By CGN Staff via PR

Next month THE COLLECTION: Where Art Meets Fashion, the multifaceted contemporary art program located within Fashion Outlets of Chicago in Rosemont, IL will unveil the program’s latest site-specific installation by celebrated Puerto Rican-American artist Candida Alvarez. The two-story abstract mural will be completed and on view to the public on Level Two of the shopping center starting January 2023. 

“Much like clothes in the closet that we love and pull out to wear from time to time, ‘zip me up’ is a return to, and remix of, an earlier painting of a dahlia flower that lived on a Chicago rooftop,” said Alvarez. “This commission by Fashion Outlets of Chicago was a wonderful opportunity to dive back into my own archive and remix this painting to give it a bold, evocative new life.”   

Known for her complex, vibrantly layered works, Alvarez’s paintings and drawings combine abstract and figurative forms that are rich in pop, historical and modern art references, often incorporating world news and personal memories. Throughout her career, she has been commissioned by the City of Chicago for a 200 foot-long digital painting on the Chicago Riverwalk, collaborated with international designer Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons 2017 Men’s Couture collection, celebrated a 40-year retrospective at the Chicago Cultural Center and more. Recently, her work has been seen in the inaugural La Trienial at El Museo del Barrio in New York Latinx Abstraction at BRIC Arts in Brooklyn, and Z33 House for Contemporary Art, Design & Architecture in Belgium. Her work has been acquired by institutions including The Art Institute of Chicago, Perez Art Museum Miami and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Alvarez’s work can currently be found in the Art of the Caribbean Diaspora exhibition at the MCA and in No Existe un Mundo Poshuracán at the Whitney Museum of American Art. 

“This colorful, visually exciting piece exemplifies the fun, playful side of fashion and we can’t wait to unveil it to shoppers and art enthusiasts throughout Chicagoland and beyond,” said Katie Walsh, senior marketing manager at Fashion Outlets of Chicago. “The work is a perfect example of Macerich’s dedication to bringing world-class, accessible contemporary art to the public while supporting and uplifting work by incredible artists like Candida Alvarez.”  

Candida Alvarez is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago. Read CGN's 2022 interview with Alvarez here. 

Additional artists who have worked with THE COLLECTION include Derrick Adams, Chad Kouri, Edra Soto, Matthew Hoffman and many others. 

For more information on THE COLLECTION and Fashion Outlets of Chicago please visit www.fashionoutletsofchicago.com/thecollection.