Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech”

Virgil Abloh (born September 30, 1980) is an African-American multihyphenate – designer, artist, and DJ – who is the founder and CEO of Milan based fashion house Off-White. More recently, Ablohh made history when appointed as artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s Menswear, the first Black person to hold the title. Abloh has decades of experience in fashion design, engineering as well as architecture studies and music, which he flawlessly integrates into his clothing and artworks. The range of his creative practice has never more evident than his exhibition “Figures of Speech,” currently on display at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Abloh’s exhibition is the first of its kind for the High, taking viewers on a deep dive into his creative process, discipline in the arts, and collaborations ranging from musicians, fashion designers, and architects. The exhibition title itself draws off Abloh’s clever use of language and quotation marks angling the objects he designs and the people who don his clothing into “figures of speech.” Abloh’s quick wit and turn of phrase are noted immediately upon stepping foot inside the space and follows you throughout the showing.

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Entering the second-floor gallery space escorts viewers to a wall onto which a five-minute video entitled “A Team With No Sport” is projected. The video aligns with the release of Abloh’s first brand Pyrex Vision. In the video, a school-aged group is wearing store-bought sweatshirts, shorts, socks, and plaid shirts with screen printed “Pyrex”, “23”, and images of Caravaggio (an Italian artist who greatly inspired Abloh in college). Pyrex is an ode to the glassware used often in homemade drug labs and the number “23” to the jersey number worn by Michael Jordan. The use of the references above alludes to the stereotypical ways underprivileged youth only have one of two ways to overcome their hardships: becoming world-renowned athletes or top-tier druglords. Those ideas were highly prevalent in Abloh’s younger years growing up in Chicago, and even later on in life when working his way up the ladder in the fashion industry.

His progression is further displayed figuratively and literally when viewers travel to the next several rooms. From the Cease and Desist order he received from the United Nations wherein they requested he stop using their logos/labels in his work, to the wall displaying the quote from the 1991 rom-com “Pretty Woman.” More specifically, the point in the movie when Julia Roberts’ character is told her money is no good in a high-end department store and is blatantly refused service. This piece invokes a sense of not quite belonging within the viewer, and one can infer, within the artist himself.

Offering insight into Abloh’s process and journey to becoming one of the largest names in luxury streetwear,  “Figures of Speech” offers the viewer great photo opportunities, inspiration, and yes, even shopping. The designer is a well-known luxury enthusiast, after all. At the end of the curation, there is a special capsule collection featuring Off-White designs and exclusive merchandise. This capsule is a means for viewers to own Off-White goods at a fraction of the standard prices.

Essentially, “Figures of Speech” is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the evolution of Abloh’s varied work as both artist and designer over the span of almost two decades.

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Virgil Abloh’s “Figures of Speech” will be on display at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta from November 12, 2019 through March 8, 2020.