Linsen Chai

Bringing close to one hundred objects in a variety of media, the exhibition spans over 3000 sq. ft. and welcomes visitors with a large hand-painted title reminiscent of the large names painted across warehouses and shops of that era. It opens on a display of Martha Graham performing Frontier on an Isamu Noguchi set, which juxtaposed with the dress by Ruth Reeves depicting American leisure, exemplifies the effervescent decade of the 1930s.

The design approach crystalizes then this creative dynamism with bold reds highlighting the political posters in the first "Leftist Politics and Labor" gallery, while the usage of acute angled planes leads visitors for closer inspection. As such, in the third gallery dedicated to the "Promise of Progress", little cut-outs allow a closer look and highlights the streamline aesthetic of the design objects presented. The exhibition curation and its design worked hand in hand so to channel the great artistic output of this decade buoyed by the political and social tensions within the New Deal, and towards the optimism and hope of the World's Fairs.