Palm Springs Art Museum Presents Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe September 5-December 13, 2015.

Palm Springs Art Museum
101 Museum Drive
Palm Springs, California
(760) 322-4800
psmuseum.org
$12.50 admission, approx.

Killer Heels exhibition features more than 110 contemporary high heels and 50 historical designs drawn from designer archives, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art costume collections. The exhibition includes a selection of extraordinary high heels by more than 50 contemporary designers, including Céline, Chanel, Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, Prada, and United Nude.

Revival and Reinterpretation
Rising in the East
Glamour and Fetish
Architecture
Metamorphosis
Space Walk

Merging fashion, film, and material culture beyond the archetypal forms – stiletto, wedge, and platform – the emphasis is on designs that play with the sculptural, architectural, and artistic possibilities of the high heel using innovative or unexpected materials or techniques. Shoes that push the limits of functionality, wearability, and even conventional beauty, through surprising structure, shape, or height are presented in arched pedestals.

Spanning the 17th century to the present, themed areas reflect shoe designs, shifting fashion trends, social preferences, and surprising formal similarities across cultures and time.

Shoes are presented in compelling visual dialogues. Exquisite 18th century court heels, tiny 19th century Chinese slippers for bound feet, and iconic 20th century heel designs by Salvatore Ferragamo, Delman, and Roger Vivier for Christian Dior offer similarities not previously realized.

Six original short films with high heels as a central motif were commissioned for the exhibition. Viewers explore a range of provocative cultural, social, sexual, ideological and political themes, proving the enormous power of the high heel.

Artists include Ghada Amer and Reza Farknondeh, Steven Klein, Zach Gold, Nick Knight, Marilyn Minter, and Rashaad Newsome.

For those unable to attend this thought-provoking exhibition a fully illustrated catalogue is available for purchase in the Museum Store and Bradford W. Bates Vault: the Museum Design Store.

Killer Heels is funded in part by Kimberly and Roger Swanson, and Ann Sheffer and Bill Scheffler.

About Palm Springs Art Museum Palm Springs Art Museum is the largest cultural institution in the Coachella Valley and includes three locations in Palm Springs and Palm Desert. The flagship building is located in downtown Palm Springs and features compelling art exhibitions, a vast permanent collection, and the 433-seat Annenberg Theater, all in a 150,000 square foot, architecturally-significant building. Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion features exhibitions and programming that explore the rich topics of architecture and design. Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert is an 8,400 square foot, Silver LEED-certified building named The Galen that presents rotating exhibitions and special collections. It is surrounded by the four-acre Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden featuring important sculpture works. Admission to the Palm Desert location is now free to the public, generously underwritten by Helene V. Galen

777 N. Palm Canyon Dr., Suite 102
Palm Springs, CA 92262

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