Virgil Abloh had a significant influence on today’s fashion, trends and design. The late artist & designer was owner of the Off-White label and worked as Louis Vuitton’s first Black menswear artistic director.
He sadly passed away in November 2021, but this summer the Brooklyn Museum is putting on an exhibition to commemorate all of his incredible life work.
“Figures of Speech” will feature never-before-seen material from Abloh’s archive, tracing back two decades of his work. The exhibition will cover his numerous collaborations with other notable figures such as artist Takashi Murakami, architect Rem Koolhaas and musician Kanye West.
Organized by Michael Darling, James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (*Abloh was born in the Chicagoland area), “Figures of Speech” will highlight how his “emphasis on collaboration and his unique creative process have reshaped popular notions of, and contemporary taste in, fashion, art, commerce, design, and youth culture,” shared a recent press release.
Visitors can catch Abloh’s “social sculpture” that will create a physical space in the Brooklyn Museum’s Great Hall central atrium. This was originally made “to counter the historical lack of space afforded to Black artists and Black people in cultural institutions.” Beyond standing as a place for performances and gatherings, Abloh’s work across the past three years will be on display.
As an ode to Abloh’s architectural training, the exhibition’s display cases will resemble architectural tables.
The exhibition has been in the process long before he had passed. “We’ve been working with Virgil and his exceptional team on the Brooklyn Museum presentation of his exhibition for more than three years, and throughout we’ve had a single goal: to celebrate his explosive talent and the ways he kicked open doors for young BIPOC artists,” shared Anne Pasternak, the Brooklyn Museum’s Shelby White and Leon Levy Director in a statement.
Expect to see runway videos, New York’s influence on Abloh, his previous work as a DJ, old graphics, and garments from both Off-White and Louis Vuitton.
Onlookers will further understand Abloh’s efforts “to dismantle the traditionally white-crafted structures at work in fashion, design, architecture, and art.”
Tickets are on sale now. Find out more at their website here.
Where: Brooklyn Museum
When: July 1, 2022 – January 29, 2023