Dear Pennies & Pens,
One of the cool things about Houston is that there are many museums and art galleries in the area. After checking out HMAAC, which you can read about here: Pen’s Eye: The Kinsey Collection at HMAAC, my sister and I went to The Menil Collection.
The Menil Collection is a cool museum that houses Dominique and John de Menil’s art collection. Though John and Dominique de Menil have passed on, their legacy lives on through this amazing space. Currently, The Menil Collection has a few exhibitions on view. The first one I saw was the Charles James exhibition.
For those that don’t know, Charles James was America’s first Couturier. The Charles James exhibition titled, “A Thin Wall of Air: Charles James” is a beautiful exhibit with pieces James’ designed for Dominique de Menil. The Charles James exhibition is the first exhibit at The Menil Collection to focus on the work of a fashion designer.
The title of the exhibition comes from an observation by the photographer Bill Cunningham, a close friend of James’s and a fashion legend in his own right. For James, Cunningham once said, the possibilities of design were found neither in the human form itself nor in the material, but in the space between the body and the fabric—“a thin wall of air.”
Organized by Assistant Curator Susan Sutton, the exhibition’s selection of works includes revolutionary eveningwear, coats, capes, and daywear – all custom-made for Dominique de Menil – as well as furnishings for the family’s residence (James’s only interior-design commission).
The pieces in the exhibit are extraordinary! My sister and I were both amazed by how classic and wearable the clothing was. I was also trying to see how I could fit the furnishings into my apartment, j/k! But seriously, it was a wonderful exhibit, please check it out! The Menil Collection doesn’t charge an admission fee and is open until 7pm Sunday – Wednesday. Check them out online here: www.menil.org.
And there it is…de la Pen…All Pen Everything.
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