Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech (Special Edition)

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Virgil Abloh: ‘Figures of Speech,’” MCA Chicago, accessed October 4, 2019, https://mcachicago.org/Exhibitions/2019/Virgil-Abloh. Abloh’s practice is similarly multidisciplinary, bridging music, street culture, and media with fashion, art, and design. In addition to his many other talents, Abloh is a DJ. In the past year, he’s performed all over Europe, at Oasis Festival in Marrakech, Potato Head Beach Club in Bali, and closer to home in Chicago, Detroit, Brooklyn, and at Coachella in the California desert. He’s also done sets at Art Basel Miami Beach. This element of his resume made it into the exhibition, too.

For me, ‘Figures of Speech’ is an art exhibition rooted in advertising and ‘the projected image.’ Any time an idea takes shape on a particular surface—a photo print, a screen, a billboard, or canvas—it becomes real,” Abloh said in a statement. Off-White™ c/o Virgil Abloh, Spring/Summer 2017, Look 12; courtesy of Off-White™ c/o Virgil Abloh Photo: Fabien Montique About the Exhibition The exhibition is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.The exhibition tour is made possible by Kenneth C. Griffin. Earlier this year, he unveiled his collaboration with Mercedes Benz, reimagining the company’s G-Class as a streamlined racing car. His artwork has also been the subject of an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, USA. In the near future, his Ikea collaboration will be released through the brand’s international stores. VIRGIL ABLOH: FIGURES OF SPEECH DELMONICO BOOKS/MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART CHICAGO ISBN: 9781636810744

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Near these tables is a model of Chicago – Abloh's hometown – with a proposed skyscraper based on Abloh's master's thesis in Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2003. Named men’s artistic director at Louis Vuitton in 2018, Abloh established Off-White in 2013. Off-White has collaborated with all manner of brands and companies such as Nike, Champion, Montcler, Timberland, Levi’s, Jimmy Choo, and the concept store Kish. Abloh has worked with a Swedish perfume house and a French restaurant. He’s also designed costumes for the New York City Ballet and released Air Force 1 collabs exclusively at the MoMA Design Store.

The gift shop is also totally different from the one in MCA Chicago. There’s video art right next to it and the commingling of these objects. Can you talk more? When I was talking to Ben from Braun about the wall mount sound system, he mentioned that Virgil had rule of adding just 3% to something — to show off the beauty of the original design and letting it be celebrated as is. In the archives section, more than 1,800 never-before-seen images pulled from the artist's personal files reveal the remarkable breadth of his influences and collaborations. And the index cross references the catalogue plates--Abloh's works--with his projects and process, using a vocabulary of themes developed by Abloh. It comes in a cloth slipcase with "Personal Copy" silkscreened on the book fore edge, a measuring tape ribbon marker, and a flexi disc printed with a Juergen Teller photo that includes a recording of Virgil Abloh discussing his inspirations.

Thank you!

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presents Virgil Abloh: "Figures of Speech," the first museum exhibition devoted to the work of the genre-bending artist and designer Virgil Abloh (American, b. 1980). Abloh pioneers a practice that cuts across media and connects visual artists, musicians, graphic designers, fashion designers, and architects. It’s clear that Virgil’s focus on materiality was important to him while offering modes of accessibility in anything he touches. The first section features essays and an interview that examine Abloh’s oeuvre through the lenses of contemporary art history, architecture, streetwear, high fashion and race, to provide insight into a prolific and impactful career that cuts across mediums, connecting visual artists, musicians, graphic designers, fashion designers, major brands and architects. The book also contains a massive archive of images culled from Abloh’s personal files on major projects, revealing behind-the-scenes snapshots, prototypes, inspirations and more—accompanied by intimate commentary from the artist. Finally, a gorgeous full-color plate section offers a detailed view of Abloh’s work across disciplines.

The thirty minute audio guide, by no means an innovation in museology, is particularly important to “Figures of Speech,” as it includes recognizable guests in Abloh’s world. Meant to enhance the visitor’s experience, the audio guide includes “art curator and historian Hans Ulrich Obrist, fashion critic Amy Verner, and No Vacancy Inn cofounders Tremaine Emory and Acyde, [and] explores Abloh’s career, ethos, and methodology around the creative process.” [2] In the introduction, each guest introduces themselves, allowing the visitor to familiarize themselves with each voice, while also introducing Abloh and his work. Throughout the show, Abloh’s connections with artists via inspirations and collaborations is evident. A Caravaggio painting is reproduced on Pyrex Vision products, an early clothing line that pre-dates Off-White. Abloh’s has also used a painting by Surrealist Giorgio de Chirico on a dress and attached rough cuts of fabric to coats and bags, a nod to the Italian modernist Lucio Fontana known for slashing his canvases.Set in an immersive space designed by Samir Bantal, the Director of AMO, the research studio of Rem Koolhaas’s renowned architectural firm OMA, the MCA exhibition will offer an in-depth look at defining highlights of Abloh’s career including a program of cross-disciplinary offerings that will mirror the artist’s range of interests across music, fashion, architecture, and design.