The exhibition Skin Tight at Carnegie Museum of Art presents the work of Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola and Turiya Magadlela. Their use of fibrous materials, in an array of complexion colors and patterns, results in multilayered artworks shaped by identity-making fashion choices. Durags and tights are commercially available, readymade objects that come into contact with a person’s skin and hair, managing and manipulating physical features and character assumptions. Skin Tight stretches these conversations of innovation, identity, and everyday materials in new directions with breathtaking, artistic creations. Through Magadlela’s and Akinbola’s handling of a variety of flexible fabrics into abstract compositions, they craft unique and varying commentaries on the fetishization and control of Black and Brown bodies—from head to toe.

Skin Tight is organized by Alyssa Velazquez, assistant curator.

Image caption: Turiya Magadlela, Ikapalodumo ne nyaniso (truth about the cape), 2023, nylon Pantyhose on wooden canvas stretcher