All Buttoned Up: Beau McCall’s West Coast Debut
Nearly four decades of art, millions of buttons: Don’t miss Beau McCall’s dazzling retrospective at San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Design, on view now through September 14.
All Buttoned Up: Beau McCall’s West Coast Debut
In 1980s Harlem, the art scene pulsed with unbridled color and energy. Music, fashion, visual arts, and theater all responded to the economic and racial turbulence of the times. Creativity didn’t wait for permission; it thrived in pop-up galleries, salon-style living rooms, subway platforms, and runway shows—where rising talents stitched identity, cultural pride, and glamour into the public consciousness.
Amid all this, a young, Black, gay artist arrived from Philadelphia with a duffel bag, a few hundred dollars, and buttons. What began as a personal fascination would evolve into an artistic journey spanning almost 40 years.
Affectionately dubbed “The Button Man,” Beau McCall, now 68, has devoted much of his career to the humblest of materials, hand-stitching buttons into vibrant, provocative—and often wearable—works of art. Buttons On!, his retrospective exhibition, chronicles his rise from modest beginnings to inclusion in the permanent collections of many top institutions. This summer, the show made its West Coast debut at San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Design, where it will remain on view until September 14.
“In most minds, buttons are simple, utilitarian objects,” McCall says. “But I use them to provoke deep reflection—on race, class, LGBTQ+ identity—and to invite connection.”
McCall’s first big break came at a 1988 Harlem Institute of Fashion show for HARLEM WEEK, where he quickly became a fixture. His many wearable pieces showcase his deep roots in fashion, blurring the lines between costume and sculpture, craft and social commentary. Works like “Black Target,” an upcycled denim apron embellished with a pattern of buttons in the colors of the Pan-African flag, honor Black pride and resistance, while a radiant yellow shoulder yoke, titled “Sunny,” signals joy as a form of protest.
One of the show’s most striking pieces is a 450-pound cast-iron bathtub, covered with buttons of various textures and hues. The tub evokes ritual and rebirth, a tactile meditation on sanctuary and healing. Just as compelling is “The Conversation,” a circular tabletop that, from a distance, appears piled with buttons. On closer inspection, it’s been meticulously crafted into a three-dimensional cultural map: Black and brown buttons cling to one edge, hemmed in by a complex maze formed in shades of white. This interactive piece encourages reflection on who is invited to sit at the “table,” underscoring McCall’s belief in art as a catalyst for dialogue—and transformation.
McCall has interviewed many other button enthusiasts—including well-known artists such as Bisa Butler—and collaborated with StoryCorps to create a fascinating collection of oral histories that interweave the memories and emotional weight such objects hold.
“Buttons are history,” the artist likes to say. “Every one of them passed through a hand, fastened a garment, lived a life.”
The exhibition–curated by Souleo–also includes a display of deeply personal artifacts, forming a visual timeline of McCall’s career: his original sewing kit; a replica of the button jar that first ignited his imagination; paper photographs and press clippings tracing his artistic evolution.
“Beau McCall’s story is one of relentless creativity and deep conviction,” says Nora Atkinson, the Museum’s executive director. “His art speaks to the beauty of transformation—turning discarded objects into vessels of power, identity, and hope.”
Beau McCall: Buttons On! will be on view at the Museum of Craft and Design through September 14, 2025.
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