Zaza MINSSEN -  Not ready to wear , May 2008                                                                                     

                  

                                             Back from a hot date                                                                                                             

WHAT WOMAN HAS NEVER DREAMED OF FASHIONING HER OWN PRINCESS' DRESS ?

Zaza Minssen’s two passions have taken form on large scale canvas.
The French painter has been interested in painting isolated objects taken out of their context for several years. She works on the representation of objects and extracts them from their environment to give them new life.

A CONTEMPORARY ENCOUNTER BETWEEN ART & FASHION In this show she tackles the subject of fashion with extreme liberties and a daring attitude which gives her dresses a dimension that is blurring all our references. Are they the beautiful dresses we would not wear because they would look better on models? Are they destroyed just enough to tell us that the whole idea of beauty in fashion issuperficial? Are they a window on our inner desires? By creating desirable objects that we cannot wear but just look at, Z.Minssen forces us tothink about our relationship between fashion and beauty. It looks that her response to superficiality and desire about fashion items is to actually paint her own glamorous dresses, the ones not found in any shop, or worn by anybody else.
A Minssen’s dress thus becomes a statement of Being beautiful rather than Looking beautiful. Zaza Minssen first London solo exhibition offers a glamorous selection of paintings illustrating unusual dresses and Louis XV Fauteuil armchairs.
                                                                              

                               

                AM I PRETTY IN PINK AND BLACK?                                                                         MY SCOTTISH NIGHT
                   Mix media on canvas 146x97 cm                                                                     Mix media on canvas 162x97 cm
     

EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES

Zaza Minssen is not the smooth jazzy kind of woman. She is more of a rock and roll girl. She likes to push limits and she likes big space, bold colours and complex textures. It is not about the surface of things but rather about what the surface, the external aspect tells about
femininity. There is also something extremely satisfying in the process Minssen uses to play with the fabric and paint in order to create unique textures and effects. Gluing , scratching, pealing the fabric in order to reveal a surprising second skin can remind us of the exciting moment of pleasure while undressing a female’s body. At the same time it demonstrates a certain aggressiveness similar to the act of breaking your own toy. Desire and rebellion are never very far from her spirit. From a semantic point of view we are facing a reality where the frontiers between painting and fashion are blurred.

FASHIONING HER IDEA OF FEMININITY

The result of such experimental technique is that the surface of her paintings look like Vintage painting-clothes, something which has decayed in a way. This builds an opposition with the idea of Perfection of luxury goods. It is also a statement
about Time: Fashion is rooted in Time: it is either IN or OUT. By making her dresses vintage and damaged, Zaza Minssen puts fashion into the Time of Painting, the Time of things which last, the Time of objects we can look forever without
thinking it is OUT of fashion!

Dripping backgrounds using many thin layers of colours, transparency and grading give a subtlety to her palette. Exploring new materials, like aluminium and stainless steel to draw dresses constantly pushing the limits of her visual language. These slightly acid shiny dresses
remind us of sweets and are also a funny reference to pop art.

Paintings of Louis XV armchairs with zebra or red fluffy fabric, displayed next to beautiful sexy dresses, Zaza Minssen ‘s collection makes you feel you are in a luxury Salon Haute Couture trying on your next outfit for a glamorous evening. With these extra-ordinary dresses Minssen seems to have reached a a state of reconciliation with the idea of femininity which makes her work blossom.
Without doubt the exhibition NOT READY TO WEAR will create a temptation to dress up your walls!

                                                                                                                                                                             
                                    JUNGLE FEVER                                                                                          EASY TIGER
                       Mix media on canvas 100x100 cm                                                          Mix media on canvas 100x100 cm     

                                                                                                                © Marine Gueguen Strage 2008