Weary of being out in the rain, Big Chrissy and I stopped into the de Young to see the Jean-Paul Gaultier exhibit. The de Young has comfortably settled into its funhouse policy, and pulled no stops in making this show a sure crowd-pleaser. Upon entering, you hear Gaultier’s booming voice, and then see his chattering face projected on the head of a life-sized mannequin. It’s a magical motif, used throughout the show, with different mannequins blabbering away, some just blinking. His cone bras are given a special little sort of padded fetishy glassed-in cell, in the center of one gallery. They’re actually stunning, as with all of the designs in the show, exquisitely tailored and exquisitely perverse. Since his designs no longer shock, one is able to fully appreciate the doors he opened with his gender-bending styles, embrace of immigrants and multiculturalism, and his obvious enjoyment of the full spectrum of human experience and interaction.
Still raining, we made our way to the Legion to see the Victorian Avant-Garde show. The show presents a wide range of handsomely fabricated objects from the British Aesthetic movement, covering the movement’s influence on painting, architecture, fashion and design. Velvet knee breeches, Christopher Dresser teapots, Whistler’s Nocturnes, William Morris wallpaper, and all those wispy red-haired beauties…