Dario Calmese and the Institute of Black Imagination
Rob Forbes
June 11th, 2025
“To be caught in the rain is to be caught in an act of self-love; generally inconvenient but necessary for growth.”
— Dario Calmese
This is a long overdue update to Studio 50/50. It’s time to kick this project back into gear given the political and cultural shift to the right we are witnessing. The vengeance and mean-spirited assaults from the establishment cut across the social landscape, but their destructive force will be especially harmful to the more vulnerable segments of society, the Black community being one obvious target.
The embedded political left seems dysfunctional, stuck in old paradigms and systems, unable to combat the new authoritarian-leaning regime. Many corporations, universities, and law firms are cowering in fear. Many once-progressive high-tech companies in Silicon Valley have shifted to the right to protect their profits and crypto holdings. So where do we go for inspiration, vision, and some sense of optimism? Maybe we turn to artists, who’ve long held hope—driven by imagination and creative energy—when the rest of us couldn’t as easily see the way forward.
Dario Calmese and his Institute of Black Imagination give us one such example.
This New York Times feature on Dario is a good read, accurately unpacking his persona and background. His work ranges across performance, fashion, photography, writing, and now retail. The piece aptly describes him as a genuinely creative force who is helping to redefine and articulate the narrative on Black culture.
We’ve been engaged with Dario for a couple of years, and we just visited his exceptional pop-up Space 001at the Oculus in the World Trade Center, open now through October. If you are in NYC, you would be silly not to visit and check it out. If you are not in NYC, you can access his mind and spirit anytime, anywhere, on his podcast, where you will be exposed to a wide range of personalities and voices, many of whom might be new to you. And you can shop from his collection direct here: Space 001.
Dario introduces himself on his podcast as “a generally curious fellow.” I recall chatting with him after the 2024 November election, asking him how he felt about the surreal and sobering outcome. “It will be really interesting to see where this leads,” he said, rather than offering the typical WTF reaction where most of us found ourselves. Dario is deeply sensitive and responsive to social injustice, but his activism plays out in a creative high ground, and this perspective has been consistent.
For example, when Dario got the opportunity to do a cover photograph of Viola Davis in 2020 for Vanity Fair—being the first Black photographer to shoot a cover for the magazine—he described it like this:
“For me, this cover is my protest,” he said. “But not a protest in ‘Look at how bad you’ve been to me, and I’m angry, and I’m upset.’ Rather, it’s, “I’m going to rewrite this narrative. I’m just going to take ownership of it.”
It became an opportunity for Calmese to transmute a dark and painful history into something of pure beauty. It was alchemy—one of Dario’s superpowers.
His Space 001 at the Oculus is another form of transmutation: taking a place designed for transaction and turning it into a place of transformation. It’s an elegant protest against the predictability of the mall retail store. Is this space a bookstore, fashion boutique, design shop, art gallery, or learning center? YES.
Space 001 is partly home to the collection of 2,000 books that Dario inherited from Geoffrey Holder (1930–2014), who was a multidimensional role model of his. Holder’s library anchors the space in deep thought and history. Browsing around, I picked up Amy Sherald’s American Sublime book/catalog, having just seen her show currently at the Whitney. I stumbled onto a poetic and insightful essay that Calmese had authored. (He is an excellent writer.)
Nearby on the shelves are 3D-printed lamps by Haitian-American technologist Schendy Kernizan—soft, pliable forms that you need to fondle to truly appreciate. You might hear Yoruba Tech Soul music from Eli Fola, a Nigerian-American multidisciplinary sound artist, DJ, and sax player.
T-Michael of Rain
Savant Studios
Lagos Space Programme
Fashion is a big part of the space and concept:
— Elegant raincoats from Ghanaian designer and co-founder T–Michael of Rain, blending Japanese and Norwegian sensibilities
— Local-community-minded design wear from Savant Studios of Brooklyn
— Beautifully patterned apparel from Lagos Space Programme
The product mix asks us to think globally, and to celebrate the vision and craft of the Black diaspora and the designers behind the products.
How did Dario come to be such a creative and “curious” persona? He explains that his entrée into the art world began with performance, but he credits his creative sensibilities to his mother—a talented seamstress.
Dario has evolved into a consummate and enlightened storyteller. While he celebrates the stories and voices of others, his work itself narrates his personal approach—one that exudes intellectual depth, beauty, and optimism, sensibilities sometimes that feel just out of reach in today’s world. Dario’s own words sum this up elegantly:
“We navigate uncharted paths, guided by the magnetic pull of ancestral dreams and the weightless grace of infinite possibilities. In this odyssey, we defy the confines designed to restrain us, unlocking the boundless potential that resides.”
— Dario Calmese