Nick La Marca: "Sole Lines" at Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

Sole Lines, a site-specific installation by Nick La Marca (MFA ​’23), is featured at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts from February 7 — June 7, 2026 as a special complement to the new exhibition Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks.

Sole Lines employs the visual language of urban infrastructure: a series of telephone poles connected by wires, from which sneakers are suspended in clusters. Each pair originates from the artist’s personal collection and is organized chronologically, tracing a trajectory from early acquisitions to more recent purchases. In doing so, the work engages both the history of sneaker culture and the artist’s own evolving relationship to it.

The installation foregrounds sneakers not merely as commodities but as biographical artifacts. Variations in size, condition, and style chart the physical and aesthetic development of the wearer: shoes bear differing degrees of wear, some preserved almost untouched while others exhibit heavy use, reflecting personal proclivities and daily habits. These material distinctions underscore themes of access and aspiration — what the artist could afford, what was available, and what was ultimately chosen. The sneakers thus operate simultaneously as markers of individual growth and as cultural signifiers within the economies of style and desire.

By situating personal narrative within a broader cultural framework, Sole Lines functions as both timeline and self-portrait. It also acknowledges the urban and BIPOC communities that have historically shaped sneaker culture, situating the artist’s lived experience within a collective history of fashion, identity, and community-making.

Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks
Exhibition Dates: February 7, 2026 — June 7, 2026
Members’ Preview: Friday, February 6 from 5:30 pm — 7:30 p.m.
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 314 S. Park Street, Kalamazoo MI 49007