As part of the festivities for the grand opening of the Hamilton building, the DAM curators installed Japanese Art from the Colorado Collection of Kimiko and John Powers, which features more than 300 Japanese objects; RADAR: Selections from the Collection of Vicki and Kent Logan, a grouping of more than sixty paintings, sculptures and other works from artist around the globe, including dominating pieces from Japan and China; Engi by Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyajima, a special commission from the Denver Office of Art, Culture and Film's Public Art Program; and Floating Time: An Environment by Tatsuo Miyajima, which the Logans donated to the DAM in 2000 and is now on permanent display. At Robischon, the gallery co-director installed UNDER THE RADAR: Chinese Contemporary Art, which was quite the feat since the People's Republic of China still isn't exactly tossing its doors open wide to the West. But she got almost fifty pieces that represent the first wave of contemporary art to come out of China since Mao. (See Michael Paglia's review in Thursday's edition of the paper.)
So when The Cat's Pajamas walked into Mona Lucero's, she was immediately taken by a painting on the back wall that looked remarkably similar to Yan Lei's "Painting 14" (above) on display at Robischon. Then she saw the new silk skirts Mona is showing for fall (above). And then came the models with kabuki-like hair and makeup. But when Cat asked Mona if she was channeling RADAR, she was unaware of what was happening cross town; she's just always been inspired by Asian prints and contemporary Japanese pop-culture.
Except for the fact that the show ran incredibly late (but nothing in fashion ever runs on time; hence the term "fashionably late"), Cat really loved the show. There was nothing outre or outlandish — Mona only makes attractive, well-crafted wearable pieces — but the whole collection worked cohesively and the range was wide enough to satisfy most fashion impulses. In particular, Cat liked this skirt (right). It's very loud, but it looks very Parisian with the jewelry. Sort of a modern Pucci (even though Emilio is Italian), and Cat's always had a secret Pucci fetish.
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Congratulations, Mona. Another great collection off the runway and into your store.
And here are some additional photos from the show. Got thoughts? Post your comments to the blog.