Around Town · Spring/Summer 2022 ·Jul 07, 2022

Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech” at the Brooklyn Museum,

Our pick of the week: Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech” at the Brooklyn Museum, Great Hall, 1st Floor.

Head on over to the Brooklyn Museum to check out the just opened exhibit featuring fashion designer and artist Virgil Abloh, the lauded former creative director of Off-White who tragically passed away in 2021. Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech,” was developed by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago to celebrate the designer behind the cult-favorite brand Off-White. Abloh was well known for fusing streetwear and luxury as well as his use of black perspective in spaces that are too often dominated by white voices. He was also well known for his use of Helvetica font and quotation marks, elevating simple words to become something else—more mysterious, harder to define. In his 41 years, he had collabed with art and culture luminaries Takashi Murakami, Kanye West and REM Koolhaas, and served as the first black menswear artistic director at Louis Vuitton. Abloh was trained as an architect and took inspiration from architectural principles.

Included in the Brooklyn exhibit are never-before-seen objects of Abloh’s and a so-called “social sculpture. The installation includes gathering spaces for performances and programming, to “counter the historical lack of space afforded Black artists and Black people in cultural institutions.” This is an excellent opportunity to bring the family and open up important discussions about Abloh and his lasting impact on the cultural fabric of the US.

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