Art of the Aloha Shirt: Keoni of Hawaii By Kerry M. Azzarello
John “Keoni” Meigs, Island Feast, 1946, manufactured by Kamehameha, cotton, 35” x 24”, © Keoni Collection
Movie stars, rock and roll legends, United States Presidents, possibly even you. That is the answer to the hypothetical game show question, “Who are people who have Aloha shirts”? Aloha shirts, often also called Hawaiian shirts, are so common one could make the mistake of overlooking them. However, the latest exhibition at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art (MGMoA) in Shawnee, Oklahoma, brings these garments to the forefront, allowing visitors to take a closer look at a unique artform. Art of the Aloha Shirt: Keoni of Hawaii, 1938– 51 features original textile artwork, production sketches, fabric swatches, print advertisements, and vintage shirts from John “Keoni” Meigs. Keoni (Hawaiian for John and pronounced “Key-O-nee”) was a self-taught artist born in Chicago in 1916. After graduating from 10 p re v i e w
UCLA in 1936, he moved to Hawaii the following year. His first designs were created in 1938 and centered around Polynesian tapa patterns inspired by designs he had seen in the Bishop Museum, the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History. During his prolific career, John Meigs produced Hawaiian textiles as “Keoni of Hawaii.”
to, a most special place.” Given Keoni’s bountiful output of over 300 textile designs, it was difficult for the team to narrow which pieces to include. Ultimately, sixty objects were selected to display and tell the story. The pieces are from the 1930s through the 1950s, a time period often considered the “Golden Age” for Aloha shirts.
The concept for Art of the Aloha Shirt was a collaboration between exhibition curator Dale Hope, a Mainland collector of Aloha shirts, and the Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA). According to Hope, “There is probably no garment in the world that [better] captures a land’s ‘spirit of place’. For well over a half a century, the Aloha shirt has been Hawaii’s most enduring and visible greeter and ambassador. Like a lei, the Aloha shirt is worn as a statement of one’s love for, and connection
MGMoA Curator of Collections, Delaynna Trim, notes the museum typically hosts or develops exhibitions that feature art from various cultures and communities. While the museum does not have any Aloha shirts in their collection, Keoni’s work complements the museum’s Polynesian and Hawaiian native artifacts. Diverting from a stereotypical art exhibition, Art of the Aloha Shirt exposes guests to
