CHANGING IT FROM WITHIN`(?) THE SURFACE OF THE BRAND IS WHERE HE PROJECTS HIS IDEAS. ABOUT IDENTITY, ABOUT BRANDING, ABOUT CONSUMING SENSE, EXPLORE, CELEBRATE THE TIME, THE NOW THE BRAND EXISTS TO TELL STORIES BRAND AS AN EQUITY HE CAN SUBVERTLY MESSAGE FROM WHAT IF STREETWEAR WAS THE NEXT MOVEMENT WHITIN ART? POST-POSTMODERNISM WHY DOES "FASHION" SOUND CHEAP ? FASHION IS LINKED TO ART, LUXURY, CULTURE STREETWEAR IS A DYSPHEMISM OF FASHION, IT'S "FASHION" STREET IS NOT ITS BINARY OPPOSITE BUT A NAME THAT APPLIES TO ANYTHING NON-FASHION STREET BECOMES IN EVERY WAY, THAT WHAT FASHION IS NOT TO NAME A THING FASHION IS CREATING A BOUNDARY AROUND IT. TO NAME SOMETHING STREET IS TO FREE IT FROM BOUNDARIES THE ART-WORK IS TO CONSISTENTLY TAKE THINGS OUT OF REGULATION, ESCAPING THE DICIPLINE THATS WHAT HIP-HOP IS TOO COUNTERCULTURE. IT IS NOT-MUSICC IT IS "MUSIC" AND SO IT IS FREE FROM ANY DICTATED RULE OF COMPOSITION, MELODY, RHYTHM, WHATNOT
Virgil Abloh's first solo exhibition opens at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
THE HYPHENATED WORD REPRESENT THE QUESTIONING ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT. IT REPRESENTS NEW QUALITIES THAT WERE GIVEN TO Bridget Cogley Cogle" | 13 June 2019 (OR TAKEN FROM) THE ORIGINAL LOOSENING THE TIES BETWEEN THE NEW OBJECT 9 comments AND IT'S NAME. IT'S A WAY TO NAME AN OBJECT OR A CONCEPT A major retrospective of theWITHOUT work of designer Virgil Abloh has opened in Chicago , bringing together BINDING IT, LOCKING IT IN THE NAME everything from architectural constructions to Nike sneaker designs and slogan rugs for IKEA. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FASHION AND "FASHION" On show at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA), Figures of Speech is curated by FASHION IMPRISONED WHAT ofWEOMA's ASSOCIATE WITH and Michael Darling, and designed by AblohISand Samir Bantal,BY director in-houseIT research LUXURY, CREATIVITY, ART, CLOTHING, MILAN, ETC. design studio AMO. THE NAME CREATES AN EXPECTATION, A CONDITION TO BE MET It is the first solo e!hibition for the whoMEET made THE his name working for Kanye exhibitionIF THEAmerican OBJECT designer DOES NOT EXPECTATIONS, West, and is now CEO of fashion men's creative director at Louis Vuitton. creative director THE brand LABELOff-White BECOMESand OBSOLETE, A LIE. HYPHENS ARE A WAY TO LABEL SOMETHING BY SAYING WHAT IT IS
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Covering the museum's fourth floor, Figures of Speech explores the different worlds that Virgil moves in, covering fashion, design, music, art and architecture. The slogans that provide a common thread in Abloh's designs feature throughout. "For me, Figures of Speech is an art exhibition rooted in advertising and the projected image," explained Abloh.
"Any time an idea takes shape on a particular surface – a photo print, a screen, a billboard, or canvas – it becomes real. This e hibition exhibition demonstrates how I wrestle with this concept freed from any one medium, looking for personal and specific solutions," he continued. "This 20-year survey shows how I am constantly looking for a way to transform myself from consumer to producer, navigating a path between tourist and purist, between the literal and the figurative."
A bright hall features dozens of Abloh's sneaker designs for Nike, presented alongside canvases printed with "ADVERTISE HERE" and "TELEVISION". A glowing pink room is fronted by a translucent pink curtain, with the word "BLUE" printed on top. Ne"t Next to it is a massive CD case, representative of Abloh's album art for Kanye West's Yeezus in 2013.
Architectural designs include a sky blue ladder and a matching Hacienda Column, made in collaboration with London designer Ben Kelly. In one room, furniture is stacked up haphazardly over a pile of the rugs Abloh created with IKEA, which feature slogans including "KEEP OFF" and "WET GRASS".
Elsewhere, Off-White garments are displayed on colourful racks, including a black and white piece designed for Beyoncé in 2018. Some of Abloh's Off-White pieces pie es are even for sale, in a pop-up store called Church and State. The collection recreates a selection sele tion of 20 bestselling Off-White products that are no longer available, reimagined e clusively exclusively for the MCA.
