An ongoing tradition meets an exciting new program as Cambridge’s Multicultural Arts Center closes its latest exhibition in early October on a weekend packed with events from a dance performance to a fashion show.
The exhibition, “Seeing Red: A Fusion of Color, Fashion and Art,” closes Friday. For co-curators Fredson Sossavi and Zoe Langosy, the theme was an opportunity to explore the role the color has played in the worlds of fashion and art. As inspirations, the curators cite Alexander McQueen’s use of red in his 1998 Autumn/Winter collection, referred to as “Joan,” and Audrey Hepburn’s iconic red chiffon Givenchy dress in the 1957 film “Funny Face.”
The show has work from several artists, some working in fashion and others just depicting it. New York’s Caroline Zimbalist studied fashion design and fine art at the Parsons School of Design; in a breakthrough for her fashion practice, she stripped off pieces from abstract paintings to create new garments and piled color palettes on top of each other. She later gained experience in bioplastics, creating her own biodegradable, natural materials. Her pieces look otherworldly; the textures are unique. Kilsy Curiel’s video art is another highlight. Curiel riffed on fashion designer Sylvia Heisel’s figure drawings, experimenting with glitch aesthetics. Curiel layered the original illustration of a female figure with AI and digital photography to produce novel textures and hypnotic visuals.
The themes come full circle at a closing fashion show Saturday, “Seeing Red on the Runway.” The event is organized by Najee Brown, artistic director of the Multicultural Arts Center. On the Friday during closing celebrations, MAC inaugural artist-in-residence Dalin Celamy premieres the dance performance “love: Black Boy unseen,” exploring Celamy’s identity as a queer Haitian man. A preview video shows intimate footage of Celamy with works from “Seeing Red” in the background, a true multimedia experience.
Celamy got a $3,000 stipend for the summer and mentorship from artists including Gina Romero, Jeryl Palana Pilapil-Brown, Francisco Martinez, Tarikh Campbell and Adam Walden. Celamy’s work is influenced by artists and intellectuals such as Eartha Kitt, James Baldwin and Labrinth. In addition to his dances, Dalin incorporates live music, his own commentary and quotes from various artists, novels and even close friends and family. Through personal accounts of love, Dalin intertwines movements masculine and feminine. Ultimately, he aims to curate his own version of masculinity.
The Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge, has “Seeing Red: A Fusion of Color, Fashion and Art” through Friday, free to view; love: Black Boy unseen at 7:30 p.m. Friday, pay what you wish to $35; and “Seeing Red on the Runway.” 8 p.m. Saturday, pay what you wish to $45.
Share your own 150-word appreciation for a piece of visual art or art happening with photo to editor@cambridgeday.com with the subject line “Behold.”
This post was updated Oct. 19, 2024, to correct information about the professional background of Caroline Zimbalist.
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