“Life in Feathers and Rhinestones” show at Retrofit Home
Award-winning choreographer and designer Mistinguett will present another showing of her fabulous showgirl art beginning Thursday, February 12th at Retrofit Home, 1419 12th Avenue, downtown on 12th between Pike and Madison.
Mark your calendar for Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. for Mistinguett’s artist champagne reception. She’s also planning a “live Showgirl performance”, which you won’t want to miss.
Mistinguett’s work was born out of her experience designing and drawing outrageous costumes for shows she choreographed that were produced all over the world. Her sense of humor reveals itself in the wit in her drawings.
"I’m
so excited about this exhibit of Feathers & Rhinestones at RetroFit
Home,” she says. “We’re planning a crazy fun evening of beautiful
framed art and live performance art. Showgirls from Las Vegas hanging
out in Seattle, ready for their opening, what could be more fun?"
Retrofit
Home is a home design store that prides itself “on carrying only the
newest, most ridiculously cool collection of home furnishings,
accessories and gifts in Seattle.” You can also hire them to do custom
interior design.
“Lori from Retrofit Home is a huge supporter of local artists and their work,” Mistinguett says. “She features a different artist each month in the store, and I’m thrilled to be selected for the February exhibit.”
Retrofit Home is open Monday through Friday, 11 to 6, Saturdays noon to 7 and Sundays noon to 4.
Okay, so maybe part of my enthusiasm for this show is that the talented artist Mistinguett is my housemate. But I still think that any time you see talent, you should appreciate it—and promote it.
And I can’t wait to check out Retrofit Home.
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http://www.examiner.com/x-2621-Seattle-Downtown-Examiner~y2009m2d7-Life-in-Feathers-and-Rhinestones-show-at-Retrofit-HomeRHINESTONES" Artist Champagne Reception
SHOWGIRL ART BLENDS GRACE AND ELEGANCE
By Inga Gilles Special to the Seattle P-I
June 26, 2008
In line at Kinko's, as I admired some risque showgirl illustrations by a woman named Mistinguett, I had no idea she was featured in the 2003 HBO special, "Showgirls: Glitz and Angst." Nor that she won eight "Show of the Year" awards and was a member of the American Theatre Musical Roundtable Hall of Fame.
The HBO special goes to the heart of her story: love of dancing -- and of Greg Thompson. Seattle-based Thompson is among the world's most prolific producers of Las Vegas-style musical revues.Between 1982 and 2006, Mistinguett choreographed and designed costumes for his shows. For 15 of those years, she and Thompson were romantically involved. By the time of the HBO series, the romance was over. Thompson's young wife, Sunny, was the star, with Mistinguett choreographing routines for the woman who essentially replaced her.
Mistinguett has begun a new life in Seattle. At 55, she still uses the name she borrowed from the notorious, early-1900s dancer who performed at the Moulin Rouge and was famous for dating Maurice Chevalier.
The illustrations with her at Kinko's were from "Life in Feathers and Rhinestones: The Mistinguett Showgirl Collection," showing through Monday at The Gilt Edge Society, a salon and gallery in Belltown. Mistinguett also will display the collection and sell prints at a booth in Pioneer Square during the First Thursday art walk July 3, from noon to 8 p.m.
The glittery showgirls are graceful, like plants, flowing water, Marlene Dietrich. Headdresses are feather fountains in pinks, blues, whites and violets. The women, many of them with breasts exposed in the style of Las Vegas revues, wear jeweled fabrics and helmets, pearls, fishnets, black tops and boots.
Her hair a bright red, her face contented after choreographing hundreds of shows in cities around the world, Mistinguett enjoys having a neighborhood and a town. Her career placed her in the thick of the casino industry, where male producers and male casino managers ran shows for the male eye.
"My approach is a celebration of a woman's body," she said, "rather than exploitation.
"My faith may have faded," she continued, noting her Catholic upbringing in the Denver area, "but the ideals of morals and compassion (were) embedded in me somehow."
It's an attitude that stems from the original Paris tradition. Showgirl revues from those of the first Mistinguett to present-day performances at the Lido retain huge status as art. Somewhere between Paris and Vegas, the showgirl lost her reputation. Prudish sensibilities colored her.
Mistinguett's drawings appeal to many women for their glamour and fashion sense.
"In Vegas, they don't have the same feel because of the way we're
raised about nudity," Mistinguett said. "Europeans can be nude on the
beach. They're used to it and more open."
Mistinguett saw that ticket buyers were mostly women who wanted to see costumes and dancing. That required her to find the best dancers with the right look, the right training and discipline.
"Having a gal there who's sexy but not a beautifully trained dancer brings down the level of the whole thing," Mistinguett said. "I had to fight for that."
Her drawings allow Mistinguett to fantasize, unencumbered by conflicting philosophies or worries about laundering beads, plumes and fluff. She said the reaction of Seattleites has been intriguing.
"People in Seattle are puzzled. The drawings interest them and they like them," she said, "but it's not something you see here every day, as in Las Vegas."
Perhaps the reaction is also about standards, about the line between the Venus de Milo and naughtiness.
Some women, for instance, may like the grace, the color and the sparkle but not the nudity, preferring less Vegas flash and more Broadway fashion.
As it happens, Mistinguett used to design for two shows a night: a dinnertime "Broadway" revue for families, with the showgirls covered, and a late-night topless show.
For Seattle, the dinner show may seem more appropriate, yet her drawings have a disarming quality -- almost an innocence. To material that easily becomes tawdry, Mistinguett brings a sense of play and elegance.
She sums it up this way: "It's nudity, in the sense of flirting."
Ina Gilles is a Seattle freelance writer.
Read the original article:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/visualart/368558_showgirl27.htm
Exhibit and Artist Reception
The perfect antidote to the winter doldrums is
"SHOWGIRLS"!
February 12th 5-8pm
1419 12th Avenue Seattle, WA 98122
"Life in Feathers & Rhinestones"
That's right, get out of the house and bring everyone down to Retrofit Home for a champagne reception, a Live Showgirl performance and the art of Mistinguett!
Multi media, Showgirl inspired art....I dare you to come up with anything more fun!