Keystone visual artist and photographer Man Ray has stepped into sharp focus at MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp in new exhibition ‘Man Ray and Fashion’. Running from April 22 until August 13 2023, the museum’s new major fashion expo curated by MoMu curator Romy Cockx takes you by the (detachable) hand on a surrealist trip. Here’s why it’s worth the visit.

THE DAYS OF EMMANUEL
Before he was Man Ray, he was American-born tailor’s son Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Radnitzky. The exhibition takes time to unspool the artist’s earliest influences, Duchampian dada dalliances and junior forays as a conceptual and visual artist before his name became a household one on the pages of Vogue and Harper’s, advancing editorial photography and pushing the boundaries of surrealist visual art in the 20th century.

A LEGACY OF INFLUENCE
Chances are great that you’ve taken in a Man Ray picture or artwork in your life. Chances are even greater they’ve been pinned to your favourite designer’s moodboard. Obviously, there’s plenty of attention paid to the many collaborations and traceable impact the artist had on his fashion contemporaries like Jeanne Lanvin, Elsa Schiaparelli, Paul Poiret and Coco Chanel. But in this expo, MoMu also masterfully pinpoints the artist’s far-reaching, unending influence on contemporary fashion - even if subconsciously - through the works of Jonathan Anderson, Dries Van Noten, John Galliano, Martin Margiela, Dirk Van Saene, Undercover, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Quinten Mestdagh, Olivier Theyskens and many more.

THERE’S ALWAYS A BELGIAN CONNECTION
‘Man Ray and Fashion’ cleverly spotlights the American artist’s Belgian ties, from his first wife Adon Lacroix who introduced him to Marcel Duchamp to his work for forgotten Belgian couture house ‘Norine’ and influence on Belgian greats like Dirk Van Saene and Martin Margiela - including the latter’s never-before-seen Man Ray-inspired student portfolio.

THE BELOVED CLIQUE CLICHÉ
A treasured cliché is the one of the absinth-soaked artist rolling deep with a clique of inspiring, thin-browed provocateurs in the fumy cafés of interbellum Paris. Man Ray - ever-daring, sybaritic, raucous, possessive and Marquis De Sade-influenced - definitely fits the bill. In this expo, you get to hop around with Man Ray’s famous coterie of collaborators and muses like Kiki de Montparnasse, Lee Miller, Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie, Marcel Duchamp, Nancy Cunard, Marchesa de Casati, Coco Chanel, Alberto Giacometti, Guy Bourdin and more.

THE CINEMA OF IT ALL
Being inside the exhibition space is an experience of its own, as the fabric-clad walls are actually printed with mannequin shadows to elicit a film-noir, cinematic sense of drama and tension to offset the glamour of the hand-sequined, archive flapper gowns and trompe l’oeil 2020s fashions. Tip: take your time to watch the beautifully restored Paris studio visit and interview documentary starring a later-day Man Ray, reflecting on fame and process.

MAN RAY AND FASHION
MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp
April 22 – August 13 2023

Closed on Mondays. Open Tuesday-Sunday from 10 AM – 6 PM.
Opening weekend info & events here.
Tickets and info here.

Discover the full list of upcoming events, workshops, talks and nocturnes taking place at MoMu here.

Find more exceptional European exhibitions to visit this year here.

Header image: Man Ray, Tête de femme vue en plongée, 1930/1979, private collection, Courtesy Fondazione Marconi, Milan © Man Ray 2015 Trust / Sabam Belgium 2023.