Es Devlin retrospective opens at New York’s Cooper Hewitt
‘An Atlas of Es Devlin’ surveys the British set designer and installation artist’s 30-year career (on view until 11 August 2024)
![Es Devlin Cooper Hewitt exhibition](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7W6DLowmXkV2U8ZgagMmcT-415-80.jpg)
Straddling the worlds of high-brow opera and pop-culture fashion, British polymath Es Devlin has spent the last three decades forging a path all her own. Whether developing an immersive spatial and aural installation for Prada or a tech-forward backdrop for Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour, with the staging of James Graham's Dear England play at The National Theatre in between – and a recent contribution to U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere – the highly sought-after designer transcends definition.
Devlin’s ability to map light, project film on kinetic sculpture, and more recently introduce AI within her own creative ideation all stem from a deeply personal and interpretative yet relatable approach. Though harnessing the latest technology, her installations remain tactile and physically engaging.
‘An Atlas of Es Devlin’ at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
A new exhibition at New York’s Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum highlights the designer’s meteoric rise. On view until 11 August 2024, ‘An Atlas of Es Devlin’ highlights a vast array of process materials: maquettes, sketches, material samples, photographs, notations, and even standalone artworks: school year paintings along with more recent ones.
Andrea Lipps, associate curator of contemporary design and head of the digital curatorial department at Cooper Hewitt, worked closely with the talent to sift through extensive archives and select the most interesting elements. For Devlin, the show and accompanying monograph, An Atlas of Es Devlin – a sizable tome published by Thames & Hudson, UK – came together as a kind of atlas, a collection of maps. The book features over 700 colour images documenting 120 projects, Devlin’s personal commentaries, and interviews with collaborators Benedict Cumberbatch, Brian Eno, Sam Mendes, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Alice Rawsthorn, Carlo Rovelli, Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye, Lyndsey Turner, and Pharrell Williams.
Like the comprehensive publication, the exhibition pinpoints her personal and commissioned work in areas as diverse as art, activism, poetry, music, dance, and sculpture. Devlin’s clients have included the World Expo, Lincoln Center, the United Nations, the Olympic Games, and U2. As of late, her public sculptures have addressed the urgency of climate change and the plight of endangered species. Much of the talent’s preliminary process centres on reading and drawing.
'I have spent 30 years translating words into images and spaces – transforming texts on a page into kinetic sculptures that encompass viewers with light and song and use magic to alter their perspective,' says Devlin.
'My craft is to imagine worlds that don’t yet exist, to invite audiences to practice “interbeing” within psychological architectures they have not previously inhabited, to remind viewers that they are not separate but connected to one another and to the biosphere. For this exhibition, I have gathered the drawings, fragile paper sculptures and small-scale revolving cardboard models that I and my studio team have been making over the past three decades, a miniature parallel practice at the root of the large-scale public performance and installation works.'
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
'An Atlas of Es Devlin' is on view until 11 August 2024
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
2 E 91st St
New York
The accompanying monograph, An Atlas of Es Devlin, is available on to buy on Amazon
Adrian Madlener is a Brussels-born, New York-based writer, curator, consultant, and artist. Over the past ten years, he’s held editorial positions at The Architect’s Newspaper, TLmag, and Frame magazine, while also contributing to publications such as Architectural Digest, Artnet News, Cultured, Domus, Dwell, Hypebeast, Galerie, and Metropolis. In 2023, He helped write the Vincenzo De Cotiis: Interiors monograph. With degrees from the Design Academy Eindhoven and Parsons School of Design, Adrian is particularly focused on topics that exemplify the best in craft-led experimentation and sustainability.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
‘An Atlas of Es Devlin’ maps the artist’s extraordinary career
‘An Atlas of Es Devlin’, a comprehensive look at how to make stage design great, brings together a chorus of collaborators to celebrate the artist's work
By Jasper Spires Published
-
Brit Awards 2021 winners to receive trophies by Yinka Ilori and Es Devlin
Each Brit Awards 2021 winner will receive two awards, with each recipient invited to gift the second trophy in the spirit of ‘giving something back’
By Rosa Bertoli Last updated