Nottingham Contemporary, one of the UK's largest contemporary art galleries, showcases rotating exhibitions of international art. Located in the heart of the city centre, the gallery resides in an iconic building designed by the acclaimed architects Caruso St John. In addition to its exhibitions, Nottingham Contemporary offers a vibrant program of events, including talks, film screenings, music performances, and more.

Coinciding with the centenary of the Bauhaus, the exhibition "Still Undead" explores how the innovative ideas and teachings of the pioneering art and design school permeated British popular culture and art school experimentation. Spanning from the 1920s to the 90s, the exhibition features the works of approximately 50 artists, designers, and musicians, unraveling the diverse and fragmented ways in which the Bauhaus's legacy has been transmitted and transformed.

At the core of the exhibition is Kurt Schwerdtfeger's "Reflektorische Farblichtspiele" (reflective colored light games), an apparatus he designed as a student for the Bauhaus Lantern Festival in 1922. These experimental creations played a vital role in Bauhaus party culture, merging music, costumes, and performances. They influenced the stage workshop and found new contexts in commercial design and popular culture. "Still Undead" commences by presenting these "light games" alongside a selection of sound and light pieces from the 1920s and early 30s.

The exhibition showcases the works of approximately 50 artists, designers, and musicians, including Gertrud Arndt, Roy Ascott, Bauhaus (the band), Robyn Beeche, Otti Berger, Leigh Bowery, Robert Brownjohn, Laurie-Rae Chamberlain, Edmund Collein, Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell, Terence Conran, Rita Donagh, T. Lux Feininger, Ueli Frey, Maxwell Fry, Walter Gropius, René Halkett and David Jay, Richard Hamilton, Florence Henri, George Hinchcliffe and Ian Wood, Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack, Tom Hudson, Kraftwerk, Kurt Kranz, Margaret Leischner, Liliane Lijn, John Maybury, Lucia Moholy, László Moholy-Nagy, Victor Pasmore, Mary Quant, Vidal Sassoon, Peter Saville, Oskar Schlemmer, Kurt Schwerdtfeger, Soft Cell, Frank Tovey (Fad Gadget), Edith Tudor-Hart, and Stephen Willats. The exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary was curated by Marion von Osten, Grant Watson, and Sam Thorne, with research curators Olivia Aherne, Gavin Butt, Cédric Fauq, Christian Hiller, and Mariana Meneses.

For the exhibition, we crafted a series of wall texts and posters inspired by the extraordinary artworks showcased in each room. Each wall text serves as a visual interpretation, not only of the room itself but also of the text it contains. Just as wall texts offer textual context to prepare visitors for what lies ahead, these graphic elements were designed with the same purpose in mind. The greatest challenge of this project was to create something coherent and representative of the masterpieces on display. Extensive collaboration between the curators and the graphic designer was pivotal to the project's success.

Client: Nottingham Contemporary
Services: Exhibition Design / Visual Identity
Location: Nottingham, United Kingdom
Year: 2019