The exuberance of the Smart Museum exhibition Give the Drummer Some! was on vivid display during a Q&A with the artist at the start of May. The exhibit features Robert Earl Paige’s melodically repeating designs—bright blue walls, scattered squares, neon triangles, and gold accents—throughout its space. Moda, a fashion RSO, brought his designs to life through student designers’ unique fashion looks displayed in a small runway show. Student jazz group Early Summer opened the evening, echoing Paige’s designs with a smooth soundtrack.
Paige, who was born in and still lives on the South Side of Chicago, blends fine art and craft effortlessly into everyday life. I immediately felt the visceral appeal of his work walking through the exhibition. His designs extend from the museum lobby to its exterior, enveloping the space. Paige has referred to his late-in-life milestones as a “triple crown”: his work is simultaneously being exhibited at the Smart Museum, Hyde Park Art Center, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.
Paige’s textile designs are emblematic of the Black Arts Movement in the ’60s and ’70s, which played with abstraction and symbolic forms in African art. He also draws inspiration from the 1920s Bauhaus movement’s ethos of integrating art into daily life. Early in his career, Paige conducted research on African sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago, which influenced the undulating lines in his designs. In the 1970s, Sears commissioned him to travel to West Africa to develop home furnishings for Black homeowners. He later designed scarves for Fiori Milano, a fashion label in Milan.
Today, at 88-years-old, Paige devotes himself entirely to his art. He works not only in textiles but also in paintings, drawings, ceramics, and fashion, creating a symbiosis between planar and dimensional forms. At Saturday’s event, he entered with characteristic swagger, dressed in a top hat, sunglasses, and a scarf of his own design. During the Q&A, he shared that his bold fashion choices often prompt questions. He recounted a story about when someone asked him, “Are you going to church?” He had replied, “No, I’m not going to church. I’m going to dress.” For Paige, style is not simply presentation—it is embodiment. His self-expression is an extension of his artistic philosophy.
Ian Brundige, an Engagement Fellow with Art Design Chicago, organized the event to deepen the Hyde Park community’s engagement with Paige’s art. He collaborated with Moda, a UChicago fashion RSO.
The timing was ideal: at the beginning of the year, Moda launched a new initiative dedicated to participating in campus events beyond their annual fashion show. Theodore Attikouris, a fifth-year exchange student leading the initiative, told the Maroon that he “jumped on the opportunity” when Brundige reached out. Five designers created new pieces inspired by Paige’s motifs, reimagining them in looks ranging from a 1930s ball gown to trousers and skirt sets.
The Maroon spoke with Jess Zhang, a fourth-year who designed a pink babydoll dress patterned with Paige’s bold black designs. “It was a great opportunity to collaborate with an artist,” she said. Her design highlighted the fabric with an airy silhouette that allowed movement to become a “live performance of the design.” She also added bead embroidery by hand, which gave her the opportunity “to spend real time with the print”—as she slowed down to work, she became absorbed in the motif’s curvature and let “every stitch be a moment of dialogue with the fabric.”
The event was a vibrant celebration of Paige’s multidisciplinary artistry, marking a fascinating conversation between UChicago’s fashion scene and the broader Chicago arts community.
Robert Earl Paige: Give the Drummer Some! is on view at the Smart Museum through July.
