Description

Presented in conjunction with the MFA’s special exhibition, Fashioned by Sargent (October 8, 2023-January 15, 2024), the Fashioning Identities program will bring together a group of contemporary artists, stylists, and image-makers for a multi-disciplinary public event that will connect Sargent’s historic paintings to contemporary ideas on fashion and identity, demonstrating some of the universal themes that pervade art, and especially portraiture. Through a panel discussion and performance moderated by exhibition curator Erica Hirshler, Croll Senior Curator of American Paintings at the MFA, and including painter Jas Knight, photographer and stylist OJ Slaughter, and poet and musician Oompa, audiences will explore themes of self- and artistic- representation in contemporary practice, while reflecting on the work of John Singer Sargent, and perhaps connect more deeply to his stunning portraits and the sitters represented in them. The proposed grant speaks to the AAP’s commitment to strategic goal 1A— to catalyze and advance innovative museum projects that prioritize representation and equity, and to support museums as forums for art centered dialogues about America’s past and present and the transformative power of creative expression.