FELIPE II : ERWIN OLAF

We’re pleased to announce that the exhibition “Felipe II” by Erwin Olaf will not be a part of our VR program. The show features the series Felipe II, which Erwin Olaf developed at the editorial commission of Vanity Fair in 2019. Showcasing 14 photographs of a select group of the most prominent designers of the current fashion empire, with styles inspired by the formal language of that great empire that dominated much of the world in the 16th century under the tutelage of the “Prudent King”. 

With humor, cunning, and a great aesthetic sense, Olaf leads us to discover signs of the elements that coincide with the artistic proposals of Baron Dries van Noten, who revalues ?? The craftsmanship and functional art applied to haute couture. Erdem, an English fashion brand that combines, classic with the experimental quality of fabrics and textures; The Dutch designer Iris van Herpen whose work is an expression of fusion between technology and art applied to tailor and haute couture; Jil Sander, a German designer with a minimalist style; Moschino, an Italian house with an extravagant proposal; the Belgian Olivier Theyskens, and the spirit of the age; Shrimp, British firm bold in design and selection of materials; Simone Rocha, a young Irish woman with an intense proposal; The Vampire’s Wife and the Victorian influence rescued by model Susie Bick Cave, with the Spanish art and fashion houses Balenciaga. With an evident influence of classical painting from the golden century; Loewe and its relationship of more than a century as an official supplier of the Spanish royal house; and the firms Oteyza, and Seseña, projecting artisan tailoring and the use of the traditional Spanish cape.

This diversity seeks, through a visual atmosphere, to represent the complex figure of Felipe II (1527-1598), king of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Duke of Milan, sovereign of the Netherlands, Duke of Burgundy, and King of England and Ireland Iure Uxoris.

It is no coincidence that for this, it is Erwin Olaf who assumes the experience. Knight of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands is one of the most important photographers of the late twentieth century. His complex work has been based on the exploration of the visual aesthetics of populations, groups and subgroups of people who occupy marginal spaces in society; he has recorded and interpreted major changes in some of the urban and social realms resulting from race relations, economic divisions, and complexities of sexuality and gender. And his approach has earned him valuable collaborations with various fashion houses, from Vogue and Louis Vuiton, to major museums like the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. He has been the official portrait painter for the Dutch royal family in 2017 and designed the national side of the euro coins for King Willem Alexander in 2013. He has been awarded prestigious awards and recognitions and has exhibited around the world, including the Malaga Contemporary Art Center, Malaga, Spain; Museu da Imagem e do Som, São Paulo, Brazil; Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany; Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA and Museum of Contemporary Art, Santiago, Chile. In spring 2019, Olaf’s work was the subject of a double exhibition at the Kunstmuseum in The Hague and the Hague Museum of Photography, as well as a solo exhibition at the Shanghai Photography Center and an exhibition at the Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam. In 2021, he will mount solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle München, Germany; the Suwon Museum of Art, Suwon, Korea.