Racist memorabilia refers to artifacts that represent white supremacist views. While many ethnicities are subject to racist caricature, offensive artifacts depicting Black people are the most pervasive, commercialized, and closely linked to systemic racism. Patrick Kelly and his former business and life partner, Bjorn Guil Amelan, collected and utilized these objects in their studio, and Kelly reclaimed racialized tropes in his women’s wear designs. In this panel, David Pilgrim, founder and director of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Madison Moore, artist-scholar, DJ, and assistant professor of gender, sexuality and women’s studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, and moderator Sequoia Barnes, artist and advising scholar of Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love, explore how Kelly reappropriated racist memorabilia to confront white supremacy and challenged its anti-Black ideology in the United States and Europe.
This program is in support of the exhibition, Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love, honoring the life and legacy of the fashion designer. This event is part of Virtual Wednesdays, a weekly YouTube broadcast bringing you unique viewpoints exploring diversity, resilience, and creative spirit in the arts as we aim to reframe our exhibitions and collections. View upcoming Virtual Wednesdays programs.
Image: Photograph by Oliviero Toscani / © Patrick Kelly Estate / Image Randy Dodson, courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
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