Andrea Ayala Closa & Bogomir Doringer
Arkitekturmuseet – Galleri Jonas Kleerup – Weld in Stockholm
21 May - 31 May 2009
Curator: Tomas Rajnai
“The term fashion poses delimitational difficulties; finding sufficient and necessary parameters to define something as beeing artistic fashion has been challenging.”
Tomas Rajnai, curator for ALTER/MODE.
Tomas Rajnai, curator for ALTER/MODE.
The purpose of the exhibition ALTER/MODE: a world in between: fashion beyond clothes is to function as a venue of dialogue. The artists Andrea Ayala Closa and Bogomir Doringer, influenced by different times, spaces and media, redefine the notion of fashion in the era of globalization. They showcase a world where
fashion meets art; a world sprung from the theory that fashion is separate from clothes and their functionality – where the contradiction itself becomes a way through which to observe fashion. Ayala Closa exhibits at the Kleerup Gallery and Doringer shows his work at Weld. At a first glance, spectators might find these venues to be far apart but already at the entrance, the two spaces melt
together and become one. Live stream video walls allow the audience to observe both the physical pieces within the actual space they are in, all the while observing pieces projected on the screen from the other venue. At the Architecture museum, a third room will be presented for the visitors. Functionning as a controlroom, it will feature two big screens showing the activity in the exhibition
spaces Weld and Gallery Kleerup. The museum will also host a series of lectures and discussions during the period of the exhibition. This exhibition wants to give the visitor the possibility of observing fashion separated from trends, shopping
and functionality. The term fashion contains a variety of meanings and the explanation one will get depends on the person who is asked to explain it.
ALTER/MODE features two artists who have chosen to work with fashion as a tool for artistic expression. For the exhibition, a catalogue is also published, in which Ayala Closa and Doringer speak with the exhibition’s curator about the borderland in which they find
themselves, and their view on their own identities. For the making of the catalogue, a large number of photographers, designers, artists, illustrators, editorializers and curators have been invited and encouraged to interpret this borderland in their own way.
For further information, please contact the exhibition’s curator
Tomas Rajnai, tomas(AT)oddprojects.se +46 (0) 707172413
ANDREA AYALA CLOSA
(b. 1979 in Barcelona, Spain)
Barcelona-born Ayala Closa grew up in the Spanish countryside, where she invented her own dream world of animals and fantastic characters. Since, she has lived, studied and worked in Antwerp, Belgium, and in Dublin, Ireland. She recently returned to her
native Barcelona, and although her work reflects on the many contradictions between rural and urban anonymity, it is still highly influenced by her childhood dream world. Ayala Closa has since her years at Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts – the home
of the celebrated Antwerp Six – been renowned for her runway shows. Functioning as performance pieces, her shows allow the expression of important concepts which chronicle her perspective on suggestion and obsession through cultural signs. Her silhouettes are drawn away from traditional gender specific outfits and she has
created an implicational visual environment, allowing the viewer to take an active role in the experience of her work.
Ayala Closa believes in the power of observation and in the power that the mind unconsciously has to make objects come alive. Clothes are her means of conceptual exploration and the garments are imbued with her ideas and her thought processes. For ALTER/MODE, Ayala Closa draws parallels between elements of her past collections
as well as paintings and objects made more recently. The human-scale paintings together with her silhouettes manifest cultural values through poignant symbolism. Inspired by different rituals and ceremonies, she creates new meanings associated with her own life and background.
themselves, and their view on their own identities. For the making of the catalogue, a large number of photographers, designers, artists, illustrators, editorializers and curators have been invited and encouraged to interpret this borderland in their own way.
