Superb exhibit at the Estonian Museum of Applied Arts and Design

This was our last day in Tallin. Tomorrow at noonish we return to Helsinki and fly to Istanbul on Monday. It was an excellent day, with a visit to the Estonian Museum of Applied Arts and Design.    There we concentrated on the “New Nordic Fashion Illustration 2” exhibit.  I think you will agree that the works are fabulous!

Illustration is an orphan art genre.  It’s uses are primarily in advertising or as aids of other sorts, such as in books and magazines to support the story line.  Its pinnacle is reached in fashion illustration.  This use goes back to around 1750, per the exhibit we saw in Amsterdam at Rijks Museum.  But since the advent of fashion photography “…the  focus has shifted from conveying garments to independent self-expression, creating a new visual and captivating context and fascinating the viewer with idiosyncratic worlds, which in their uniqueness have found broad application in the fashion industry, magazines, the interior design of fashion outlets, and in the marketing strategies of the most diverse brands in the field of fashion and pop culture.”   http://www.etdm.ee/en/news?news_id=360

I struggle to see why we can not call this ‘art’ other than it’s end use, reflected in the lack of signatures on most of the pieces.  The artist hopes not to so much to make a statement as to sell the piece to a commercial entity.  Otherwise, it’s art.