The MASP Renner Collection gathers exclusive garments created especially for the MASP collection by the partnering of contemporary Brazilian artists and fashion designers. The project to develop the pieces of clothes lasted three seasons, between 2017 and 2022, and involved three curators-at-large of fashion—Patricia Carta, Lilian Pacce, and Hanayrá Negreiros— and 26 duos of artists and designers, resulting in 78 works presented here for the first time.
This special collection is associated with another at the Museum, the MASP Rhodia Collection, which gathers clothes produced by collaborating Brazilian artists and dressmakers in the 1960s. In that decade, the French chemical company Rhodia held fashion shows in the country to promote its synthetic fabrics and commissioned exclusive pieces to their authors, reflecting current trends in art and fashion. The MASP Rhodia Collection includes 79 outfits given to the Museum in 1972 and was exhibited here in 2015.
Considering this unique collection, MASP’s team thought of expanding its collection, inviting artists and fashion designers working in the contemporary scenario to collaborate in an unprecedented way. The resulting set encompasses a wide range of subjects and layouts, ranging from issues of gender, sexuality, religiosity, and sustainability to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on clothing (such as the use of face masks), as well as the idea of clothes as vehicles for political expression, in shapes and outlines that vary from minimalist to maximalist, from multicolored pieces to more sober and conceptual ones.
Although it is marked by different subjects and formal solutions, one can recognize at least four modes of work these duos use to produce clothes: those that translate images of the artist onto patterns typical of the designer; those that stretch the boundaries between clothing and sculpture; others that examine clothing as a code of gender or religiosity; and lastly those that challenge the definitions and conceptual limits of what a garment is. Above all, the set conveys the possibilities of collaboration and conversation between art, fashion, and design, placing the Museum as a crucial agent for encouraging, collecting, reflecting on, and exhibiting new works, connecting such close creative areas.
Art in fashion: MASP Renner is curated by Adriano Pedrosa, Artistic Director, MASP, and Leandro Muniz, Assistant Curator, MASP, from the MASP Renner Collection, which has had three Curators-at-large of fashion over its three seasons in the Museum: Patricia Carta, Lilian Pacce and Hanayrá Negreiros. The collection’s title refers to the project’s sponsor, Renner, a Brazilian clothing and accessories company founded in 1922, which for long has enabled us to carry out this ambitious project.
ABOUT MASP RENNER PROJECT
The project was developed by 26 duos of artists and designers over 3 seasons.
First season
Alexandre da Cunha e Reinaldo Lourenço;
avaf e Amapô;
Beatriz Milhazes e Andrea Marques;
Caetano de Almeida e Alexandre Herchcovitch;
Daniel Senise e Gilda Midani;
bã Huni Kuin e Ronaldo Fraga;
Iran do Espírito Santo e Marta do Espírito Santo;
Leda Catunda e Marcelo Sommer e Sandra Cinto e Lucas Magalhães.
Second season
Ayrson Heráclito e André Namitala;
Detanico Lain e Walter Rodrigues;
Erika Verzutti e Isabela Frugiuele;
Jaime Lauriano e João Pimenta;
Laura Lima e Guto Carvalhoneto;
Laura Vinci e Gloria Coelho;
Sonia Gomes e Gustavo Silvestre;
Vivian Caccuri e Francisco Costa.
Thrid season
Aline Bispo e Flavia Aranha;
Criola e Luiz Cláudio Silva;
Edgard de Souza e Jum Nakao;
Larissa de Souza e Diego Gama;
Lidia Lisbôa e Fernanda Yamamoto;
No Martins e Angela Brito;
Panmela Castro e Walério Araújo;
Randolpho Lamonier e Vicenta Perrotta;
Valdirlei Dias Nunes e Vitorino Campos.
