Jo Torr

The Gauguin Gown

Artwork Detail

Jo Torr’s ‘Victorian’ dress using lava-lava fabric is named after the famous artist who made his home in Tahiti. Gauguin painted the young women there as exotic objects of desire, when in reality missionaries had introduced voluminous garments to cover their nudity. Torr’s dress highlights the imposition of one set of cultural values over another through colonisation, while reclaiming the costume as an object of contemporary beauty. (Te Moananui a Kiwa, 2005)

Title
The Gauguin Gown
Artist/creator
Jo Torr
Production date
2001
Medium
printed and unprinted cotton, plastic flowers, shells, straw hat
Dimensions
1213 x 895 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2004
Accession no
2004/16
Other ID
X2003/9
Copyright
Copying restrictions apply
Department
New Zealand Art
Display status
Not on display

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