Dress for Today and Tomorrow
aricoco (Ari Tabei)

Dress for Today and Tomorrow is a solo exhibition by aricoco (Ari Tabei). aricoco pieces together her past and present by experimenting with various methods of merging everyday items with upcycled/cannibalized/repurposed materials. By comparing social structure of human society versus non-hierarchical structure of the insect society, aricoco investigates personal and communal concepts of home as a temporary shelter. In order to create her own temporary shelter, aricoco makes and uses robes as a protective layer, drawing references from the invertebrates with exoskeleton. To do so, she embraces her fear of insects and challenges her own vulnerability. Through this process of making robes and art, aricoco questions the human domination of Earth’s ecosystem. As a whole, aricoco’s performative garments reveal her struggle and desperate hope to get through today, and possibly, tomorrow.

About the Artist

aricoco (Ari Tabei) is an interdisciplinary visual artist based in NYC who was born and raised in Tokyo. aricoco’s last solo exhibition at La MaMa Galleria presented her performance project supported by Franklin Furnace Fund in 2018. She was awarded LMCC Creative Engagement Fund and created a virtual runway-performance show in 2020. In 2021, she received New York City Artist Corps Grant to continue working on her socially-engaged collaborative project PIPORNOT. Most recently, aricoco has received SU-CASA residency program. She receive M.F.A. in sculpture and video performance art from the University of Connecticut in 2007.

For more information about aricoco, please visit the website here, and follow her on Instagram.