For further information, please contact the exhibition’s curator
Tomas Rajnai, tomas(AT)oddprojects.se +46 (0) 707172413
ANDREA AYALA CLOSA
(b. 1979 in Barcelona, Spain)
Barcelona-born Ayala Closa grew up in the Spanish countryside, where she invented her own dream world of animals and fantastic characters. Since, she has lived, studied and worked in Antwerp, Belgium, and in Dublin, Ireland. She recently returned to her
native Barcelona, and although her work reflects on the many contradictions between rural and urban anonymity, it is still highly influenced by her childhood dream world. Ayala Closa has since her years at Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts – the home
of the celebrated Antwerp Six – been renowned for her runway shows. Functioning as performance pieces, her shows allow the expression of important concepts which chronicle her perspective on suggestion and obsession through cultural signs. Her silhouettes are drawn away from traditional gender specific outfits and she has
created an implicational visual environment, allowing the viewer to take an active role in the experience of her work.
Ayala Closa believes in the power of observation and in the power that the mind unconsciously has to make objects come alive. Clothes are her means of conceptual exploration and the garments are imbued with her ideas and her thought processes. For ALTER/MODE, Ayala Closa draws parallels between elements of her past collections
as well as paintings and objects made more recently. The human-scale paintings together with her silhouettes manifest cultural values through poignant symbolism. Inspired by different rituals and ceremonies, she creates new meanings associated with her own life and background.
BOGOMIR DORINGER
(b. 1983 in Belgrade, Serbia)
Doringer titles himself immigrant, artist and fashion designer. His inspiration comes from the mass media, and the way it influences the thoughts and behaviour of the audience. Selective and collective memories interest him; he questions the media’s fabrication of specific topics and experiments with how the audience remembers these topics in the future. Doringer started working in the field of fashion as he considered it to be the only real way of criticizing the “face” of society. Belgrade-born Doringer grew up during the Balkan armed conflicts. He now lives and works in Amsterdam, and the contrast has led to a particular interest in ideas such
as cultural identity, nation-states, migration and dislocation. After having arrived in Holland, his work started reflecting on post-war values, and his status as an immigrant intensified his interest in sociopolitical issues. Doringer trained at the Audio Visual Department of the Rietveld Academy, and is cur-
rently attending the master course offered by the Film and TV Academy. He describes his work as being a narrative, a form of storytelling, incorporating different themes:
(b. 1983 in Belgrade, Serbia)
Doringer titles himself immigrant, artist and fashion designer. His inspiration comes from the mass media, and the way it influences the thoughts and behaviour of the audience. Selective and collective memories interest him; he questions the media’s fabrication of specific topics and experiments with how the audience remembers these topics in the future. Doringer started working in the field of fashion as he considered it to be the only real way of criticizing the “face” of society. Belgrade-born Doringer grew up during the Balkan armed conflicts. He now lives and works in Amsterdam, and the contrast has led to a particular interest in ideas such
as cultural identity, nation-states, migration and dislocation. After having arrived in Holland, his work started reflecting on post-war values, and his status as an immigrant intensified his interest in sociopolitical issues. Doringer trained at the Audio Visual Department of the Rietveld Academy, and is cur-
rently attending the master course offered by the Film and TV Academy. He describes his work as being a narrative, a form of storytelling, incorporating different themes:
“I place these themes on a timeline and start building the plot line around it”. His exhibitions are designed to be experienced culturally by his audience through a variety of media, including drawings, photographs, films and fashion.
In ALTER/MODE, Doringer presents the fifth phase of his project Fashion and Despair. In this project, the artist reflects upon the ongoing story about Natasha Kampush, who escaped eight years of captivity in a cellar and managed to change from being a victim
to becoming a talk show host in the Austrian channel PULS 4. Having investigated the victim role, the transformation of identity and the media’s part in fabricating an engaging story in the first four phases of his project, Doringer brings the parts together in this phase. The visitor gets to try on the role of the exposed, being
surveyed by the room. By using a story of nostalgia, longing and dispersal, Doringer investigates the complex relationship between artist, object, site and spectator.
to becoming a talk show host in the Austrian channel PULS 4. Having investigated the victim role, the transformation of identity and the media’s part in fabricating an engaging story in the first four phases of his project, Doringer brings the parts together in this phase. The visitor gets to try on the role of the exposed, being
surveyed by the room. By using a story of nostalgia, longing and dispersal, Doringer investigates the complex relationship between artist, object, site and spectator.
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