Face masks have become an unlikely canvas, a new piece of fashion real estate, on which to wear designs that express your identity, to match your outfit or to make a statement. To cement its status as a fashion accessory, and encourage contemporary expression, the work of nine artists have been featured on a series of limited-production masks.
Think Virgil Abloh, Mark Grotjahn, Alex Israel, Barbara Kruger, Yoko Ono, Catherine Opie, Pipilotti Rist, Hank Willis Thomas, and Andy Warhol (thanks to The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts).
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The result of a partnership between The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles and Adrian Cheng, the founder of Hong Kong-based K11 Group and the chief executive of New World Development, the MOCA masks are being showcased at the Gold Ball on the second floor of K11 MUSEA in Hong Kong. They are also available for pre-order from Aug 7.
This is MOCA’s first mask project and reflects the museum’s commitment to making the experience of art accessible. Made in Los Angeles, these masks are available in the Asia-Pacific via the exclusive K11 x MOCA partnership.
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Alex Israel’s exclusive creation features a sunset palette design, with a specially designed artist portrait pin. The other creations span a colourful floral design by Warhol (this echoes the same artwork which is in MOCA’s permanent collection), Ono’s puzzle design, and Grotjahn’s geometric style pattern. Typography centred-designs are also featured.
All masks are crafted in Los Angeles and vary in fabric depending on the design, including 100% cotton, cotton blends (98 per cent cotton, two per cent elastane), or 100 per cent polyester micro-fibre. They are made with two fabric layers, with a pocket on the inside with sides for the option of filter insertion.
This article first appeared in The Peak.