Fashion Moda
Fashion Moda was an art space in South Bronx, New York. As a museum of science, art, invention, technology and fantasy in its South Bronx location from 1978-1993 it combined aspects of a community arts centre and a worldwide progressive arts organization.
History
Fashion Moda was founded in 1978 by Stefan Eins. He was soon joined by artist Joe Lewis and William Scott, a young teenager from the neighborhood as co-directors.[1] Defining itself as a concept, Fashion Moda quickly became a strong voice in the New York art world during the late 1970s and the 1980s.[2] Fashion Moda crossed boundaries and mixed metaphors. It helped redefine the function of art in a post-modernist society. Fashion Moda spotlighted such artists as David Wojnarowicz, Keith Haring, Jane Dickson, Stefan Roloff, Jenny Holzer, Mark Kostabi, Kenny Scharf, Carson Grant, Joe Lewis, Thom Corn, John Ahearn, Lisa Kahane, Christy Rupp, John Fekner, Don Leicht, Jacek Tylicki, Stefan Eins himself and graffiti artists like Richard Hambleton, Koor, Daze, Crash, Spank, and many others. In addition to highlighting new talent, Fashion Moda was a major force in establishing new venues. In 1980, Fashion Moda collaborated with the downtown progressive artists organization Colab (Collaborative Projects Inc.) on "The Times Square Show" (June 1980), and Now Gallery which introduced uptown graffiti-related art to downtown art and punk scenes.
Fashion Moda in the South Bronx was located in a building at 2803 Third Avenue near 147th Street and the Hub, a shopping center.[3] The South Bronx location allowed it the freedom to explore the questions "What is art?" and "Who defines it?" Funded largely by grants from the NYSCA, NEA, and other, outside money, the space encouraged the production of creative art, unhampered by the contemporary art market and academic art training. As such, it was a center for many downtown and local South Bronx artists, writers, and performance artists to workshop their ideas and first display their works. Fashion Moda was also closely tied to the global emergence of Hip Hop. In the latter part of its existence the storefront exterior was painted by graffiti artist Crash. The name ("Fashion" in English, Spanish, Chinese and Russian) was painted graffiti style on top, over a spray painted depiction of a rat, toxic waste and a graveyard. In 1993, Fashion Moda closed its South Bronx location.[4]
Bibliography
- American culture in the 1980s By Graham Thompson. Edinburgh University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-7486-1910-0
- New York Open to the Public By Cheri Fein. 1982. ISBN 0-941434-26-5
References
- ↑ Julie Ault. Alternative Art, New York, 1965-1985. University of Minnesota Press, 2002.
- ↑ "Fashion Moda," Stefan Eins, Joe Lewis and William Scott interviewed by Thomas Lawson, Real Life (January 1980): 7.
- ↑ Sally Webster. Fashion Moda: A Bronx Experience. 1996. http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/gallery/talkback/fmwebster.html
- ↑ see "historical note" to Fales Library Fashion Moda Archive, online at http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/fales/fashion.html
- The New York Times, August 27, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/arts/27urbanart.html
- DART Magazine, January 2011 http://www.normhinsey.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/dartreview.pdf
External links
- Sally Webster. Fashion Moda: A Bronx Experience. 1996. http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/gallery/talkback/fmwebster.html
- "Hope Is Artists' Medium in a Bronx Neighborhood" New York Times, December 27, 2000.
- NYU's Fales Library and Special Collections Guide to the Fashion Moda Archive
