THE COLLECTION Presents New Exhibition “Button-Up, Button Down,” Featuring Beau McCall

The Fashion Outlets of Chicago recently announced a new rotating exhibition featuring works by acclaimed artist Beau McCall, as part of “THE COLLECTION: Where Art Meets Fashion”, its multifaceted contemporary art program.

Proclaimed by American Craft magazine as “The Button Man,”  Beau McCall creates wearable and visual art by hand-sewing clothing buttons onto mostly upcycled fabrics, materials, and objects. His artworks, offering commentary on topics such as pop culture and social justice, are held in the permanent collections the Museum of Arts and Design (New York, NY), Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA), Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK), and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (New York, NY).

McCall’s journey as an artist began nearly 50 years ago at the age of 19, after he discovered his mother’s jar of buttons in the basement of their home. “In most minds, buttons are simple, utilitarian objects used to fasten one’s clothes, but I reimagine buttons to create wearable and visual art,” said McCall.

Addressing themes of beauty, nature, and of Black Pride, each installation of the Button-Up, Button Down exhibition features a display of select pieces from his wearable art portfolio including button-embellished vests, yokes, aprons, jewelry, a headdress and a cape. Jars of buttons are also displayed at the base of each exhibition case. These jars are meant to reference how buttons have long existed within households where, in addition to their practical applications, they serve as keepsakes and sources of inspiration. The jars are activated by McCall’s oral history recordings with select button collectors and enthusiasts, including members of Chicago’s creative community.

“As a hub for its own kind of wearable art, Fashion Outlets of Chicago is the perfect backdrop for this exhibition, and I’m honored to be part of THE COLLECTION and its mission,” noted McCall.  

Button-Up, Button Down encapsulates works filling THE COLLECTION’s three rotating exhibition cases on Level Two of the shopping center through April 30, 2025. It joins THE COLLECTION’s 25 permanent large-scale installations, including the recently-installed Midnight Blue by iconic contemporary artist Hebru Brantley. For more information on THE COLLECTION and the rotating exhibition, please visit www.fashionoutletsofchicago.com/thecollection.