“Beauty is not in the object but in the drawing of shadows, in the chiaroscuros that are created between one object and another,” explains Junichiro Tanizaki in his legendary book In Praise of Shadows. And the shadows sneak in (thanks to the light) in an exhibition that celebrates the meeting between East and West in the form of exquisite creations of artisanal haute couture. The place chosen for this exhibition that combines fashion and lighting from a poetic perspective is the Oasis building in Madrid, which houses La Casa de la Luz, the flagship space in the capital of the multinational lighting technology company Simon.
“Light is a tool with which to show but also with which to shape everything. The shadow is the mystery, what we don’t let others see and what gives magic to the light,” explains fashion photographer Félix Valiente, curator in charge of revealing the textures, the stitches, the details of twenty creations. of designers who are part of Costura de Autor and who participate in the exhibition, called In Praise of Shadows and which will be on until March 1, within the framework of Madrid Festival Off.
The House of Light occupies the ground floor of the brutalist building that Fernando Higueras built in collaboration with the architect Antonio Miró between 1967 and 1975 in the center of the capital. In this open and futuristic space, rehabilitated by the b720 studio, headed by Fermín Vázquez, and with interior design by the industrial designer Antoni Arola, Félix Valiente has devised a route that does not expose the pieces in an obvious way as is usually done in other exhibitions, with spotlights on them that enhance and magnify them, but also creates spaces of darkness seeking the poetic component of the creations.
That light present, but not protagonist, allows us to discover details in the pieces that go unnoticed at first glance. Just as a landscape without shadows loses all its essence, because it is the shadow that gives it volume, in this exhibition we have tried to highlight the work of textures and the different craft techniques of the creators of the garments on display.
Starting from black, as a key color in the history of Spanish fashion, as well as its opposite, and promoting the play of shadows so valued in ancient oriental culture, the costumes and accessories tell stories that return in our imagination under the beautiful influence of the light.
Helena Mareque, María Barragán, Miquel Alemany 1942, Isabel Hervás, the Ammiu atelier, Maria Gadea, Silvia Ferández, Slabon Moda, Le Touquet, Eusebio Sánchez, BSJ by Macarena, Genoveva Hita, Manuela Montero, Yar Studio Design, Lechienerrant, Clara Blu , Teresa Patiño, Cristina Tamborero and the Latecnocreativa and Esada design schools approach a beauty that adds the best of two worlds in a game of chiaroscuro that juxtaposes the different subtle and intangible substances of shadow modulations.
