The Logan Center for the Arts was hopping and popping with fashion and art lovers alike the weekend before last. Festivities started Thursday night with the opening of Pink Chiffon and continued on Friday with the opening of an exhibit featuring fashion from MODA’s first cooperative effort with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Pink Chiffon, a Department of Visual Arts BA Thesis Exhibition in Logan’s main gallery, featured the works of nine different student artists. The show included a wide range of modern media, human interactions, everyday objects, and unusual creations that display and highlight the beauty of the every day.
Pieces included an artistically constructed chair, turned sideways; a glass structure filled with decaying fruits reminiscent of Yoko Ono’s designs; and a room displaying a video game stream. The front room of the gallery showcased a fun, interactive piece by Scarlett Kim. Participants sat at a table with Kim and helped her write letters to her dad—some comical, some serious, and some in different languages. Afterward, these letters were pinned up on a nearby wall. Another intriguing series consisted of blocks of homemade soap, which contained everything you would never want to see inside a bar of soap —the contents ranging from mold to clumps of hair—yet surprisingly looks beautiful.
The weekend also witnessed a high-energy reception to celebrate the opening of another show, an exhibition titled Passion, Territory, and Reflection put on by MODA, the undergraduate fashion magazine. It features three undergraduate designers: Celia Yuen, Connie Huang, and Harrison Yu. These designers have been working with graduate students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) for the duration of this school year to learn the ins and outs of clothing design.
Yuen, who has participated in both MODA’s Designer Boot Camp as well as the MODA Fashion Show, described the experience as eye-opening: “I got to see a different approach to fashion, in which I interacted with people who live and breathe fashion.” Yuen explained the creative process of the SAIC experience, detailing one instance when students were encouraged to bring in images that inspired them and incorporate them into their designs. These influences can be clearly seen in the various fashion pieces. Yuen’s black flowing dress, for example, features fantastical origami birds inspired by nature. Yuen’s colorful dresses, embellished with intricate wire designs, as well as Huang’s sleek, elegant, dark blue gowns, drew inspiration from elements beyond the simple of the human body. This is the first year MODA has partnered with SAIC, and the group hopes to grow the program in the coming years.
MODA’s exhibit will remain open until May 4 in Logan’s Lower Gidwitz Lobby.
