'French Eres Briefs' Museum of Lace and Fashion, Calais, France

Installation by Mal Burkinshaw and Teresa Whitfield 16 September 2016 - 26 February 2017 The Museum for Lace and Fashion has invited the artist Teresa Whitfield and fashion designer Mal Burkinshaw to engage in a dialogue with the collections in the Fashion and Lace gallery. The question of appearances lies at the core of the approaches of both artists. Whereas Teresa Whitfield bases her work on the confusion between object and object drawing through hyper-realistic drawings, Mal Burkinshaw is interested in the plays of social representation conveyed by contemporary fashion, through troubling diaphanous and androgynous sculptures. As part of the "Factory Lace & Fashion" project, Teresa Whitfield chooses garments made from mechanical lace from the collections of several English and French museums to execute hyper-realistic drawings. In Teresa's approach, we are presented with intertwining threads, with pattern and ground, with transparency, like the execution of the life-size drawing. Another constant in her work is the determination to confront the visitor's eye by placing the original work in proximity to the drawing. Neither textile nor photography, the drawing stroke brings a substance that is characteristic of her works. We willingly enter into the play of comparison, seeking to tease out the minute differences between the two realities: object and object drawing. At the Museum for Lace and Fashion, the artist works from two sets of women's lingerie. In this drawing Teresa only retains the bottom of a set, consisting of an Eres bra and pants. Made in 2015, this set is created in a Leavers lace manufactured by the Codentel company and it sports an unusual design of umbrellas opened up under a downpour. Shazia Boucher Deputy Director of the Museums of Calais