Chanel Mobile Art Exibition

The Chanel Mobile Art exhibition, a futuristic pod pavilion conceived by architect Zaha Hadid, will occupy Rumsey Playfield in New York’s Central Park for three weeks, from Oct. 20 to Nov. 9. The exhibition is the brainchild of Karl Lagerfeld, who initiated the idea to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Chanel’s 2.55 quilted chain handbag. Fabrice Bousteu, editor-in-chief of Beaux Arts magazine, also curates the exhibition. “For me, there is Chanel, and there is Karl Lagerfeld, who is an incarnation of fashion,” he told Sarah Douglas of Art+Auction. Twenty international designers, including Switzerland’s Sylvie Fleury, “Japan’s Warhol” Nobuyoshi Araki and Yoko Ono, have applied their creativity to an interpretation of the iconic Chanel bag. And the artistic expressions that have emerged “include sculpture, photographs, videos and installation pieces,” reported The New York Times.But Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s head of fashion, insists the show is not just an ad for the company. “Mobile Art is not about advertising … it’s about design and creation. Chanel is one of the last houses that believe very strongly in creation.”The exhibition first touched down in Hong Kong and Tokyo where it received rave reviews for the concept, execution and ease of use. The next venue on the whistle-stop tour is London in the spring, followed by Moscow and finally Paris in January 2010. Adrian Benepe, New York City’s parks commissioner, notes that the traveling show represents a windfall both for the city and Central Park in particular; the former has already received a healthy six-figure usage fee and the Central Park Conservancy will also get a seven-figure bonus. “It’s like an alien spacecraft that lands in the park and, before you know it, takes off again,” Mr. Benepe told The New York Times.

October 21, 2008 1:27 PM
by Gerit Quealy