Future Funk Fashion
El Museo del Barrio
1230 5th Ave, NY
June 14 – November 26
El Museo del Barrio opened an exhibit Future Funk Fashion on now until November 26th, showcasing 400 works by the fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez (1943-1987). In accordance with being the first Latin American Museum in the nation, established in 1969 by members of the Puerto Rican community, one of the primary concerns upon establishment was the lack of cultural diversity and educational programs that once faced Manhattan. Continuing to represent Latin American Art, the curators of the exhibition, Rocío Aranda-Alvarado and Amelia Malagamba-Ansótegui, wanted to introduce fashion into the collection.
This exhibition honors Antonio Lopez, a Puerto Rican fashion illustrator and artist who explored race and sexuality through his fashion. Future Funk Fashion displays 400 of his punk-inspired fashion works. Exploring various characteristics of Antonio’s high fashion illustrations such as his relationship to particular models, his shoe and jewelry designs, and images of people he came to know and love from the streets of New York City. The exhibition shows his progressive strides in representing the ethnic or racialized body within the realm of high fashion. His imagery helped to develop and underscore a new canon of beauty during the 1970s and 1980s, that has extended into the 21st century.
