Cleveland Museum of Art hosting 'Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution'

May 24—They argue about who started it.

Darnell-Jamal Lisby, assistant curator of fashion at the Cleveland Museum of Art, initially claims he was paid a visit in 2022 by CMA Korea Foundation Curator of Korean Art Sooa Im McCormick, which led to the recently opened exhibition "Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution."

"No, you approached me!" insists McCormick. "He came to MY office."

"Yes," he then allows.

This is the friendliest of brief disagreements, the colleagues appearing very happy to talk about the show they created together, which runs through Oct. 13 in the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Gallery.

Beautifully lit and boasting roughly 25 loaned works, ranging, according to press materials, from 17th-century excavated aristocratic garments to "contemporary Korean couture from leading and emerging Korean fashion designers," the eclectic show is the first Korean fashion exhibition at the museum and the first at "a leading comprehensive US art museum."

"The exhibition itself is just so exciting," McCormick says. "But what makes this exhibition even more exciting is the presentation of the historical garments of the late 16th and 17th centuries. Those garments are all excavated from tombs in Korea, and it's the first exhibition outside of Korea to present the historical garments, the authentic garments, and to talk about what (were fashion trends) in the 17th century. We can contextualize how they served as inspiration for modern and contemporary Korean fashion designers."

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For Lisby, the show in part was an opportunity to examine the idea of couture, a term used to describe the designing and crafting of clothes for a client's specific needs that, he says, we often think of in connection to Western cultures, especially those in European locations such as Paris.

"What it really means is the highest quality, that's often done by hand in terms of process, or the highest quality of methodology used to create, and that transcends many cultures across the world and across time,' he says. "And so to really look at this thesis and break it down, we wanted to use Korean dress history as that conversation, merging the historical with the contemporary."

The show touches on themes such as gender neutrality and fluidity, as well as ecological sustainability, the curators say.

"It's really showing links and commonalities (with other cultures) more than differences," Lisby says.

Adds McCormick, "(Other Korean fashion exhibitions have been) focused on trying to find the distinctive Koreanness, but we are moving beyond (that)."

The work of a few designers comprises the show: André Kim, Lie Sang Bong, Lee Chung Chung, Lee Jean Youn and the duo of Shin Kyu Yong and Park Ji Sun.

When asked to show off the work of one of them, McCormick and Lisby settle on Kim, who died in 2010 at age 74, having been known for using "contemporary fashion as a canvas for evoking Korean history," as an information panel in the show states.

They stop in front of three opulent dresses conjured by Kim — others can be found in another display across the room — and Lisby notes the designer merged elements of "royal regalia and aristocratic dress" with modern Korean dress.

"He's not only the first Korean designer to have this star status as a designer," Lisby says, "but the first male designer to have the status that he did."

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Lisby also notes Kim's use of color, especially gold and red.

"The red is a reference to the Korean monarchy," he says, "whereas the gold is a reference to the Korean Empire during this brief time in the late 19th century."

Not far from these dresses, visitors can view a large projected video showing models wearing Korean dresses, Lisby noting he's often asked about whether pieces in shows he curates actually can be worn.

"To a degree," he says, "you can see that these garments can be worn, that they're meant to be worn, but they also still present this high-luxury aesthetic in motion."

Since joining CMA in 2021 and prior to his work on "Korean Couture," Lisby helped organize the museum's iteration of "The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion" and curated the "Egyptomania: Fashion's Conflicted Obsession."

"I might need a break," he says. "It's not like I have teams of staff and people to keep that pace."

However, it sounds like he has something in the works and that, unlike the free "Korean Couture," it is likely to be ticketed.

"The next show I'm planning to do, which I can't really talk about, is going to be much larger," he says. "It's just expensive to do, so we welcome anyone who wants to help us out."

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He'll also gladly accept more help from within the museum.

"I'm just happy to have great partners like Sooa," he says. "I can't really do it without my curatorial colleagues, my conservation colleagues."

She echoes his sentiments.

"After the show is done," McCormick says, "we should be able to say we love working together, we'd like to do it again. I'd like to have that kind of relationship after the show is done."

'Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution'

Where: Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Blvd.

When: Through Oct. 13.

Admission: Free.

Exhibition tours: 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays through Oct. 5 (ticket required).

Complementing exhibition: "Into the Seven Jeweled Mountain: An Immersive Experience."

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Info: ClevelandArt.org or 216-421-7350.