In February 2020, Rainbow Shoe Repair: An Unexpected Theater of Flyness will feature community members’ photos taken at the Rainbow Shoe Repair Shop to celebrate the Lower East Side’s sense of style. The curators write:
Rainbow Shoe Repair: An Unexpected Theater of Flyness is an exhibition that uncovers a collection of photographs taken of people of color on the Lower East Side from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. Using the local Rainbow Shoe Repair shop on Delancey as an unexpected theater for fashion, curtains furnished to service mundane needs (such as visa and passport photos) were adopted by black and brown members of the community as backdrops for vibrant portraits that showcased the family unit, devoted friendships and audacious style for posterity.
These DIY portraits assembled by curators Kimberly Jenkins, Ali Rosa-Salas and Brooke Nicholas reveal the enduring legacy of how people of color have harnessed the photographic lens to document a sense of resilience and unity through self-fashioning.
This exhibition and accompanying programming will be presented by Abrons Arts Center during New York Fashion Week in February 2020.
If you are interested in submitting your photos to the exhibition or have more questions:
Stop by the Abrons’ Front Desk at: 466 Grand Street
Email: abronssubmissions@gmail.com
Call us: (917) 410-0473
Find out more here.
