An Artist Flirts with Fashion

Kerry Pieri, Harper's Bazaar, March 18, 2013

There's a thin line between art and fashion, though many would argue there's no line at all. The Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave is a champion of the latter belief, fusing her youthful desire to color outside the lines (and, thus, on the walls of her bedroom) with her studies in fashion design. Interested primarily in intricate textiles, Isabelle's knack for uniting these two creative fields has resulted most notably in trompe l'oeil paintings and sculptures that invite viewers to determine the facts from the fiction on their own terms. Her creations, often made simply of paper and paint, appear to be much more than that, their likeness to fabric so inspiring that Givenchy himself deemed Isabelle's work "one of a kind." A new exhibit at the Serge Sorokko Gallery will display many of her famed pieces, including the Fortuny inspired Delphos dresses (seen here), alongside never before seen bronze sculptures. So whether you're a fan of art dressed up as fashion, or fashion as art, de Borchgrave's latest dalliance with surreality is one you don't want to miss.

 

"Isabelle de Borchgrave: New Paintings and Sculptures" will open to the public at Serge Sorokko Gallery (San Francisco) on March 20 and remain on view until April 20.

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