The Unusual: Shapes and Materials of the Stage Costume

This exhibition is an invitation to explore the strange universe of stage costumes fashioned in materials far removed from the brocades, laces, silks and satins of our collective memory. They were born from research into shapes and materials pursued by the avant-gardes of the early 20th century – constructivism, Bauhaus, futurism – where experiments were made with cardboard, wood, metal, oilcloth, rhodoïd. In the aftermath of the Second World War, their expansion was favoured by the possibilities of new materials derived from petroleum.

Depending on the decorator’s imagination, leatherette, lycra, sponge and jute play on sumptuousness, rubber becomes metal, plastic, chain mail, string and latex are transformed into delicate embroidery, bolts, screws and nails turn into jewellery. If he uses textiles, the costume designer, who has become an alchemist, sets about colouring, kneading, burning, lacerating or superimposing them. This harsh treatment makes us forget their original texture. This choice of synthetics may have pragmatic reasons – it is easier to fashion plastic armour than metal – but the essential is not there. These materials free the imagination and offer designers an infinite source of inspiration in the field of shapes. These costumes, elaborated with improbable or offbeat materials, aim at pure illusion and participate, more than others, to a spectacular “elsewhere”, becoming for some veritable “scenographic machines”. Their artistic vocabulary, which ranges from “new realism” to fantasy drawn from cinema, science fiction and comics, is constantly evolving, even revolutionizing. These creations maintain a close connection with the visual arts, design and fashion, fields where, for more than twenty years, we have seen shapes and materials, styles and trends explode in total freedom. But these convergences have their limits. If many of the costumes presented in this exhibition can individually appear in a museum of contemporary art, this is neither their role nor their function. They are not an independent, free and gratuitous work, nor an end in itself. becoming for some veritable “scenographic machines”. Their artistic vocabulary, which ranges from “new realism” to fantasy drawn from cinema, science fiction and comics, is constantly evolving, even revolutionizing. These creations maintain a close connection with the visual arts, design and fashion, fields where, for more than twenty years, we have seen shapes and materials, styles and trends explode in total freedom. But these convergences have their limits. If many of the costumes presented in this exhibition can individually appear in a museum of contemporary art, this is neither their role nor their function. They are not an independent, free and gratuitous work, nor an end in itself. becoming for some veritable “scenographic machines”. Their artistic vocabulary, which ranges from “new realism” to fantasy drawn from cinema, science fiction and comics, is constantly evolving, even revolutionizing. These creations maintain a close connection with the visual arts, design and fashion, fields where, for more than twenty years, we have seen shapes and materials, styles and trends explode in total freedom. But these convergences have their limits. If many of the costumes presented in this exhibition can individually appear in a museum of contemporary art, this is neither their role nor their function. They are not an independent, free and gratuitous work, nor an end in itself. which ranges from “new realism” to fantasy drawn from cinema, science fiction and comics, is in continual evolution, even revolution. These creations maintain a close connection with the visual arts, design and fashion, fields where, for more than twenty years, we have seen shapes and materials, styles and trends explode in total freedom. But these convergences have their limits. If many of the costumes presented in this exhibition can individually appear in a museum of contemporary art, this is neither their role nor their function. They are not an independent, free and gratuitous work, nor an end in itself. which ranges from “new realism” to fantasy drawn from cinema, science fiction and comics, is in continual evolution, even revolution. These creations maintain a close connection with the visual arts, design and fashion, fields where, for more than twenty years, we have seen shapes and materials, styles and trends explode in total freedom. But these convergences have their limits. If many of the costumes presented in this exhibition can individually appear in a museum of contemporary art, this is neither their role nor their function. They are not an independent, free and gratuitous work, nor an end in itself. These creations maintain a close connection with the visual arts, design and fashion, fields where, for more than twenty years, we have seen shapes and materials, styles and trends explode in total freedom. But these convergences have their limits. If many of the costumes presented in this exhibition can individually appear in a museum of contemporary art, this is neither their role nor their function. They are not an independent, free and gratuitous work, nor an end in itself. These creations maintain a close connection with the visual arts, design and fashion, fields where, for more than twenty years, we have seen shapes and materials, styles and trends explode in total freedom. But these convergences have their limits. If many of the costumes presented in this exhibition can individually appear in a museum of contemporary art, this is neither their role nor their function. They are not an independent, free and gratuitous work, nor an end in itself. If many of the costumes presented in this exhibition can individually appear in a museum of contemporary art, this is neither their role nor their function. They are not an independent, free and gratuitous work, nor an end in itself. If many of the costumes presented in this exhibition can individually appear in a museum of contemporary art, this is neither their role nor their function. They are not an independent, free and gratuitous work, nor an end in itself.

They serve the spirit of a work and are developed within a collective. Married to the decorations, they appear in an ensemble structured by the light, which modifies the contours and the colours. They are in charge of characterizing a character, of particularizing and accompanying the body of an actor, a dancer or a singer. Work instruments of the interpreter, with whom they play, move and live, they must be as practical and adapted. Whatever their beauty, often extravagant, they respect the adage of the decorator Lucien Coutaud: “In the theatre you never find anything except by necessity”.