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Being Oscar de la Renta: An exhibition that 'makes' his life and shows his legacy

Oscar de la Renta has been frequently studied from an international perspective. On this occasion, the Eduardo León Jimenes Foundation, Centro León and Grupo Puntacana present the life and work of an extraordinary fashion artist, a versatile creator, a universal Dominican who always kept his native country in his mind and in his heart.

The dream began when in 2012, María Amalia León de Jorge and Rosana Rivera met Oscar in New York City, and together they began to weave the idea of ​​the exhibition from the visions that the designer himself had of it. .

In 2015, the initiative was resumed when the curatorial research began with the enthusiastic impulse of the Rainieri family and, especially, of the Oscar de la Renta family. Several curators come together to shape a proposal that will be exhibited until April 2020.

Joel butler

About the exhibition, he says: “The idea of ​​holding this exhibition germinated with a visit by Oscar de la Renta to the León Center in 2009, when the exhibition Fernando Peña Defilló, the eternal return, was presented. It began to take shape after a visit from our director María Amalia León de Jorge to Oscar that same year.

In 2015, the research process was formally started in which the collections, bibliographic and documentary collections were identified from which this proposal was conceptualized, which shows, in addition to a long and intense work in the world of fashion, the work as an ambassador of the Dominican culture that he attributed himself through his work in fashion, as a human being and as a humanitarian ”.

He says that once the costumes, works, documents and objects necessary to narrate the history of the exhibition have been identified, the process of contacting institutions and private collectors begins and coordinating the transport agreements and logistics to the León Center.

The process of installing the costumes and accessories has been in charge of Molly Sorkin and Jennifer Park, specialists from the Oscar de la Renta Archive and expert curators in fashion and textiles ”.

Sara hermann

“One of the most difficult tasks is to title something. And an exhibition is quite complex to name, and if we add to that its complexity, I recognize that it has been an intense work of a work team. As Oscar said, the creative process is teamwork. Thus, we consider being Oscar de la Renta. Being is the most general of terms ”, he comments.

Yina Jimenez

The different dimensions of Oscar de la Renta can be appreciated in the exhibition through five moments that are: Oscar manifesto; Oscar Renta Fiallo is Oscar de la Renta; In the workshop everything is inspiration; I'm just an island boy: Oscar is transnational; and Essences of a legacy: Being Oscar de la Renta. The special moments are articulated between them through the workshop.

Molly sorkin

Of course, as Oscar was from the Dominican Republic, his cultural heritage and his country were very important to him. His first inspirations were the sights, sounds, and even the botanical fragrances of Santo Domingo.

Jennifer park

The first exhibition was held at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. De la Renta was never nostalgic about his work and resisted the idea of ​​a retrospective exhibition. But his great friend, Hillary Clinton convinced him. The Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas was the headquarters.

Leticia Moronta

The museum discourse was constructed from the results of curatorial research and direct work with curators from certain symbolic elements such as the O for Oscar. The use of colors, although sometimes they may seem imperceptible, adds reading levels to visitors.

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'Great teachers'

This project, which is within this program, which the León Center has developed since its inception, has the support of companies that support art and culture such as Grupo Puntacana, Cervecería Nacional Dominicana, Citi Private Bank, Banco Popular, Editora Listín Newspaper, International Visa, Cibao International Airport, Synergies Corporation, Propagás Foundation and Excel.

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