Best get a wiggle on Voxfrockers. Melbourne’s golden reign of Gaultier will be over in a proverbial blink. Ten more sleeps, to be exact, and the squinting, singing, softly singing animated mannequins of the most stupendous fashion exhibition in Australia’s history, The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From Sidewalk to the Catwalk, will be bedded down in their travelling trunks and despatched to Paris, next stop on their continuing world tour.
The National Gallery of Victoria, however, wouldn’t dream of releasing these wonders of the modern fashion universe without some big bangs and a mega-fancy send off. Gaultier is closing, Sunday February 8, (general tickets $22) but before then, here are some Jean Paul highlights to stick in your diary:
Fridays January 30 and February 7
The exhibition’s wildly popular Friday Nights at Jean Paul Gaultier continue, 5.30 to 9.30 pm. with concerts by electronic hip-hoppers Rat&Co. tomorrow, January 30 and on February 6, with DJ Alex Murray-Leslie and longtime collaborator Melissa Logan of Euro-pop group Chicks on Speed. Tickets, $28, have sold out online but, here’s a Voxtip for laggers: get there around 6 pm-ish and a limited number will be snap-uppable at the door.
Saturday, February 7
The exhibition will keep pumping for a special Jean Paul Gaultier Until Midnight experience including viewing, sipping, snacking and more entertainment, this time a solo performance by Murray-Leslie. Tickets, $28 again, still bookable online here, but selling fast.
Earlier on Saturday, at 11am., NGV curator Paola Di Trochio will tackle Mermaids and Madonnas in a free talk inside the exhibition, followed by Prof. Dennis Altman at 12 noon on Sex Identity and the body in JPG. (Noice.)
Sunday, February 8
This is the day. No more sleeps. Remember, general tickets are just $22 and for visitors today:
At 11 am., senior fashion curator Katie Somerville will give a talk entitled Odyssey inside the exhibition and at 12 noon, M. Gaultier’s right hand man and exhibition curator since its inception at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, none other than Thierry-Maxime Loriot, will take the floor. Priceless.
