Jean-Charles de Castelbajac presents his art at the Mannerheim Gallery

Nestled behind a wrought iron gate, not far from the Place de la République, the Mannerheim Gallery inaugurated its exhibition dedicated to Jean-Charles de Castelbajac on this first day of July. At the crossroads between art and fashion – a frontier from which it plays so well – “40 passages” is explored like a dreamlike collection drawn from the designer’s memories and fantasies. The “passage”, in the language of the fashion show, corresponds to an outfit, to the models who march one after the other. Here, the parade takes place not on the podium, but on the walls of the gallery, immortalized on paper, and it is the spectator who makes his way through the creations. During the evening when Orlan or photographers Mathieu César and Linda Bujoli could be seen, the word was even used: at the request of the person concerned, the creator would give life to the sketch to create the unique model outfit. As proof, the tongue dress (passage n°9) was taken out of the frame and worn with poetry by Pauline de Drouas, while other muses were immortalised on paper, like a Betony Vernon in “black nurse” (n°40). With humour, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac also exhibited his “40 gram moments”, drawings and small collages, which, just like the passages, we could offer ourselves from that very evening… To discover all July.