Disobedient Bodies: a book by OK-RM, JW Anderson, Jamie Hawkesworth and Hepworth Wakefield

Fashion and sculpture fuse this month at the Hepworth Wakefield’s major exhibition Disobedient Bodies, curated by JW Anderson. Examining the human form in art, fashion and design, the show features figurative sculpture works by artists such as Jean Arp, Lynn Chadwick, Henry Moore, Louise Bourgeois and Barbara Hepworth herself, in “direct dialogue” with fashion pieces by Christian Dior, Rei Kawakubo of Commes des Garçons, Helmut Lang and Issey Miyake. The pieces complement and interact across the show, “offering a series of contrasting experiences” to explore, says the gallery.

To coincide with the show, OK-RM has collaborated with the fashion label’s founder Jonathan Anderson and Hepworth Wakefield’s chief curator Andrew Bonacina to create a book that explores the topic in a different way. Featuring a series of photographs by Jamie Hawkesworth, art directed with Jonathan, the expertly paired images present the intertwining of the different media through their relation to human shape. Some combinations mirror those from the show, while many others are unique to the book, formed “in response to the specific physicality” of the book, “offering another opportunity to persuade these disobedient bodies into new and unexpected encounters.”

The Disobedient Bodies book is released in a run of 2000 through OK-RM’s publishing arm In Other Words. It’s available for pre-order here.

Disobedient Bodies opens at The Hepworth Wakefield gallery from 18 March – 18 June 2017.