FEATHERED EXHIBITIONS TO SEE NOW

If our week of Beautiful Feathers has inspired you so far, you might want to deepen your experience by seeing some incredible feathered art. Here are some awesome arts and design exhibitions featuring Beautiful Feathers that you can see for yourself right now. Some pieces were created thousands of years ago, some are contemporary. All are spectacular. You'll be blown away!

You will be stunned by the beauty of the featherd ensembles created by Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester, who is known as the “Queen of Feather.”

BIRDS OF PARADISE - MODE MUSEUM

Feathers have beautifully adorned humans for eons. Go see the history of feathers in fashion at a fabulous new exhibition, “Birds of Paradise” at the Mode Museum in Antwerp.

Imagine the flounce from an ostrich feather folding fan, circa 1928, dip-dyed in hot pink ombre. Its tortoiseshell sticks are appointed with a crown and arms in platinum, diamonds, rubies and enamel.

Check out the lush ostrich plumage of the 1920’s, Marlene Dietrich’s iconic swans down coat, feathered Alexander McQueen and Ann Demeulemeester pieces, and more.

See Bird of Paradise feathers, once the rage, sprouting from fashionable hats until the species became endangered due to over-harvesting. Chanel, Prada, Balenciaga, and Thierry Mugler, all have feathery fashion to show off. Mugler’s Bird of Paradise couture gown is a thrill.

The Roger Vivier feathered shoe is a total joy.

Dries Van Noten donated several pieces to the exhibition. And there is an entire room devoted to Ann Demeulemeester, including the dramatic feathered stage outfits she created for British singer PJ Harvey.

The exhibition also includes fantasy-inspired works from British artist Kate McGuire, featured in yesterday’s BN Daily Fix, A New Flight of Feather Sculptures, including a giant umbilical cord covered in black crow feathers.

See Bird of Paradise at MoMu, Antwerp now until August 24th, 2014.

FEATHERED WALLS -- METROPOLITAN MUSEUM

The ancient Wari tribe, of southern Peru, created extraordinary tapestries made of feathers between 500 and 1000 AD. Twelve of these tapestry panels are now on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

They were reportedly part of a group of ninety-six excavated in 1943 by local people. Many of the panels are remarkably well preserved. See “Feathered Walls: Hangings from Ancient Peru,” now through May 12, 2014.

IN FINE FEATHER -- TOLEDO MUSEUM

The “Biggest Week in American Birding,” is coming up (starting April 25th) and to celebrate, The Toldedo Museum is launching “In Fine Feather,” an exhibition highlighting the intersection of natural science and art, from a medieval treatise on falconry to John James Audubon’s Birds of America to Peterson’s Field Guides. See it now through July 6, 2014.

AUDUBON'S AVIARY -- NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Here’s your chance to see hundreds of original watercolors painted by John James Audubon for “The Birds of America,” many for the first time. The New York Historical Society recently opened “Parts Unknown,” the 2nd installment of a three part exhibition series called “Audobon’s Aviary: The Complete Flock.”

Parts Unknown includes 132 paintings of water birds, including the Great Blue Heron, the Atlantic Puffin, and the Snowy Egret, among others. Part One of the series presented 200 of Audubon’s originals. And Part Three will present the remainder of a set of 435 Audubon watercolors sold by his widow to the Society shortly after he died, in 1891.

You will hear bird calls and songs of each species as you gaze at the paintings, recorded and produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Experience Audobon’s feathered world now through May 26, 2014 at the New York Historical Society.

Read more about Beautiful Feathers, it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 New Beautiful Books on Feathers, Feathers: 100 Million Years of Beauty Now,  Beautiful New Feather-Light Delights, Beautiful New Feather-Light Delights, and Feathered Exhibitions to See Now.

Enter this week’s BN Creative Competition. Our theme this week is Beautiful Feathers. Deadline is 04.06.14.

PHOTO CREDITS: 

1. Photo by Dan Lecca. Courtesy of Ann Demeulemeester.
2. Photo by Dan Lecca. Courtesy of Ann Demeulemeester.
3. Photo:  Stephen Mattues. Folding Fan.
4. Photo: Courtesy of Mode Museum. Alexander McQueen Haute Couture.
5. Photo: Courtesy of Roger Vivier. Feathered fairy-tale shoe from the Aristo Boheme collection.
6. Image: Courtesy of Kate MccGwire. “Corvid.”
7. Photo: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Feathered Hanging.”
8. Illustration: by John James Audubon. American Flamingo.
9. Illustration: by John James Audubon. Northern Shovelers.
10. Illustration: by John James Audubon. Great Blue Heron.