The NGV has just announced that its upcoming summer blockbuster will centre around the legendary, subversive, late British fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

Opening on December 11, Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse has been curated in tandem by Melbourne’s NGV and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), which is perhaps best known for its outdoor, large-scale forest of city streetlights.

It’s the first major Australian exhibition to put the spotlight squarely on McQueen, who was among the most influential designers of the late 20th century.

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On show at NGV International will be 60 garments and accessories direct from LACMA’s rich holdings, but the Melbourne exhibition will also feature nearly 50 McQueen designs from the NGV’s own collection, making it an Australian exclusive. It’ll trace the theatrical, trailblazing designer’s career – from his controversial early collections, which pull from his ancestry and Scottish history, all the way to his last complete collection, Plato’s Atlantis from spring/summer 2010, the year he died.

“Alexander McQueen is beloved for his boundary-pushing and highly conceptual designs that set him apart from his contemporaries,” NGV director, Tony Ellwood AM, said in a statement. “With meticulous craftmanship and an intellectual rigour seldom seen on the runways before or since, he created a new vocabulary for fashion design that still resonates today.

“Comprising more than 110 garments, this show-stopping exhibition unites the collections of LACMA and the NGV for the very first time, and celebrates the timeless work of one of the true icons of late twentieth century fashion.”

Growing up in the south-east London borough of Lewisham, McQueen was far removed from the city – and country’s – fashion elite. But in just a few years he had infiltrated the industry, with influential fashion stylist and magazine editor Isabella “Issie” Blow becoming his patron and muse, propelling him to new heights.

McQueen found inspiration in darkness, often producing Roman Gothic and Victorian-inspired garments based on violence, sex and – particularly towards the end – death. His work commanded attention and placed McQueen in a league of his own.

To put his work in context, the exhibition will also feature 70 historical artworks – paintings, sculptures and photographs – speaking to what influenced McQueen.

Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse runs from December 11 to April 16, 2023, at NGV International. Admission fees apply.

ngv.vic.gov.au

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