Keila Strong: Closet Chronicles

 A Visual Time Capsule of Black Fashion

Oct 3 - Nov 30, 2025

Café Logan

Reception
TBC

The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts is proud to present Keila Strong’s Closet Chronicles. The exhibition will be on view in Café Logan, 915 E 60th, from October 3 - November 30, 2025.

Closet Chronicles is a mixed media art exhibit that explores the depth, beauty, and cultural significance of Black fashion across generations. This collection of 10–12 original works includes a blend of mosaics and paintings, using both silhouette and figurative forms to explore how style tells our stories.

Crafted with everyday materials found in Black households buttons, combs, bobby pins, broken jewelry, denim, and fabric scraps each piece becomes a tactile narrative. Whether built from textured mosaic or expressive paint strokes, every figure is adorned in fashion that speaks to identity, memory, and presence.

The exhibit acts as a visual time capsule, drawing inspiration from decades of Black fashion history from formal wear and street style to church fits and coming-of-age moments. While inspired by the spirit of the 2025 Met Gala and its emphasis on cultural storytelling through fashion, Closet Chronicles remains grounded in the homes, rituals, and wardrobes of everyday Black life.

The artist mixes mosaic collage with traditional painting techniques to create figures and scenes that are emotionally resonant and visually textured. Some works feature silhouettes, where clothing crafted from repurposed materials becomes the focal point. Others include more detailed portraits or scenes, allowing faces and postures to complement the storytelling.

Her material choices are intentional: each button, thread, or comb carries cultural weight, transforming the familiar into fine art. These layered compositions invite viewers to both recognize and reimagine Black fashion from past to present.

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