On August 27, 2022, Chicago-based African-American artist Nick Cave and his brother Jack Cave present "The Color is: Fashion Exhibition" at the DuSable Museum of African American History, their first public exhibition of collaborative work. Fashion Exhibition, their first public exhibition of collaborative work, will run through November 27, 2022.

The exhibition features over 400 couture garments and fashion items. With splashes of color at its core, the exhibition explores how contemporary African-American fashion is integrated into different cultures with a performative fashion experience. What this integration seeks is not only the recognition of the Other, but also the reconstruction and emphasis of the discourse system of African-American fashion in the fashion world as a new cultural subject.

The Other in the Other's Land

Born in Fulton, Missouri, the Kraft brothers studied visual performance and fiber arts together at the Kansas City Art Institute. Since then, sculpture, installation, performance, video and fashion are all areas in which they have been involved in creating. All of the works in the exhibition are filled with their unique artistic style. All are made from a composite of multiple materials, whose materials include beads, raffia, fur, wire, sequins, recycled textiles and custom prints. They also focus on handmade use of secondhand items in their designs, including pena quilts, crochet and other African-American craft traditions. These materials and forms are interwoven with multiple layers, highlighting the complexity and uniqueness that comes with African-American identity.

The Kev brothers' upbringing has profoundly influenced their fashion creations, "We have six brothers in our family, all raised by a single mother. With not a lot of financial means, it was a big deal to take old clothes that were wide and transform them into clothes that fit you." Nick Cave says, "My mother was our initial fashion inspiration. When I was a little boy, my mother transformed a sock into a doll. In that moment, the transformation of a sock from a single object to my playmate deeply inspired me." This means of using discarded items to stitch together new objects is not only quite functional, but also gives their costume pieces an installation quality.

On display is Nick Cave's classic "Soundsuit," a response to the Rodney King incident in 1991. "It was an event that left me very depressed. I was in the park that day and I looked down at the ground and there was a discarded branch and I wanted them to have a place to belong. So I started collecting branches, and before I knew it, I had built a sculpture." The name "Soundsuit" comes from the rustling sound of sticks, a reuse of everyday discarded objects that is full of strong cultural identity.

The Kraft brothers' works are sculpture-like, made of various materials and forms, stacked into the inhuman form of human dolls. At first glance, it appears as if two legs have been added under a mass of explosives. The diverse materials are stacked and pieced together in a wild state, and the visual effect is bold and lively, full of wild vitality. This application of color comes from the history and culture of Africa. Back then, people pinned their desire for freedom on color. From the dull color and simple style of clothing when working, to wear bright clothing when resting carnival, they hope to "liberate" themselves through visual splendor and contrast. At the time, this style of "vulgarity" and "arrogance" gradually evolved into a silent desire. Today, although the hierarchical meaning of color has diminished, the power of maverickism expressed in its core still plays an important role in the construction of self-identity and has become a unique symbol of African fashion in the fashion world.

Emerald City and Utopia

Fashion and film culture are closely related, and this exhibition "Color is Fashion" is based on the vibrant Emerald City scene from the 1978 film adaptation of The Wiz. In the fairy tale "The Wizard of Oz", the "garden", a symbol of abundance and peace, provides a soothing and peaceful utopia.

In the creation of film art, "color" can not only restore the material display in a more realistic and natural way, but also be an important means of narrative expression and system. As a source of pleasure, the power of color is arguably the most popular expression of beauty in general. In this exhibition, the Kraft brothers draw on the power of color to express materials of different textures in prominent colors. Among them is a costume woven from green sequins, which radiates a neon-like magical glow under the light, reminiscent of the large group dance scene in the Emerald City in the movie. The whole scene presents the three main African colors of green, red and yellow. In the scene, people stride proudly, a kind of self-confidence in a pluralistic mixed society, completely equal and indistinguishable from each other in the unified lighting of the whole scene. The whole image seems to reflect the shout of the Kev brothers, waving the flag of their existence with brilliant colors in the midst of the many voices of the cacophony of fashion discourse.

The Kraft brothers believe that clothing is genderless. The more than 400 individual pieces in this exhibition can be combined into infinite forms. Rather than being garments that wrap the body, these pieces combine with the figure's body to become an installation, and together with the performance act of the installation, they constitute a ritualistic artistic event. Under the packaging of colorful clamor, gender, race and class are hidden, and all others seem to be returned to equality.

Article Source:艺术与设计

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