Contemporary exhibitions, visual culture and living histories.
FASHION 时髦 MODA МОДА MODERN is a revival of the groundbreaking South Bronx gallery founded by Stefan Eins in 1978. For fifteen years, Fashion Moda served as an interdisciplinary art space, fusing street culture, fine arts and community engagement until its closing in 1993. Its multilingual name expressed a global worldview and celebrated the convergence of cultures. The alternative space challenged the elitism of the traditional art world, connected downtown art with the South Bronx and brought conventional disciplines into conversation with emerging urban media. Its cultural concept was “by definition without definition,” grounded in the belief that art can come from anywhere and be appreciated by anyone.
The gallery hosted the landmark 1980 Graffiti Art Success for America exhibition and played a critical role in bringing street art into mainstream institutions. Its programming crossed exhibitions, live music, dance, spoken word, performance, video, experimental media, science projects and radio broadcasts.
Installations in the collection
BACKSPINNA and HEADSPINNA, created by Carlos Mare in 2022, celebrate the athleticism, innovation and cultural legacy of breaking. Inspired by two foundational moves, the sculptures translate dance energy into dynamic three-dimensional forms. Fabricated at Rivers of Steel during the inaugural Industrial Grit and Graffiti residency, they honor the Bronx as the birthplace of breaking while merging the visual language of graffiti with modernist abstraction.
