Jonathan Alvarez ’19 Cocurates Clothing Inside: Addressing American Prisons, an Exhibit Exploring the Lived Experience of Fashion While Incarcerated

Bard alumnus Jonathan Alvarez ’19 began researching how fashion is experienced in incarcerated spaces when he was a student of the Bard Prison Initiative. “Eight years later, that research came to life in the form of Clothing Inside: Addressing American Prisons, a New York City exhibit displaying the material conditions of living behind bars, including prison uniforms, shoes, handcuffs and feminine hygiene products,” writes Emily Nonko for Next City. While studying fashion at Parsons New School, Alvarez met his cocurators Rashida Ricketts and Tzuni Lopez. “Building off Alvarez’s work, the team wanted to show how incarcerated people reclaim their identity while uniformed. In one uniform display, Alvarez’s own white polo is set against the ‘state green’ prison pants.” The curators plan to expand the show, which was on view at Parsons New School’s Aronson Gallery, and exhibit it in other venues. “I can’t wait to see, once we bring this to another space, what kind of impact we’ll have there and the conversations we’ll be able to spark,” says Alvarez.

Post Date: 10-25-2022