographic negative’. Stretching clothing towards a fantasy realm is undertaken by Luke Cooper. Luke’s Horse Dress is a remarkable sculpture/ costume built for performance, that examines the ethereal. Luke was inspired by Samuel Beckett’s play ‘Happy Days’, where a woman is buried up to her waist in a mountain/rubbish heap. Luke describes how he is fascinated by: ‘The absurdity of this literal installation, [how it] creates theatre – Where did she come from? How did she get there? How did I get here, into her world? Does she eat or sleep and have blood like we do or is it just an ethereal apparition?’

Yet even the mundane is worthy of investigation. Anneke Raber’s Chair is formed of a careful, brightly coloured series of images printed on aluminium illustrating how different people place their clothes on chairs. As a practising chiropodist Anneke had ample opportunity to see how her clients left their coats, bags and shoes at the start of an appointment. She transforms their carelessness into fine art and pervades it with significance and insight. And perhaps this is the linking thread that unifies the artists vision in such a mixed show as Schmatte Couture. Where ‘schmatte’ is a casual and nonchalant approach, ‘couture’ is a feeling precious towards something and treating it with wonder and delight. Whilst something may be a ‘schmatte’ in many people’s eyes, to the artists in this show it becomes something visionary, remarkable, original and revealing. And well you may remember this, returning return home, exhausted, dumping all your clothes on the nearest surface.

On Sunday, 14th September which coincides with London Fashion Week, there will be artists talks between 2 and 5pm chaired by James Young, co-curator of The Fabric of Myth, at Compton Verney, as well as performances by Luke Cooper and Rachel Rose Reid. Free. All welcome

Schmatte Couture
20 August- 14th September 2008
Wednesday- Sunday 12- 5pm
The Rivington Gallery
69 Rivington Street
EC2A 3AY
020 7729 5090
info@benuri.org.uk