Past Exhibitions 2010-11

Hurly-Burly MA in Illustration 2011
June 8 - July 2, 2011

Hurly-Burly was an exciting collection of works by the fifth class of MA in Illustration graduates from the School of Graduate Studies. These illustrations reflected the independently-minded mission of the program.

The name Hurly-Burly implies studios filled with activity—the bustle of the classroom gave way to walls rich with a broad range of media and ideas. Along the way, deep bonds, lasting friendships, and collaborations were born and hopefully flourished. The show represented a unique group of students who embodied the very essence of diversity in their backgrounds, as well as their influences. The confluence of cultures elicited a rich environment that provided a platform for growth on levels that extended far beyond the printed page.

Illustration by Elena Ambotaite

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Art & Design Graduating Student Exhibition 2011
May 11 - 24, 2011

This show presented the work of more than 800 students receiving AAS and BFA degrees from the School of Art & Design and was on view throughout the main floors of the Marvin Feldman Center, the Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, the Shirley Goodman Resource Center, and the John E. Reeves Great Hall. The exhibition featured work in seventeen areas of study - Accessories Design, Advertising Design, Communication Design, Computer Animation & Interactive Media, Fabric Styling, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Jewelry Design, Menswear, Packaging Design, Photography, Textile/Surface Design, Toy Design, and Visual Presentation & Exhibition Design.

The art selected was the culmination of each student's unique experience in the Fashion Institute of Technology's diverse, challenging, and demanding undergraduate Art & Design programs. Featuring juried, award winning, and thesis projects, this presentation was the manifestation of several years of research, experimentation, critical thinking, and artistic proficiency. The Graduating Student Exhibition advances the Colleges applied philosophy that integrates practice in industry with theory and teaching inside the studio.

Katie Sacchi, soft toy Alex - Photograph by Guenter Knop. 

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Vivienne Westwood, 1980-89
March 8 - April 2, 2011

Vivienne Westwood, 1980-89 focused exclusively on Westwood's fashions of the 1980s and highlighted the significant shift in Westwood's design style during this decade. Her work of the early 1980s was prominently featured in edgy magazines such as i-D, and her following was comprised mainly of street-style insiders. By 1985, her more structured, feminine, and historically-inspired styles began to attract the attention of the mainstream press and widened Westwood's audience. The exhibition included a unisex ensemble from the Pirates collection (1981), a woman's ensemble from the influential Buffalo collection (1982) and a pair of Westwood's iconic Rocking Horse boots from the Harris Tweed collection (1987). Editorial photographs from magazines such as The Face and British Vogue further illuminated Westwood's impact on 1980s fashion, as did the runway footage and video interviews with the designer.

Vivienne Westwood, 1980-89 was organized and curated by FIT graduate students in the Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice program.

View the online exhibition.

Vivienne Westwood, Rocking Horse boots, leather and wood, 1987, England, gift of Francisco Melendez A.K.A. Francois, 2001.44.13.

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gotoAndPlay();
A Selection of Innovative Graphic Design Projects with Game-like Qualities
January 28 - February 12, 2011

The exhibition gotoAndPlay(); reflected the youthful vision of the young designers in the Media Design Club at FIT. It included a selection of interactive and time-based design projects with game-like qualities which engaged audiences in a playful, charismatic, and compelling manner. Approximately 120 projects from 100 students were reviewed, and the Exhibition Planning Committee of the department of Communication Design selected the top 30 pieces for the exhibition. The exhibition also included an award-winning poster series by Professor Rocco Piscatello.

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His & Hers
November 30, 2010 - May 10, 2011

His & Hers explored the relationship between gender and fashion over 250 years. Clothing can act as an immediate signifier of gender however, while making distinctions between masculine and feminine styles of clothing may seem natural, gendering is not a biological phenomenon. The exhibition discussed the changing ideas of "appropriate" attire for each gender; it also included examples of so-called unisex and androgynous fashion. More than 100 garments, accessories, and textiles from the museum's permanent collection were featured chronologically, from a seemingly "feminine" 18th-century man's velvet suit to a woman's "power suit" from the 1980s. Also included were works by innovative designers such as Giorgio Armani, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Gianni Versace, and Vivienne Westwood.

View the online exhibition.

His: Cucci man's tuxedo, navy slubbed silk, black satin, black wool, 1957, Italy, gift of Elizabeth E. Brady, 79.130.14.
Hers: Fontana evening dress, grey silk taffeta and raffia, circa 1957, Italy, gift of Barbara Halpern, 92.213.2.

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Lightness: FIT Art and Design Faculty Exhibition
November 13 - December 11, 2010

The focus of Lightness was to embrace, explore, and exploit the many meanings, interpretations, and associations of "lightness." Lightness is a theme that emerges in many cultures, world religions, and ideologies. Ideas of lightness have also been explored by philosophers and writers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Milan Kundera. Some definitions of lightness: blaze, glow, sparkle, illumination, weightlessness, buoyancy, levity, play, joy, grace, agility, ease, freedom, light in value, light in color, light as a feather.

Jessica Wynne, Trurobay, 2010. 

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Japan Fashion Now
September 17, 2010 - January 8, 2011 / Extended through April 2, 2011 

Japan Fashion Now explored how Japanese fashion has evolved in recent years. Japanese fashion embraces not only the cerebral, avant-garde looks associated with the first wave of Japanese design in the 1980s, but also a range of subcultural and youth-oriented styles, such as the Elegant Gothic Lolita style and the Cosplay phenomenon. In addition, Japanese fashion often has a strong component of realism and an obsessive interest in perfecting classic styles. Contemporary Japanese fashion is globally significant precisely because it mixes elements of realism, such as high-tech fabrics or creating a perfect pair of jeans, with both the avant-garde and pop cultural elements, especially those associated with electronic media, such as manga (comics), anime (animated cartoons), and video games. 

View the online exhibition.

h.NAOTO Autumn/Winter 2008. Photograph courtesy of h.NAOTO.

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