SINCE establishing an art gallery alongside their Singapore flagship store in 2005, French fashion house Hermes brought their involvement in contemporary art to yet another level this year as a sponsor of inaugural Singapore Biennale in September.
Its gallery Third Floor-Hermes has been exhibiting one of the two works of Biennale artist, Takashi Kuriyabashi. The Japanese artist has a penchant for featuring random appearances of dugongs, penguins and seals in his installations. He is also known for creating sub-worlds or in-between zones in his works to trigger a sense of elation through disorientation, and confound the Biennale visitors at the Hermes gallery, he did.
Specifically, his work “Hermes Column”, is a false pillar that he built to mimic the existing pillars of the gallery space, and a porthole on “Hermes Column” reveals a hidden “gateway”, alluding to the continuation of his work situated at another Biennale venue. But step into the gallery and before visitors get to this, they are greeted by an “art” which replicates the boutique on the first two floors. Kuriyabashi transformed the gallery space to look just like the shop space so much so a sizeable amount of visitors thought they were in the wrong venue. The shop’s merchandise provide a clue of his mark though: part of his art is draped literally on hangers - Hermes seal suits alongside Hermes garments and both are for sale.
It is one thing to be sponsoring art and art events, and luxury fashion at national-level art expositions is not a new thing. Since 2003, Italian luxury jeweler Bvlgari has been a key partner of Miami and Switzerland’s Art Basel. But it’s another when sponsors try to be art themselves, and artists themselves are part of this art-making. This case study will continue explore the relationship between art and fashion within the schema of the economics of consumer culture.