05 Nov 2019 - 28 Feb 2020
Daniel Lismore
I am an Art Piece
Curator: Wojtek Piotr Onak
He is a living work of art and has worked with such fashion celebrities as Vivienne Westwood and Naomi Campbell and brands such as H&M, Mastercard and Bulgari on their flagship projects. Björk requested to have his exhibition closed for other visitors so that she could experience it alone. David Beckham has repeatedly emphasised the uniqueness of his works in his posts in social media. And this is just the beginning of a long list of artists and celebrities who recognise Daniel Lismore as an outstanding and intriguing artist. On November 5, his art that escapes all definitions will be presented to the Polish audience for the first time at the opening of the exhibition in Stary Browar in Poznań.
He is an extraordinary sculptor and a maximalist. He doesn’t like to be called “performer” but prefers to present himself as a… living work of art. Thanks to creative activities of Stary Browar we will get a chance to meet Daniel Lismore personally. The exhibition celebrating the 16th birthday of the shopping centre will feature unique sculptures - the artist's multiple identities dressed in eclectic costumes of his own design. Some of the sculptures were created by Lismore exclusively for Stary Browar. We wanted to invite to our birthday exhibition an artist who escapes all definitions and is difficult to “tag” – says Joanna Tupalska, marketing director of Stary Browar. Daniel Lismore loves popular art and kitsch, as a child he watched hundreds of sci-fi films and “Star Trek”. At the same time he has great knowledge of history of art and design, he also learned a lot from his grandparents who worked as antiquarians. This blend of history and pop culture is reflected in all his artistic creations. This ideally harmonises with the identity of Stary Browar, where history and modernity have been engaged in a constant dialogue for 16 years.
Freedom to be yourself
“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken” – it is both Daniel Lismore’s life motto and the title of the exhibition which has been travelling the world since 2016. Sculptures created out of fabrics, jewellery and various objects that fascinate him are no different from what he wears on a daily basis. I can say that for 15 years I haven’t lived a day I could call a typical one – says Daniel Lismore. This diversity is a drive for my creative work.
“Who are you? Who would you like to be? How many versions of you are there?” – asks Lismore provocatively and answers the questions with the art he creates. His works are peculiar self-portraits and multiplied identities of the artist which are all full of colour, dynamism and movement. Daniel personifies freedom of the mind, enclosure of the body and a desire to become a project rather than the human being – says Wojciech Piotr Onak who curates Lismore’s exhibition in Stary Browar. American Vogue has named him the most eccentric man in London.
Meet the living work of art
The period preceding the opening of the exhibition in Stary Browar was extremely intense for Lismore. In September he worked with Naomi Campbell on the organisation of this year’s ‘Fashion For Relief’ fashion show. Currently he is preparing for the premiere of “The Mask of Orpheus” with music by Harrison Birtwistle, staged at the English National Opera, for which he designed costumes.
Previous birthday exhibitions in the Gallery at the Courtyard in Stary Browar featured such artists as Björk with her interactive VR-exhibition and a year later celebrity photographer, David LaChapelle. The Icelandic singer is a declared fan of Lismore and LaChapelle has photographed the artist and his eccentric works of art several times. Our audience calls the brewery gallery the “gallery of pop culture”. Daniel’s multidisciplinary art ideally fits into the profile of our exhibition programme - says Joanna Tupalska. It blurs the boundaries between art and fashion, creation and reality, and finally – between the exhibition and life, because he is a living exhibit
and the exhibits are his avatars.
Curator Wojciech Piotr Onak has worked earlier with Stary Browar during several editions of Art & Fashion Festival, as well as on “Björk Digital” project and last year's LaChapelle exhibition. The Gallery at the Courtyard is one of the most unique exhibition areas in Poland - emphasises Onak. I am very happy that once again, together with the team of Stary Browar, we may present to the Polish audience a personality and artistic creation which are so fresh and inspiring: in terms of fashion, art and sociology.
On November 5, exactly on the 16th anniversary of the opening of Stary Browar, Daniel Lismore will personally open the exhibition in Poznań. This is a unique opportunity to have a closer look at his works. And above all, to get to know...a living work of art.
