Dazzle painting, or razzle-dazzle, refers to the style of marine camouflage painting briefly employed during World War I for the purpose of confusing the German U-boats. “Bedazzled”, an exhibition of original blueprints from the era, will open today at RISD’s Fleet Library. The show’s curator — a woman with the unbelievable Bond Girl name, Claudia Covert — began researching this rare collection after arriving at the school four years ago. It had been donated in 1919 by a former student who had served as a “camofleur” at a naval shipyard. This painting, “Dazzle-ships in Drydock at Liverpool” by Edward Wadsworth, is not part of the show but just incredibly vivid and awesome. [More at ProJo]
January 26 through March 29, Fleet Library, 15 Westminster Street, 790.5900