Ivey Abitz Voices

New Art Movement Values Clothing and Paintings Created by Humans Over Computer Design and Mass Production

I want to live within an idyll of peace each and every day, and every one of my garment designs strives to create such a place.”

— Artist Designer Cynthia Ivey Abitz

New York designer Ivey Abitz introduced original paintings into its new Autumn Winter collection of bespoke clothing for women titled, “A New American Art Movement.”

The paintings are by the collection designer, Cynthia Ivey Abitz, a visual artist and clothing designer now in her 18th year of designing for the company.

Both the paintings and the new clothing collection were inspired by the first art movement in the United States started by the Hudson River School. That first movement began in the early 1800’s with a group of New York painters who were moved by the landscape around them. Ivey Abitz pays homage to the bucolic and majestic landscapes of New York’s Hudson Valley that inspired these artists two hundred years ago.

For her new collection, Ivey Abitz set out to examine what Hudson River School founder Thomas Cole and his contemporaries found of value within the landscapes they painted. She painted landscapes of New York’s Hudson River Valley and the Great Lakes Region, just as they often painted. She set her brush to canvas within the actual landscapes, with her own visual language, to further connect with the ideals the Hudson River School conveyed so long ago.

“I gave myself a timeframe for each painting I created, finishing each painting in the amount of time it takes us to create one Ivey Abitz garment from start to finish,” Cynthia Ivey Abitz said.

Ivey Abitz’s creative process led her to ask questions: What is the difference between painting a landscape and creating a garment to wear? If they take the same amount of time to create, are they of the same value? Is one more valuable than the other, simply because it hangs on a wall? Or is a garment more valuable because of its everyday usefulness?

In today’s culture of throwaway fast-fashion clothing, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that a painting is far more valuable than a garment.

Designer Ivey Abitz said, “As an artist who creates both paintings and garments, I challenge all of us to rethink the value of garments. Paintings, too, for that matter. In a world where mass-production churns out so much substandard clothing and so many incidental images that it makes my head spin, it’s easy to overlook the specialness and profundity of something made by hand with thought, care, and time. In a world being overtaken by artificial intelligence, what does it mean to have someone’s spirit guide each stitch and every brushstroke?”

Cynthia Ivey Abitz says the landscape she lives in—the Hudson Valley–inspired her to create the new Autumn Winter collection of Ivey Abitz garments.

“The Hudson River School’s intent was to celebrate the idyllic qualities and hopefulness of a landscape,” Ivey Abitz explains. “I connect with this purpose in such a deep way, as this is at the core of every collection of garments I create. I want to live within an idyll of peace each and every day, and every one of my garment designs strives to create such a place.”

The design house Ivey Abitz has long been a proponent of creating from ideals, and that is what’s behind its new art movement. The movement values art and products created by the human hand over mass production. Ivey Abitz tries to create quality and meaningful things within a world that it says has become banal and saturated with mass-produced sameness. This new art movement values what is created by the human spirit and mind over computer algorithms and artificial intelligence.

Cynthia Ivey Abitz says she put this collection of ideals out into the world believing that there are others who seek to invest in something of quality, made by hand. She hopes that those who are seeking unique clothing and authentic art will find it.

Ivey Abitz adds, “If you believe in this new art movement, too, I hope you will embrace yourself with a lifetime of Ivey Abitz garments.”

Ivey Abitz is a New York based clothing design company specializing in bespoke clothing for women. It is sold exclusively through the company’s website IveyAbitz.com. The Autumn Winter collection also offers for sale giclée prints of the original Ivey Abitz landscape paintings.

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Clothing Designer Uses Paintings To Declare A New American Art Movement | MENAFN.COM

Clothing Designer Uses Paintings to Declare a New American Art Movement (abnnewswire.net)