FASHION STATEMENTS : These Works of Art Are Meant to Be Worn

Forget what you’ve been told about museum art. At the Palos Verdes Art Center’s Stewart Gallery on Saturday, the message will be: “Don’t just look; touch.”

This weekend, The Artists’ Studio Gallery, the center’s cooperative of 60 South Bay artists, will present its second annual wearable art show, an event that is part exhibit, part fashion show.

“This is art that’s made to be touched--from the inside,” said Judy Barnes Baker, artist and fashion show coordinator.

As demonstrated in “Fashion Plates: Kosode in Japanese Prints,” the current exhibit at the Pavilion for Japanese Art of the L.A. County Museum of Art, clothing at times has crossed the line into the world of art. Today’s “wearable art” takes clothing past trendy and beyond utilitarian while challenging traditional definitions of art.

“Just like paintings need a frame, the human body is the frame for wearable art,” said artists’ studio manager Gabrielle, a printmaker who uses no last name. Fine, but if the term wearable art still summons up images of wrapping a Van Gogh around your waist, Baker’s explanation may help.

“It’s an original concept created by one person that becomes kinetic as it’s being worn,” she said. “It goes beyond fashion. It’s participatory art because the wearer becomes part of the art.”

About 50 of these one-of-a-kind works--including dresses, jackets, hats, belts and jewelry--will be modeled by artists and friends for audiences during a morning champagne brunch and again at an afternoon sherry tea.

The outfits represent a range of techniques including batik, applique, embroidery and beading.

Some are handwoven, painted or knit, and all will be accessorized with original jewelry created by cooperative members. Baubles, beads and belts in cooper, brass, silver, ceramic and antique pieces will be on sale.

Among the works to debut on the runway will be Baker’s black Ultrasuede bustier, decorated with hand-painted, three-dimensional silvery-lavender Ultrasuede flowers and worn with a black chiffon skirt for evening.

Joanelle Connolly’s hand-dyed raw silk coat and coordinating hat will be a featured daytime outfit. Among the innovative concepts will be a collapsible hat that can’t be crushed in transit.

“There are pieces that are beautiful enough that people may want to wear them and then take them home to put on the wall,” Baker said.

But wearing art is not for the fashion-conscious or the faint of heart, artists’ studio cooperative member Lois Farmer said.

“If you’re timid, you may not pull it off,” Farmer said. “You have to be a certain type of person, confident and comfortable with yourself to wear some to these things because they are not necessarily what’s ‘in’ in the fashion world. . . . You have to think of it as art, not just fashion.”

The works are priced for every pocketbook and range from $10 to $900.

To accompany the wearable art exhibit, a complete champagne brunch will be served at 9:30 a.m. with a menu featuring eggs Florentine, homemade marmalade and baked goods, Greek salad, fresh fruit and Valentine’s Day goodies.

The 2 p.m. show will be presented during a sherry tea featuring fresh scones, salmon mousse and liver walnut pate, tea sandwiches and strawberries with clotted cream. Assorted teas, sherry or champagne will complement the food. Sculpture, ceramics and baskets created by studio members will decorate the tables.

Seating is limited. Tickets are $15 and must be purchased in advance. Proceeds from ticket sales and 5% of all clothing sales will benefit the Art Center’s Exhibition Endowment Fund.

Also on exhibit in the Stewart Gallery through Feb. 26 will be “Pictures at an Exhibition,” a display of two-dimensional works such as oil paintings, watercolors, prints and sketches. The 12th National Juried Printmaking Exhibition remains at the Beckstrand Gallery through Feb. 20.

The Palos Verdes Art Center is located at 5504 Crestridge Road, Rancho Palos Verdes. For more information, call (310) 541-2479.