Takashi Horisaki reimagines objects and architecture in his sculptural practice
 to explore changing urban landscapes. Social Dress St. Louis: Learning and Unlearning is the fourth installment in Horisaki’s ongoing Social Dress series, in which he produces latex casts alongside members of a particular community to create site-specific sculptural installations. Horisaki initiated Social Dress as an MFA student at Washington University in St. Louis in 2004 and has subsequently produced Social Dress projects in New Orleans, Louisiana (2007) and Buffalo, New York (2010). Each iteration of the series uses artmaking to inspire candid conversations between individuals from diverse backgrounds.

The latex sculptures included in Horisaki’s Front Room presentation were created during eleven public workshops in St. Louis in May and June 2012. Partnering with cultural, educational, and civic organizations, Horisaki and his team taught participants to cast personally significant objects, ranging from a trophy and rosary to various architectural façades. The individual works are installed to form a loose patchwork canopy that slopes down from CAM’s eighteen-foot ceiling. Upon closer examination, the unique marks and debris from the casting process become readily apparent, revealing traces of individuals within the larger constellation of objects.

Social Dress St. Louis: Learning and Unlearning is organized for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis by Los Caminos, the curatorial project of Cole Root and Francesca Wilmott.