Bjarne Melgaard, “The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment” at Red Bull Arts New York

Red Bull Arts New York is pleased to announce that its inaugural exhibition, under its new moniker, will be the first large-scale presentation of Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard’s ongoing project, The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment.

Produced in collaboration with creative director Babak Radboy, the exhibition will feature a presentation of the eponymous menswear/unisex clothing line, The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment, which violently embraces the obsessive and self-destructive aspects of fashion and consumerism. For Melgaard, fashion is a vague nothing at the intersection of a subject and an object — between inadequacy, self-deceit, victimization, ethical compromise, intellectual humiliation, financial/romantic entanglements and corporeal decay — driven by an infinite cycle of disappointment and desire.

Red Bull Arts New York will be transformed into a multi-level psychopathological department store populated by several dozen mannequins in bespoke looks produced in collaboration with art/fashion stylist Avena Gallagher.

Returning the space to its previous life as the site of the Barney’s Co-op, Melgaard’s New York becomes a total environment to facilitate an emotional and physical purge in which the artist will give away —free of charge to the public —  the indefensible quantity of designer fashion and high-end streetwear he has amassed over the years.