Denim’s Intersection with Art on View in Basel

Denim’s Intersection with Art on View in Basel

Denim has long been used for more than jeans, with designers incorporating the material into handbags and footwear.

Even beyond fashion, denim has found a place in art pieces and everyday objects. The versatility of the fabric is on display in the exhibit “Denim – stylish, practical, timeless,” up now through April 5, 2021 at the Spielzeug Welten Museum Basel.

Curated in partnership with Liza Snook, founder of the Virtual Shoe Museum, the exhibit features approximately 125 objects on loan from museums, private collections and artists. Among the installations on view is Carved in Blue’s very own ‘Hardwear’ TENCEL(TM) Denim workwear jean from Candiani and Endrime, as well as Ian Berry’s The Secret Garden, which recreates flora in denim.

Also on display is art by The Master of the Blue Jeans, an Italian painter whose work from the late 17th century points to a potential early history for denim. The material may have been popularized in America as workwear, but its origins have been traced back to Europe. However, there is a dispute over whether France or Italy has the claim as denim’s birthplace.

Carved in Blue caught up with Liza for the inside scoop on the exhibit and her take on denim’s place in art and culture.

Carved in Blue: Why did you decide to partner on this exhibit devoted to denim? 

Liza: My cooperation with the Spielzeug Welten Museum in Basel started with a shoe exhibition in 2014, and this fruitful collaboration resulted in more exhibitions, such as hats and bags. 

The special exhibitions always consist of very various angles, and the combination of history and future, art and fashion/couture, and denim fitted perfectly. 

Carved in Blue: How would you describe denim’s place in popular culture and fashion? 

Liza: I believe there is a pair of jeans suitable for every person in every generation: skinny/baggy, ripped/embroidered, tailored/mended (Boro). I feel that there is a growing need for well-made, timeless clothes made of quality fabrics. Having fewer pieces of clothing in your wardrobe, of better quality and produced in a durable and fair way.

Carved in Blue: What about denim in particular lends itself to a wide range of applications and art forms? 

Liza: A lot of different creatives work with denim; it’s a perfect material to process for sculptors, shoe/fashion/jewelry/industrial designers. In the exhibition, you see so many aspects of denim, everyone tools denim to its own signature.

Carved in Blue: What was the most surprising find as you were curating this exhibit?

Liza: Hard to choose; every piece in the exhibition has a good story. During the search for a scull of denim, I found the sculpture “Into the Bones,” a life-size skeleton by textile artist Emma Linde in the archive of the Länsmuseet Gävleborg in Sweden. Linde: “All the garments I wore during a normal day that usually cover up the surface have been moved inwards and taken over the supporting function of the skeleton.” 

Carved in Blue: With denim’s origins dating back before its beginnings in American workwear, how has the material stood the test of time? What has enabled denim to remain a permanent fixture in fashion?

Liza: Denim is a very strong material and it’s very comfortable to wear. There is an increasing interest in workers clothing among the young generation. Recycling and vintage denim is flourishing at the moment, a positive step that more people discover quality instead of the cheap labor fabrics.

Carved in Blue: What does Carved in Blue mean to you? 

Liza: Denim was one of the fashion industry’s worst offenders of environmental damage. To me, Carved in Blue is one of the advanced companies that is changing this by its eco-friendly production process by making jeans from wood pulp. This progress is an important aspect that we wanted to incorporate in the exhibition “Denim – stylish, practical, timeless.”