Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until November 2011…
The MAD, Museum of Arts and Design, in New York will present the first museum exhibition of perfume as an art form in November 2011. The exhibition is organized by MAD and curated by Chandler Burr, the scent critic for The New York Times.
The Art of Scent, 1889-2011 will examine ten pivotal scents as masterful works of art, crafted from both natural raw materials and synthetic molecules. A special installation designed by architect Toshiko Mori that utilizes atomizing machines will provide visitors with a pure, olfactory experience of each work in the exhibition.
The Art of Scent highlights major stylistic developments in the history of olfactory art, beginning in the late nineteenth century – when the use of synthetic materials ushered in the modern era of fragrances – through the present day. Visitors will experience the work of leading scent artists, among them: Olivier Cresp, who created Angel, considered to be the paradigmatic gourmand work of the late twentieth century; Jacques Cavallier, who introduced a more minimalist olfactory design in L’Eau d’Issey; and Alberto Morillas and Annie Buzantian, who in using a carbon dioxide extraction in their influential Pleasures mainstreamed a major technological advance in the art form.
Presented in MAD’s second floor galleries, the exhibition will facilitate a focused olfactory experience through the complete removal of bottling, design graphics, and other brand indicators. Free of their packaging, demarcated only by name, artist, and year, the scent can be appreciated by visitors as independent works of olfactory art. The Art of Scent, 1889-2011 will be accompanied by a full-color catalogue with essays by Chandler Burr. The book will cover nearly one hundred perfumes, and will include ten identical vials of each of the works exhibited in the exhibition. Additionally, all artworks featured in the exhibition will be available for individual purchase in The Store at MAD in identical, MAD-designed packaging.
