Artists work in a multitude of mediums. Off the Wall: American Art to Wear celebrates statements that double as wardrobe. You could call these pieces “wearable art,” but they’re much more than that: Each captures the zeitgeist of self-expression that began in the 1960s and has been a part of the fabric of America ever since.
The exhibit is ensconced at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through May. Themes range from “The Times They Are A Changin’” (after the Bob Dylan classic) to “Everybody’s Talkin’” (Nilsson’s counterculture ode from the first X-rated movie, Midnight Cowboy).
- (Tim Harding, Garden: Field of Flowers, 1991. Quilted, layered, slashed and rayed cotton. 56 x 67 x 3 inches. Museum of Arts and Design, New York.)
- (Nina Vivian Huryn, Tree Outfit, 1976. Tooled, painted, laced, and stitched leather, suede, antique shoe buttons, and satin. Promised gift of The Julie Schafler Dale Collection. Photography by Otto Stupakoff ©Julie Schafler Dale)
- (Susanna Lewis, Moth Cape, 1979. Machine knitted, appliquéd wool; beads. Promised gift of The Julie Schafler Dale Collection.)
Featured designers include Julie Schafler Dale, whose Madison Avenue collection at Jule Artisans Gallery closed in 2013 — after 40 years of celebrating one of a kind wearable art created by American artists. Can’t make it to Philly? Check out the book of the same name co-published by the museum and Yale University Press. philamuseum.org
Want Metrosource LGBTQ content notifications? Sign up for MetroEspresso.
Read Next | Find and Connect with LGBTQ Friendly Plastic Surgeons in New York
Last modified: December 13, 2019