EVERY PAGE IS ALSO SAYING SOMETHING NON-DESIGNISH LIKE HOW HE STILL BUILT THE MODEL OF THE MUSEUM EXHIB HOW HE IS FRENDS W "REM", STANDING IN FRONT OF PRADA A TEXT HE WROTE ON THE INTERNET HIS CHEATCODES CLOTHING SPEAKS ABOUT THE PERSON BEHIND IT THEY ARE A WAY FOR THE BODY TO COMMUNICATE AND EXPRESS OFF-WHITE, LUIS VUITTON BEING A HUMAN BEHIND THESE BRANDS THROUGH THE BRAND, COMMUNICATING WITH THE WORLD THAT CAN HAVE A DIALOGUE WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD, CHANGING IT FROM WITHIN`(?) THE SURFACE OF THE BRAND IS WHERE HE PROJECTS HIS IDEAS. ABOUT IDENTITY, ABOUT BRANDING, ABOUT CONSUMING SENSE, EXPLORE, CELEBRATE THE TIME, THE NOW THE BRAND EXISTS TO TELL STORIES BRAND AS AN EQUITY HE CAN SUBVERTLY MESSAGE FROM WHAT IF STREETWEAR WAS THE NEXT MOVEMENT WHITIN ART? POST-POSTMODERNISM WHY DOES "FASHION" SOUND CHEAP ? FASHION IS LINKED TO ART, LUXURY, CULTURE STREETWEAR IS A DYSPHEMISM OF FASHION, IT'S "FASHION" STREET IS NOT ITS BINARY OPPOSITE BUT A NAME THAT APPLIES TO ANYTHING NON-FASHION
"This show examines the choices Virgil has made, the media he works with, and the context of his artistic inspiration," said Michael Darling, who is the MCA's chief curator. "His projects have unfurled with intention, precision, critique, historical awareness, cultural sensitivity, and rigour, and when taken out of the buzzy, frothy context of luxury fashion, celebrity mannequins, and hip-hop one-upmanship, a very measured vision emerges."
The e$hibition design includes chrome stainless-steel shelving, retractable accordion-like doors and industrial PVC plastic curtains. Floor-to-ceiling photographs by German fashion photographer Juergen Teller cover some of the walls.
Related story Virgil Abloh hacks the Vitra archive to create vision of a home in 2035
In one space, walls are painted black and the vaulted ceiling above is coloured yellow. Here, monotone figures stand in front of a glowing sign that reads "YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY IN THE WRONG PLACE" – a piece from 2015.
EVERY PAGE IS ALSO SAYING SOMETHING NON-DESIGNISH LIKE HOW HE STILL BUILT THE MODEL OF THE MUSEUM EXHIB HOW HE IS FRENDS W "REM", STANDING IN FRONT OF PRADA A TEXT HE WROTE ON THE INTERNET HIS CHEATCODES
CLOTHING SPEAKS ABOUT THE PERSON BEHIND IT THEY ARE A WAY FOR THE BODY TO COMMUNICATE AND EXPRESS OFF-WHITE, LUIS VUITTON BEING A HUMAN BEHIND BRANDS "Essential to this exhibition, Figures of Speech was for me THESE to approach it with my architectural THROUGH THE BRAND, COMMUNICATING WITH THE WORLD frame of mind," said Abloh, who has a civil engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin– THAT CAN HAVE A DIALOGUE WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD, Madison and masters in architecture from the Institute of Technology. CHANGING IT Illinois FROM WITHIN`(?) THE SURFACE OF THE BRAND IS WHERE HE to PROJECTS "Moving between fashion, art, design and music, Virgil has a powerful palette choose from," HIS IDEAS. ABOUT IDENTITY, ABOUT BRANDING, ABOUT CONSUMING Bantal added. "Leaning on his architecture training, he creates a potent mixture of these SENSE, EXPLORE, CELEBRATE THE TIME, THE NOW ingredients making his reach in contemporary popular extremely effective." conte porary THE BRAND EXISTS TOculture TELL STORIES BRAND AS AN EQUITY HE CAN SUBVERTLY MESSAGE FROM WHAT IF STREETWEAR WAS THE NEXT MOVEMENT WHITIN ART? POST-POSTMODERNISM WHY DOES "FASHION" SOUND CHEAP ? FASHION IS LINKED TO ART, LUXURY, CULTURE STREETWEAR IS A DYSPHEMISM OF FASHION, IT'S "FASHION" STREET IS NOT ITS BINARY OPPOSITE BUT A NAME THAT APPLIES TO ANYTHING NON-FASHION STREET BECOMES IN EVERY WAY, THAT WHAT FASHION IS NOT TO NAME A THING FASHION IS CREATING A BOUNDARY AROUND IT. TO NAME SOMETHING STREET IS TO FREE IT FROM BOUNDARIES THE ART-WORK IS TO CONSISTENTLY TAKE THINGS OUT OF REGULATION, ESCAPING THE DICIPLINE THATS WHAT HIP-HOP IS TOO COUNTERCULTURE. IT IS NOT-MUSICC IT IS "MUSIC" AND SO IT IS FREE FROM
Virgil Abloh was born in 1980 in Illinois, to Ghanaian immigrant parents. A defining career move came with an internship at Fendi alongside Kanye West, which led to a long-standing collaboration between the pair that launched Abloh into the public eye. He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.
G Figures of Speech is on show from 10 June to 22 September 2019, and will then travel
internationally. It is the latest in a series of collaborations between Abloh and AMO – the pair are also working together on a new Off-White store in Miami. Photography is by Nathan Keay and Peter McCullough, courtesy of MCA. Read more more: Interiors USA Chicago Illinois Exhibitions Virgil Abloh
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bored millennial • 4 months ago • edited
So we "loove" Virgil, but hate Jeff Koons? Did I miss something?
△ ▽ • Reply • Share › Luca Massimiliano Visconti > bored millennial • 4 months ago • edited
I do not really like Virgil! It was ironic. So many companies are just using the Abloh effect as a magic remedy.
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