Come See Fresno's Fashionable Feminist Exhibit

Fresno Art Museum (FAM) is currently home to one of the most multidimensional traveling fashion exhibitions on tour today. A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes carries themes of sustainability, feminism, and body image throughout. Curated and designed by MUSEEA, the exhibit has been touring internationally by Barrett Barrera Projects—the arts organization was founded in 2014 by Susan Barrett in an effort to produce contemporary fine art and fashion experiences that are digestible to a vast audience. Presented by The McClatchy Fresno Arts Endowment of The James B. McClatchy Foundation, A Queen Within was also awarded major sponsorship from the Lamborn Family & JP Lamborn Co. Featured within are objects and one-of-a-kind garments by fashion powerhouses Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood amongst many others.

A Queen Within examines the seven Adorned Archetypes of womanhood and can be viewed at Fresno Art Museum until January 8th, 2023. A series of exhibition programming events will be taking place through then. FAM’s popular gala fundraiser, dinner, and fashion show TRASHIQUE, entitled Regalia for the 2022 season, will be held on Saturday, November 5th—general seating tickets are still available through Eventbrite. To learn more about A Queen Within at Fresno Art Museum, go to www.fresnoartmuseum.org and be sure to visit before it leaves Fresno—it’s the kind of exhibit you’ll want to experience more than once.

Thespian

Blessed with imagination, the Thespian Queen is an actress, entertainer, dramatist, or comedian.
Symbolism for Thespian is found in rainbow colors, red, whites, indigo blue, blue, green, and Spanish red. The work of the late Alexander McQueen exceptionally personifies the Thespian performance, as seen in several examples of his craft at different stages on display at FAM.

Mother Earth

The Mother Earth is an altruistic parent, carer, protector, great teacher and mentor.
Symbolism for Mother Earth is found in the crane, bear, sacred tree of life, and waters. Considering how multifaceted this archetype is, the diversity in this segment should come as no surprise. Featured are designers Vivienne Westwood, Gypsy Sport, Chromat, and Sarah Burton.

Explorer

The Explorer is an independently-minded pioneer, adventurer and rebel.
Symbolism for Explorer is found within the turtle, moons, egg, and night. Here you will find pieces that break the confines of familiar conception, as seen in the works of Anrealage/Kunihiko Morinaga, Minna Palmqvist, Maja Gunn, and Comme des Garçons.

Enchantress

The Enchantress is a seductress, femme fatale, sensualist and enthusiast.
Symbolism for Enchantress is found in hair jewelry, loose hair, wigs, lips, beauty marks, teeth, lace, swallow, laurel wreaths, flowers, and feathers. The vamp within and the role of gaze are critical here, as the installation begs viewers to sit and stare at both the beautiful and bizarre.

Magician

The Magician is the visionary artist, the ethereal catalyst or inventor, the charismatic leader who can turn the seemingly impossible into reality.
Symbolism for Magician is found within masks, tiger, magic wand, and gold. It’s important to note that carnivalesque fashion, masks, and the digital body are largely at play both figuratively and literally, as exemplified by the work of Hideki Seo, Antoine Peters, and Maïmouna Guerresi.

Sage

The Sage is a thinker, planner, risk-taker, expert and philosopher.
Symbolism for Sage is found within serpents, inverted triangle, geometry, and classicism. The power of light by all definitions is key to knowledge, which becomes abstract when visualizing sound, as seen in the centerpiece of this installation: the Cymatic dress by Iris van Herpen.

Heroine

The adventurous Heroine is a soldier and a warrior.
Symbolism for Heroine is found within chess, stones & pearls, gloves, mantua, eyes & ears, hand & eyes, peacock, phoenixes, and spears. There is an armor element stemming from self-projection that begs the question as to what fashion does for the psyche when in public view.