CHAOS Embroidered T-shirt – white Kunsthalle Originals

Product detailed description

The Chaos T-shirt was created to mark the Annette Messager: Tragicomedy exhibition at Kunsthalle Praha. The large embroidery on the chest is based on the work of the same name, Chaos, in which Annette Messager works with a tangle of metal wire.

The original three-dimensional object is transformed into a textile drawing on the T-shirt. The metal lines are replaced by thread, but their disorderly nature remains. The embroidery thus captures something between a drawing and an object, giving the motif a distinctive texture even in its simple black-and-white design.

Chaos is closely linked to the way Messager works with order and its disruption in her art. She likes to combine materials, images and meanings that seemingly do not belong together. She herself describes this principle as ‘bad marriages’ – a union of opposites that gives rise to humour, tension and a certain degree of unease.

The T-shirt has a unisex fit and is made from 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton. The striking embroidered motif refers directly to a work from the exhibition, whilst also functioning as a standalone design that can be worn outside the gallery.

Annette Messager

Annette Messager (*1943) is one of the leading French artists of our time. In her work she combines photography, drawing, collage, object-making and installation, often using materials and objects from everyday life. She is interested in the body, memory, gender, desire and social ideas of femininity.

Her work is characterised by the joining of seemingly incompatible elements. Humour, play and tenderness can turn in an instant into unease or irony. Messager herself speaks of "bad marriages" – combinations of things, words and meanings that would not normally make sense together.