“Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay”
Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, NY, USA
2011

The exhibit focused on the sense of movement and rhythm created in the multiple areas of visual expression used by Sonia Delaunay, including graphics, interiors, theater and film, fashion and textiles.  On view were examples of Delaunay’s work from her own Atelier Simultane in Paris during the 1920s, as well as textiles designed for the Metz & Co. department store in Amsterdam in the 1930s. 

Displaying design studies, textiles, garments, and photographic reproductions simultaneously, the exhibition provides an in-depth look at the processes and inspiration behind the colorful contrasts in Delaunay’s work.  The number of objects totals nearly 350, necessitating a clear and concise exhibition layout and design.  Using existing museum display cases and vitrines wherever possible to meet budgetary and strict conservation requirements, the exhibition design focuses on key large cases that are painted a room-specific color from a palette that is derived from Delaunay’s own work.  The storefront from the Atelier Simultane is recreated in one display, augmenting the sense of context provided by the photographic reproductions that line the walls.  The exhibition is organized with each room displaying a variety of work by Delaunay and the contemporary context in which it occurred to illustrate the full breadth and multifaceted nature of Delaunay’s work.      

Credits:

Design Team: Toshiko Mori, Christy Cheng
Curators: Mathilda McQuaid, Susan Brown
Lighting: Luce Group
Graphic Designer: Tsang Seymour Design

Photographs © Matt Flynn, Christy Cheng