“Items: Is Fashion Modern?” at the MOMA

Visited the Items: Is Fashion Modern Exhibition at MOMA: “Items: Is Fashion Modern? explores the present, past—and sometimes the future—of 111 items of clothing and accessories that have had a strong impact on the world in the 20th and 21st centuries—and continue to hold currency today. Among them are pieces as well-known and transformative as the Levi’s 501s, the Breton shirt, and the Little Black Dress, and as ancient and culturally charged as the sari, the pearl necklace, the kippah,Read more

Conference Presentation: “Rich Relations: The Evolution and Uneasy Symbiosis of Art and Fashion” May 12, 2017, Ryerson University

I presented my paper: “Rich Relations: The Evolution and Uneasy Symbiosis of Art and Fashion” at the Nouveau Reach: Past Present and Future of Luxury Conference on Friday May 12, 2017. I was very pleased to be included in such an interesting event: http://nouveaureach.ca/ (Abstract) The new Fondation Louis Vuitton (LV) is the latest incarnation of the corporate/art mega-partnership, highlighting the increasingly uncomfortable relationship between art and fashion. This research explores the cartography between autonomous art culture and fashion commerce andRead more
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Mark O’Connell Art Portfolio

My process of visual art exploration starts with a feeling or an inspiration, I then search for a place…geographically, historically and emotionally…that will mirror those feelings. Architecture, epochal temporal context and cultural manifestations unique to that era and time serve as doppelgangers for psychological explorations as I plumb my subconscious. From these explorations a monograph emerges that can include painting, collage, block prints, drawings, poetry and text. Upon completion, the series is gathered together and exhibited partially in a gallery,Read more

Method and Methodology; Ontology and Epistemology; Empirical and Documentary Research.

“Theory without empirical research is empty, empirical research without theory is blind.” Pierre Bourdieu (1988: 74). Qualitative research has been challenged for its subjectivity. However, empirical quantitative methods have been shown to have their own biases that can potentially limit the results of experiments due to the input and language prescribed by the discipline. In fact, an impetus for the adoption of qualitative research methodologies were the restrictive frameworks of traditional quantitative analyses, and the considerable ideological framework that is usedRead more