Art and Fashion Collide at Fashion Outlets of Chicago

By Fashion Outlets of Chicago By Fashion Outlets of Chicago | March 1, 2023

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Many people know Fashion Outlets of Chicago as one of the Chicago area’s premier shopping destinations boasting more than 130 designer outlet retailers including Prada, Moncler, Burberry and more. But did you know that the Rosemont shopping center is also home to a world-class contemporary art collection?

The multifaceted art program known as “THE COLLECTION: Where Art Meets Fashion,” offers more than 20 site-specific commissions by both established and mid-career artists including Derrick Adams, Daniel Arsham, Cody Hudson, Carlos Rolón/Dzine and others in addition to a rotating exhibition series and art-focused event programming throughout the year. The commissioned work can be found throughout the common areas of the shopping center.

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Derrick Adams’ seven-story mural and fashion-inspired lighting installation greet shoppers as they round the circle drive to Fashion Outlets of Chicago’s East Entrance, while Sung Jang’s majestic red whales hang from a skylight and Daniel Arsham’s iconic Falling Figure, Big Drip and Falling Time grace common areas. Wherever you look, you’ll find works from some of the world’s most exciting contemporary artists.

The newest addition to THE COLLECTION’s site-specific commissions is zip me up – a vibrant mural by celebrated Puerto Rican-American artist Candida Alvarez. Much like clothes in the closet that we love and pull out to wear from time to time, zip me up is a return to, and remix of, an earlier painting of a dahlia flower that lived on a Chicago rooftop, combining bold colors and abstract shapes to create an evocative, cohesive image. The mural is located on Level Two of the shopping center between Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci.

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In addition to its site-specific commissions, THE COLLECTION presents a rotating exhibition series on Level Two of the shopping center. The current rotating exhibition on view is Fading Through Gradations, featuring the work of yet another Puerto Rican artist, Ivelisse Jiménez. Playing upon the experience of color and its afterimage as an element that produces constant change for our eyes, Jiménez’s works speak to the transformative space of process and the transitory merging of traces. Each work is created from reused or relocated parts, using the resilience of plastic and the luminosity of color as a lens that reveals contradictory aspects of experience that render the visible chasm between perception and understanding. The exhibition is presented by Latchkey Gallery and will remain on view through May 1, 2023.

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Whether you’re looking for incredible savings, a museum-quality contemporary art experience or even a glass of wine while you peruse the world’s top designer brands (thanks to Tapville Social), Fashion Outlets of Chicago is your one-stop cultural destination, just a short drive from the city.

For more information about THE COLLECTION, visit www.FashionOutletsofChicago.com/TheCollection.

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Photography by: Courtesy of (from top): Jim Prinz; Jim Prinz; Fashion Outlets of Chicago, Jim Prinz; Jim Prinz