Virginia Woolf: A Modern Mind

New York Public Library

It was Pure+Applied’s pleasure to design the exhibition for the NYPL's Virginia Woolf exhibition. The exhibition was organized chronologically to offer visitors a glimpse into the author's life. To underscore this chronological journey, we showcased a combination of large, immersive portraits and smaller, more intimate ones of Woolf from her childhood to her later years. 

P+A created a visual contrast between the contemporary exhibition design and the gallery's historic interior. This approach mirrors Woolf's literary techniques, considered experimental and modern during her time. We incorporated backlit, sheer printed fabrics into the design to achieve this contrast. These fabrics partially revealed the beaux-arts gallery behind them, symbolizing Woolf's writings, which often responded to and commented on tradition and history.

The color scheme of the exhibition was inspired by Virginia Woolf's hand-written manuscripts, which featured purplish-blue ink. Hence, we incorporated shades of purple throughout the design.

We chose Dover, a contemporary reinterpretation by typographer Robin Mientjes of the British Caslon typeface, for the typography. Caslon was originally used by the Hogarth Press, a publishing house established by Virginia Woolf and her husband, Leonard Woolf. This choice of typeface paid homage to Woolf's literary legacy.

In the center of the gallery, we featured books published by the Hogarth Press. These books were again chronologically displayed in a case shaped like a printer's composing stick, serving as a focal point of the exhibition.

info@pureandapplied.com
212.929.9449