ATOPOS Contemporary Visual Culture

: OUT OF PLACE, AND
SO, 1. STRANGE, UN-
WONTED, EXTRAORDINARY,
EUR., ETC. 2. STRANGE, ODD,
ECCENTRIC, ΔΟΥΛΟΙ ΤΩΝ ΑΕΙ ΑΤΥΠΩΝ
SLAVES TO EVERY NEW PARADOX,
THUC.; ΤΩΝ ΑΤΥΠΩΤAΤΩΝ ΑΝ ΕΙΗ
DEM. 3. UNNATURAL,
DISGUSTING, FOUL, ΠΝΕY
ΜΑ THUC. II. ADV. – ΠΩΣ, MARVE-
LOUSLY OR OBSURDLY, ID., PLAT.
Liddell Scott dictionary

Through ATOPOS’ research projects and its various collaborations a unique collection has been formed over the years. The bulk of this collection consists of a large number of authentic and rare disposable paper dresses of the 1960s from the USA and Europe-possibly the largest paper dress collection in the world. The collection includes the Souper Dress (1968) after Andy Warhol; the Yellow Pages paper dress; paper dresses from the 1968 US election campaigns by Richard Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller, Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy and their Canadian counterpart, Pierre Trudeau; and the Poster Dresses by American graphic designer Harry Gordon. This paper dress collection has been a flawless inspiration for commission of new works of art and fashion by ATOPOS to artists such as Robert Wilson, Angelo Plessas and Paul Graves, amongst others.
Recently, ATOPOS has added to its collection some rare examples of paper Kamiko coats and paper underclothing of the Edo and Meiji periods from Japan, and also China. The new acquisitions are examples of particularly beautiful craftsmanship and connect the history of paper clothing with the ‘paper’ fashion of the sixties.
The ATOPOS collection is continuously being enriched with rare fashion items from fashion designers such as Yohji Yamamoto, Christoph Broich, Bernhard Willhelm, Junya Watanabe, Raf Simons and Comme des Garçons.