Research Catalog

Title

Killer heels : the art of the high-heeled shoe / edited by Lisa Small ; essays by Lisa Small, Stefano Tonchi, and Caroline Weber ; new photography by Jay Zukerkorn ; with contributions by Ghada Amer [and twenty-four others].

Publication

Brooklyn, NY : Brooklyn Museum, 2014.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Small, Lisa
• Tonchi, Stefano
• Weber, Caroline, 1969-
• Zukerkorn, Jay
• Amer, Ghada, 1963-
• Brooklyn Museum host institution.
• Albuquerque Museum, host institution.

Description

224 pages : color illustrations; 32 cm

Summary

Killer Heels explores the rich cultural history of the high heel and its relation to power, fantasy, sexuality and identity. More than 160 spectacular contemporary and historical shoe designs - from sixteenth-century Venetian platforms to twenty-first-century Christian Louboutins - are presented around six themes: Revival and Reinterpretation, Rising in the East, Glamour and Transgression, Architecture, Metamorphosis and Space Walk. Going beyond the archetypal forms of stiletto, wedge and platform, these extraordinary designs play with the cultural and artistic possibilities of the high heel, use innovative or unexpected materials and push the limits of functionality, wear ability and beauty. Complementing the shoes are stills, sketches and artist statements for six films specially commissioned for the exhibition from Ghada Amer and Reza Farkhondeh, Zach Gold, Steven Klein, Nick Knight, Marilyn Minter and Rashaad Newsome that explore a range of provocative themes and demonstrate the power of the high heel in the collective imagination. In addition, several of the designers included in the exhibition (including Brian Atwood, Zaha Hadid, Pierre Hardy and Christian Louboutin), along with Elizabeth Semmelhack, Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum, contribute thoughts on topics such as their inspiration and design process and the cultural significance of high heels. Beautiful, informative and just plain fun, this collection of killer heels is filled with stunning photos and fashion lore.

Subject

• Brooklyn Museum > Exhibitions
• Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art > Exhibitions
• Bata Shoe Museum Foundation > Exhibitions
• Pumps (Shoes) > Exhibitions
• Platform shoes > Exhibitions
• Shoes > Exhibitions
• Shoes > Social aspects

Genre/Form

Exhibition catalogs

Note

• Published on the occasion of an exhibition organized by Lisa Small, curator of exhibitions, Brooklyn Museum. Itinerary: Brooklyn Museum, September 10, 2014-February 15, 2015; Albuquerque Museum, May 30-August 9, 2015.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

This is not a shoe / Stefano Tonchi -- The eternal high heel: erotticism and empowerment / Caroline Weber -- Catalogue / introductionsby Lisa Small.

ISBN

• 9783791353807 (hardcover)
• 3791353802 (hardcover)
• 9780872731776 (paperback)
• 0872731774 (paperback)

LCCN

^^2014007906

OCLC

• 876370729
• SCSB-10992807

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library