Virgil Abloh exhibition opens at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Jun 12, 2019

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s 'Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech', exhibition has opened to the public.

 
The exhibition marks the first museum exhibition devoted to the work of Abloh. Presented in the Griffin Galleries of Art on the museum’s fourth floor, the Abloh exhibition is set in an immersive space designed by Samir Bantal, the director of research and design studio, AMO.

According to the museum, the presentation offers “an in-depth look at defining highlights of Abloh's career including a program of cross-disciplinary offerings that will mirror the artist’s range of interests across music, fashion, architecture, and design.”

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Opened on June 10, the exhibition will run through September 22.
 
In addition to the exhibition, the museum has also opened a Virgil Abloh pop-up store on its fourth floor. The 'Church & State' pop-up, named and styled by Abloh and his team, offers visitors a retrospective of best-selling Off-White product and new, exclusive collections inspired by the exhibition. The store is accessible with a 'Figures of Speech' ticket, and product is available in-store only.
 
An Illinois native, Abloh was pursuing a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology when he met rapper, Kanye West. He would go on to join West’s creative team to work on album covers, concert designs and merchandising.

In 2013, Abloh founded the fashion brand Off-White in Milan, Italy, and in 2018 he became men’s artistic director of Louis Vuitton. The designer’s career is seasoned with high-profile collaborations that reflect his diverse background in fashion, architecture and music, including the recently debuted NikeLab Chicago Re-Creation Center, which Abloh helped design.