Fashion lovers: the artist Bjarne Melgaard has got your Valentine’s Day plans—or your last-minute gifts—covered. Head to Red Bull Arts New York today (14 February) from 5-8pm for The Purge, a giveaway of $500,000 worth of the artist’s own designer clothing—including pieces by Lanvin, Issey Miyake and Comme des Garçons—and items from his new unisex Melgaard streetwear collection, such as bomber jacket with a shooting range target printed on the back, framed by the words “queer fear”, and a tee-shirt that reads “I hate Rhianna/Don’t trust anyone under 30”.
Melgaard’s new jewellery collaboration with the jeweller Bjørg Nordli-Mathisen, meanwhile, is on view at the Grand Street location of Gavin Brown’s Enterprise (until 19 February) as part of the artist’s ongoing fashion project, The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment. Last weekend’s opening event featured tiny pigs trotting around a pink “runway” enclosure, some sporting jewellery or Melgaard label scarves, and security guards in Melgaard bomber jackets and Bjarne+Bjørg jewellery, such as a necklace in precious stones reading “Pitty fuck”.
The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment also includes a “derelict department store” installation at Red Bull Arts New York —in a space that was once a Barney’s co-op— due to open on 16 February (until 9 April), which includes Melgaard’s fashions and a video collaboration with Jim Henson Company, the creators of the beloved Muppets. Puppets or not, be prepared for some X-rated content: children under 18 will need an adult chaperone to enter.
