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https://www.dezeen.com/2016/12/05/daniel-lismore-theatre-self-exhibition-presents-timeline-avant-garde-ensembles-art-basel-miami/

Daniel Lismore's Theatre of Self presents timeline of avant-garde ensembles

At this year's Miami art week, London artist Daniel Lismore has documented his "journey to true self" in an exhibition filled with his most theatrical outfits.
Lismore – an artist, designer and stylist – presented his Theatre of Self exhibition during the Art Basel and Design Miami events, alongside a set of self-portraits by Shanghai artist Bin Feng.
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The exhibition explores Lismore as "London's most outrageous dresser" – a reputation he has obtained by transforming everyday objects into wearable art pieces.
More than 4,000 garments and accessories make up the 20 of Lismore's eccentric ensembles on show. Each outfit is presented on life-size mannequins, which have faces cast from the artist himself.
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"These life-size sculptural ensembles, each worn by the artist at one time, are reflections of his multidimensional identity and are a tapestry of his journey to his true self," said president and founder of Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Paula Wallace.
For his accompanying work, Feng – a SCAD masters student – looked to the concept of the American dream. The Shanghai-born artist photographed himself in dramatic scenes, making comments on class, race and gender in western society.
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"For me, the motivation in focusing on the American Dream is both the language and cultural barrier," Feng told Dezeen. "When I first came to America, I was struggling with the language, but the desire to communicate converted the language barrier into a drive to visualise my experience in the United States".
Lismore studied photography and fashion design, before embarking on a modelling career. He is currently the creative director of luxury womenswear label Sorapol.
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He previously showed his extensive fashion collection in an exhibition earlier this year, titled Be Yourself; Everyone Else Is Already Taken, at the SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta. A monograph of the same name details each piece that makes up his wardrobe.
Lismore's Theatre of Self exhibition takes place until 13 December 2016 at 1601 North Miami Avenue.
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His array of decorative pieces mirrors the rest of the furniture fair, which for the last few years has been dominated by mid-century French and vintage furniture – but is this time filled with more experimental pieces.