The DESTEFASHIONCOLLECTION is an incremental project conceived by the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art to consider and trouble the boundaries between art and fashion. Each year from 2007 through 2014, DESTE commissione­d an artist to survey that season’s international fashion offerings and to select five related items with which to execute a capsule project, reflecting on the formal, representational, material and social economies that circulate between art and fashion. Initiated with the Benaki Museum, Athens, in 2014, the exhibition DESTEFASHIONCOLLECTION: 1 to 8 assembles all eight years of capsules and projects.

Adapted by The Bass in collaboration with the DESTE Foundation, the exhibition design in Miami Beach is created by architect Edwin Chan and marks the first time the collection is exhibited in its entirety within the United States. DESTEFASHIONCOLLECTION: 1 to 8 seeks to compare the artists’ fashion selections and their interpretations, and to expose the ligatures, relays and exchanges within the components of the collection. Neither solely about fashion nor about art, the exhibition builds on the tensions, affinities, and distance between the two and the problem of contemporariness revealed in their relationship. Moreover, the show navigates these boundaries through a curatorial apparatus that draws connections among the elements of each capsule, while simultaneously re-inscribing separations, differences and distinctions. Participating artists in the DESTEFASHIONCOLLECTION project are: Michael Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak (M/M Paris), 2007; Juergen Teller, 2008; Helmut Lang, 2009; Patrizia Cavalli, 2010; Charles Ray, 2011; Athina Rachel Tsangari, 2012; Diller Scofidio +Renfro, 2013; and Maria Papadimitriou, 2014.

The DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art is a non-profit institution established in Geneva in 1983 by collector Dakis Joannou. Through its exhibition space in Athens, Greece, DESTE engages in an extensive exhibition program that promotes both emerging and established artists, and aims to broaden the audience for contemporary art, enhance opportunities for young artists, and explore the connections between contemporary art and culture. The DESTE Foundation’s core exhibition schedule is complemented by collaborative projects with internationally acclaimed curators and leading artists, reflecting the global trends in contemporary art. Through a series of contemporary art exhibitions, the collaborations between DESTE and various institutions aim to promote new and radical developments in contemporary art practice and introduce important artistic innovations to a wider public.

Born in Hong Kong and educated in the United States, Edwin Chan operates his independent architectural and design practice, EC3, based in Los Angeles. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the College of Environmental Design at the University of California at Berkeley and earned a Master of Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Upon graduation, Chan joined Frank O. Gehry & Associates in Los Angeles, where he was a Design Partner from 2000-2010, and oversaw the design, coordination and execution of many of the firm’s most significant projects. His built portfolio encompasses over 3 million square feet of cultural and institutional buildings that have redefined cities, and reinforced communities. Since 2012, he has steadily gained credibility and attention for his cross-disciplinary approach to design for projects of varying scale and cultural significance.