Artist, Rebel, Dandy
Introduction
Artist/Rebel/Dandy documents the enduring, global impact of the dandy-that distinctively dressed figure who has pervaded Western culture for more than two centuries. From Beau Brummell in the late 18th century to the international style-makers of today, this character epitomizes the powerful bond between clothing, identity, and creativity. Garbed with great intention and at least a hint of provocation, the dandy is forward-thinking, conscientious, and thoroughly artistic.
This presentation celebrates exquisitely crafted personal ensembles and visual representations associated with individual dandies around the world. The featured personalities are grouped to suggest kinship across chronological and geographic borders under the themes of historians, connoisseurs, revolutionaries, romantics, and explorers. The items on display represent the dandy as an international figure, but they also reflect the tableaux visible every day in RISD’s creative environment. They illustrate how experimental self-invention, the constructive urge to challenge the status quo, and the power of well-crafted clothing work together in the lives of these remarkable individuals who are at once artists, rebels, and dandies.
Kate Irvin, Laurie Brewer
Exhibition images
Events
Publications
Articles
As the RISD Museum hosts the final stop on the tour of Graphic Design: Now in Production, an exhibition that began at the Walker in 2011, we're starting a series that updates the show by checking in with some of the designers featured in it, to see the work they have been doing since 2010.
A time lapse view of the installation of the RISD Museum's groundbreaking exhibition Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion.
RISD Museum object photography generally follows typical museum practice: a straightforward approach to framing and lighting with great concern for color fidelity. For Artist/Rebel/Dandy, the curators suggested that we go in a different direction.
Richard Merkin was for decades the go-to authority for all things dandyish. As we see in the ephemera from his life and his tailored clothing on view in the exhibition "Artist/Rebel/Dandy", his personality and fashion sense live on at RISD.
