Dilys E. Blum – författare

“I want my clothes to make you smile!”—Patrick KellyPatrick Kelly (1954–1990) was known for his bold, bright, and joyful fashion creations that resonated in the streets and nightclubs and on the runways of New York, Paris, and beyond. The first American and the first Black designer to be admitted to the governing body of the French fashion industry, Kelly boasted celebrity couture clients including Madonna, Cicely Tyson, and Gloria Steinem. His designs are distinguished by a combination of playful aesthetics and a willingness to brazenly foreground race and heritage and push cultural boundaries, including racial tropes like golliwogs, or Black baby dolls.   Generously illustrated with hundreds of images of runway photography, garments on mannequins, and never-before-published archival materials, this book is an unprecedented exploration of Kelly’s influential career, which was tragically cut short by complications from AIDS. More than 80 of Kelly’s most beloved works are featured alongside thoughtful essays focusing on his work in relationship to French fashion, Queer identity, Black identity, and his exuberant runway shows. Also featured is a detailed timeline decorated with archival photographs and drawings, making this volume the definitive resource on Kelly’s life and work.Published in association with the Fine Arts Museums of San FranciscoExhibition Schedule:de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco(October 23, 2021–April 24, 2022)Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA(June 25–November 6, 2022)

Exploring the origins and lasting significance of a dynamic, subversive, and interactive art formThis is the first publication to consider art to wear, also known as wearable art, as a discrete American movement that mirrored the cultural, political, social, and spiritual concerns of a generation that came of age in the late 1960s and 1970s. Trained primarily in the fine arts, they adopted nontraditional forms, materials, and techniques to create works using the body as an armature. Collectively, these practitioners have had a significant but underrecognized impact on art making and education. Their legacy continues today among younger artists who have embraced multimedia forms of expression.    Rich archival and newly commissioned photography bring to life one-of-a-kind work by more than 75 artists, including Gaza Bowen, Jean Cacicedo, Marian Clayden, Ben Compton, Marika Contompasis, Nicki Hitz Edson, Tim Harding, Sharron Hedges, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Nina Vivian Huryn, Whitney Kent, Ina Kozel, Susanna Lewis, Janet Lipkin, K. Lee Manuel, Linda Mendelson, Norma Minkowitz, Anna VA Polesny, Debra Rapoport, Mario Rivoli, Dina Knapp, Joan Steiner, Arlene Stimmel, Jamie Summers, JoEllen Trilling, and Katherine Westphal. Off the Wall provides a detailed introduction to art to wear between 1967 and 1997 and elucidates the movement’s origins by linking it to developments in the arts of the period, from fiber art to painting.Published in association with the Philadelphia Museum of ArtExhibition Schedule:Philadelphia Museum of Art(November 8, 2019–May 17, 2020)