Visit MoPOP’s Fashion Exhibition – A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes

Have you visited MoPOP recently? It’s time to go back!

Installation view, New Orleans Museum of Art Ashish, Keta Gutmane and Vivienne Westwood (Photo Credit: Josh Brasted)

A Queen  Within: Adorned Archetypes, MoPOP’s newest exhibit, explores six personality types of a  queen – or, metaphorically, a woman: The Sage, Enchantress, Explorer, Mother Earth, Heroine and Thespian. The story of each persona, which also forms the themes of the exhibition, is articulated through contemporary fashion, photography, film, and artwork.

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway for the Chromat collection during, New York Fashion Week: The Shows at Gallery 3, Skylight Clarkson Sq on February 10, 2017 in New York City. (Photo Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Chromat)

In storytelling, archetypes exist as powerful figures that consolidate certain human universals. Through female archetypes in particular, we may glimpse the essence and multiplicities of feminine resolve. In this exhibition, each form of the  queen  stands as a powerful wellspring of creative inspiration for contemplating the relationship between dress, society and our shared history.

Green embroidered feather dress. Widows of Culloden, F/W 2006. Courtesy of Barrett Barrera Projects & RKL Consulting. (Photo Credit: Sarah Carmody)

A Queen Within  highlights a broad range of designers—from the internationally famous to the currently emerging—resulting in a deep inquiry into the diverse nature of the feminine. Gowns, wigs, shoes, and photographs are presented in immersive environments rich in symbolism, inviting visitors to peer into the private worlds of the deeply powerful feminine figures.