| When we think of mannequins, we usually envisage | | | | those still working as window dressers to be |
| lines of them in shop windows, artfully arranged to | | | | considered artists in their own right. Some of them |
| display the latest fashions being offered by a | | | | like Robert Currie and Candie Price- Pratts, will go |
| particular designer or clothing line. The mannequin | | | | down in history for the elaborate tableau they have |
| however, especially the female mannequin, has long | | | | created behind the glass windows of some of the |
| been a feature of the art world as well. | | | | world's most famous stores. |
| Since iconic artists Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and | | | | As a more recent example, Simon Doonan, who has |
| Robert Rauschenberg all began their careers as | | | | been creative director of the world famous Barney's |
| window dressers it is perhaps not too much of a | | | | store in New York since 1986, is in the 21st century |
| surprise that mannequins found their way into many | | | | considered to be a fashion expert, appearing on VH1 |
| of their later art works. They incorporated both the | | | | and in red carpet run down shows even though the |
| female mannequin and the male mannequin into a | | | | models he has worked with throughout his career |
| number of their pieces although the end result was | | | | have been mannequins rather than the flesh and |
| often a far cry from the way wholesale mannequins | | | | blood creatures he critiques on television. |
| bought at a mannequin store usually appear. | | | | These days mannequins come in all shapes, sizes and |
| Earlier artists embraced the mannequin as a muse as | | | | colors and such things as the torso mannequin are |
| well. Photographer Man Ray used both a headless | | | | regaining popularity as designers seek a way to |
| mannequin and various disembodied models in a series | | | | accurately and attractively display their work without |
| of photographs designed to represent the horrors of | | | | adding the distraction of a recognizable face or |
| war, while surrealist Salvador Dali brought them into | | | | features. Wherever mannequins evolve in the future |
| his weird and wild world as well. | | | | though there is little doubt that they will continue to |
| As these prominent artists gave some credibility to | | | | feature prominently in the art world as well as in the |
| the "lowly" mannequin they also opened the door for | | | | windows of your local mall. |