SANTA BARBARA, CA.- The first exhibition to explore the creative intersection of art, fashion, and human needs and desires opens September 8, 2005 at the Museum at the University of California Santa Barbara. Pattern Language: Clothing as Communicator, organized by guest curator Judith Hoos Fox, will tour nationally through the spring of 2007. The exhibition includes 43 works by established and emerging artists from Germany, Italy, Spain, Honduras, Japan, England, Greece, Egypt, and the United States. The works in Pattern Language, which are either unique or editioned rather than mass-produced, include historical examples, contemporary objects, and new proposals, as well as interactive and wearable editions. Artists included in the exhibit are: Issey Miyake, James Rosenquist, Yoko Ono, Joseph Beuys, and Mimi Smith

Pattern Language: Clothing as Communicator investigates clothing as a means to express and fulfill primary human needs of the mind, body, and soul. The works explore the interaction of clothing, fabric, and the body as a form of communication and as a way of suggesting new relationships between individuals and the coverings that protect, occlude, and redefine our bodies. The exhibition addresses a range of important themes: our need for shelter, social connections, protection, and entertainment, our desire for self-expression, and our need to articulate our identity. Pattern Language represents guest curator Fox’s ongoing interest in art as a signpost for and critique of culture. She explains: “It is exciting to make connections between fashion and art and between art and design across generations of artists; to bring together the work of ethnically and culturally diverse artists; and to show work that involves cutting-edge technologies as well as couture tailoring.”

A DVD compilation of works in the exhibition being worn or performed and a fully-illustrated 56-page catalogue with essays by Judith Hoos Fox, Robin Givhan, and Jeff Weinstein accompany the exhibition.