New York Fashion at PS1, 1980–1984 at MoMA PS1

New York Fashion at PS1, 1980–1984 opened on November 5 at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City and runs through March 15, 2027. Organized for the museum's 50th anniversary, it looks back at the Fashion Program that began in 1980.

That program grew out of PS1's Multi-Disciplinary Program, which also took in sound, performance, poetry, film and architecture. At its center is the independent curator Hollywood Di Russo (1946–2005). A stylist and make-up artist, she worked with designers in New York to realize projects at the museum. Her aim was to show fashion's influence on visual culture and the arts without the commercial setting or the formal habits of costume display. In 1981 she told GQ that fashion shapes how we feel, from the important to the silly, the handsome to the sexy.

The galleries bring together notes, correspondence, photographs and ephemera from the MoMA PS1 archives and other sources. Original objects and partial reconstructions from experimental installations sit alongside key documents and video. Four presentations are covered: Julio (1980), Homer Layne / Charles James (1981), Willi Smith (1982) and Betsey Johnson (1983).

The image chosen for the show comes from the 1981 presentation of Homer Layne's Collection of Charles James Fashions, on view at PS1 from October 18 through December 13 of that year. James was a celebrated American couturier known for sculptural gowns.

The exhibition is organized by Kari Rittenbach, Assistant Curator at MoMA PS1, with special thanks to Jane and John Comfort. Admission is free for all. On November 7, the talk "A Fashion Alternative" runs from 2 to 2:45 p.m., and an Open House celebrating this show and others runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The museum is at 22-25 Jackson Avenue and is open 12–6 p.m.