Chinese artist Sui Jian-guo's (隋建國) sculpture titled Rainbow Jacket blends Sun Yat-sen's (孫中山) drab tunic suit — often misinterpreted as those worn by Mao Tse-tung (毛澤東) — with the psychedelic cover art of the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album, and brings to light the ways in which China is both steeped in the past and opening to Western influences.
Harking back to 1990s militant political art, though still eminently topical, is Venezuelan artist Jose Antonio Hernandez-Diez' My Fucking Jeans, one of four installations that examines the relationship between highly paid designers and the cheap overseas labor that turns the images into products — items that the laborers themselves couldn't possibly afford.
Though the show has its roots in fashion history and serious political activism, it is more than a didactic exhibition and takes a humorous look at the accidents the world of fashion continues to make.
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