Virgil Abloh is being honored by the Brooklyn Museum with “Figures of Speech,” an exhibition set to open in July and run through the end of January of 2023.
“[T]his is the first museum survey exhibition devoted to the late artist and designer Virgil Abloh, whose work reshaped notions of contemporary fashion, art, commerce, design and youth culture,” the museum shared.
This posthumous exhibition will celebrate Abloh’s legacy and contributions to the world and “follows the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago exhibition of the same name in 2019.” It will cover the entirety of Abloh’s career, which spanned nearly two decades, and will feature a mix of sketches, videos, fashion, large-scale sculpture, and immersive spaces.
Originally organized by Michael Darling, formerly MCA Chicago’s chief curator, it was “[i]nitially created as a mid-career survey, the exhibition showcased Abloh’s brilliance at the intersection of art and design, to music, fashion and architecture…[and] toured around the U.S., along with a recent stop in Qatar.”
This time around, independent curator and writer Antwaun Sargent will be at the helm of the Brooklyn Museum exhibition.
After Abloh’s premature death last November, the museum posted on Instagram: “The Brooklyn Museum staff, along with guest curator Antwaun Sargent (@sirsargent) have been privileged over the past few years to collaborate on a new iteration of the @mcachicago exhibition ‘Virgil Abloh: ‘Figures of Speech,’ a traveling survey of Virgil’s trailblazing and expansive creative practice which will open next year at the BkM…Virgil’s dedication to his artistry provided new opportunities and equitable pathways in art and design. He will be remembered and celebrated through his legacy. Our heartfelt condolences are with his family.”