Statement Pieces: Fashioning the Self & Society
November 7, 2026 - February 7, 2027
Fashion and the visual arts, particularly portraiture, share a common vernacular. Both practices frame the body, and in doing so, shape how personhood is constructed, perceived, and valued within culture. These artistic practices do more than present appearances; they mediate agency, authorship, and visibility. As a result, dress and the visual arts become sites where identity, including the construction of the feminine, is staged, negotiated, and at times contested.
Statement Pieces: Fashioning the Self & Society brings together selections from the collection of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (KIA) spanning nearly 200 years and contemporary fashion objects from the Barrett Barrera Projects collection to explore how self-presentation and expression have been presented, shaped, and reimagined. From Alexander McQueen to James Van Der Zee, groupings of representational and abstract artworks, alongside fashion, invite viewers to consider the dynamic between one’s exterior appearance and inner life—between what is seen and what is self-defined.
Organized in conjunction with Barrett Barrera Projects.
