Duro Olowu: Seeing

Named one of the Best Art Books of 2020 by The New York Times! Nigerian-born British fashion designer Duro Olowu is internationally recognized for his womenswear label launched in 2004. Featuring a cosmopolitan sensibility and a confident eye for a variety of visual disciplines, Olowu’s design practice has translated into a number of other wildly popular platforms and projects, including Instagram postings and curatorial projects in London and New York. Now, Olowu turns his eye on Chicago, curating a show drawn from local public and private art collections and anchored by MCA artworks. Published to accompany Olowu’s largest curatorial project to date, Duro Olowu: Seeing elucidates the life and creative process of the designer-curator, highlighting the global and integrative perspective that has guided his practice. Naomi Beckwith explores Olowu’s curatorial process, driven by a voracious appetite for contemporary art and culture. Ekow Eshun examines Britain’s black and Afro-Caribbean creative community as a frame through which to view Olowu’s creative development. Valerie Steele situates Olowu’s designs within the contemporary fashion world. Lynette Yiadom-Boakye creates new fiction and poetry that speak to the themes of the exhibition. And Thelma Golden interviews Olowu about his work as designer, curator, and chronicler of culture and style. Considered together, the text and images of this volume spotlight the mind of a critical luminary, one whose transcultural approach to design, curation, and art is nothing short of revelatory. 416 pages with 353 illustrations with a 4-page cover and cloth dust jacket, copublished by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and DelMonico Books•Prestel. Naomi Beckwith is Manilow Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Her publications include the Wittenborn Award–winning book Howardena Pindell: What Remains To Be Seen (DelMonico Books•Prestel). The exhibition Duro Olowu: Seeing Chicago was presented at the MCA Feb 29–Sep 13, 2020. Learn more