An exhibition of photographs and clothing by British designer Lee Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) will open on May 30 at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.

The exhibition presents 65 photographs selected from the immense personal archive of Ann Ray (1969), who for thirteen years had exclusive and unrestricted access to McQueen's universe, during which time she captured 43 collections of the late designer with her lens, from contemplative moments in the design studio to organized chaos behind the scenes at the shows.
&ldquo;I love your images, but I don't have money. Give me your photos and I'll give you clothes,&rdquo; <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/fashion/alexander-mcqueen-by-sean-mcgirr-autumn-winter-2024-collection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexander McQueen</a> told French photographer Ann Ray when they began collaborating together in 1996, while he was working as artistic director for the <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/fashion/givenchy-beach-wear-collection-summer-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Givenchy</a> fashion house. The friendship was instantaneous and led to a partnership based on trust and without a formal contract. Ray agreed to document McQueen's process in exchange for unrestricted access and gifts of clothing. The result of this creative alliance is an archive of 32,000 negatives, from which Ray herself selected for this <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/art/yohji-yamamoto-fashion-art-exhibition-10-corso-como-milan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exhibition</a>.
&ldquo;You're looking at everything,&rdquo; McQueen told Ray, looking at the first photographs he took, to which she replied: &ldquo;Yes, I do. Same as you".
Titled &ldquo;Lee Alexander McQueen and Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous,&rdquo; the exhibition aims to offer a rare insight into the life and work of the irreverent designer who turned his clothes into a conceptual expression of culture, politics and identity, and whose tragic death - he committed suicide at the age of 40 - catapulted him as the genius of <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/fashion/best-looks-from-london-fashion-week-autumn-winter-2024-runway-images" target="_blank" rel="noopener">British fashion</a>.
The photographs included in this tour review moments and creations in the life of &ldquo;Lee&rdquo;, as his friends called him, from his years as creative director of Givenchy, one of the oldest and most historic Haute Couture houses in Paris, to its consecration with its own name, in which its parades became increasingly theatrical and performative, its references more eclectic and, its style, even more dramatic and dreamlike.
The museum will bring together a total of 60 items of clothing, including ready-to-wear, one-of-a-kind samples and examples of Haute Couture spanning the arc of McQueen's career. Among them are ten garments that the designer gave to Ray and another 13 significant ones, which were donated by the organizers and producers of this exhibition, Barrett Barrera Projects, the largest private collection of McQueen designs in the world, based in St .Louis, Missouri.
&ldquo;While there were other exhibitions dedicated to McQueen, including 'Savage Beauty,' which broke audience records at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2011, just a year after his death, the unprecedented inclusion of Ann Ray's photographs &ldquo;In this exhibition he creates an encounter that brings new narratives to the surface,&rdquo; said Katie Delmez, senior curator at the Frist Art Museum.
The son of a London taxi driver, the youngest of six children, Alexander McQueen graduated from the prestigious Central Saint Martins fashion program in 1992 and, with the support of fashion editor Isabella Blow, founded his eponymous label and honed his sartorial talents as a storyteller with his first collections. Throughout his career he presented iconic designs such as the "bumster" pants, the kimono jacket and the three-pointed "origami" coat.

Alexander McQueen at the Frist Art Museum 

Alexander McQueen at the Frist Art Museum

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