We’ve long had issues with the way the word “couture” is bandied about in the fashion realm, often dumbed down to mean simply, “fashion.” To us, couture is shorthand for haute couture which yes, implies made-to-measure garments, but also includes all of the specialized artisans and their technical prowess that the couturier can bring to bear on a design, and specifically refers to the members of the Chambre Syndicale. Abstractly, it implies more than the design and creation of a garment, a patronage relationship with the designer as artist. Which is why you could look at Nan Kempner as a great patron as much as you could a clotheshorse.
Here’s the word again, this time rearing its head in the realm of art. And this time the shoe fits so we’ll wear it.
Couture08 has nothing, in fact to do with fashion, but everything to do with commissioning and patronage. It is a project by New American Art Union in which chosen artists are given a $7,000 stipend (and $1000 for materials) for a 2008 exhibition at NAAU. The original call was for “artists who are interested in taking over the entire NAAU gallery and creating an interdisciplinary, multimedia environment.” The selected artists include Rose McCormick, Ty Ennis, Jim Lommasson, Jacqueline Ehlis, TJ Norris, Stephen Slappe, Vanessa Renwick, Laura Fritz, Ethan Jackson, and The Video Gentlemen: Carl Diehl, Jesse England and Mack McFarland. For every artist who’s ever complained about a lack of patronage and money in Portland, NAAU has stepped up, thrown down, put money where mouth is, and probably a half-dozen other cliches as well. It’s good for art, good for Portland, and we can’t wait to see what happens at NAAU next year.
