The exhibition was shown at Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
In the autumn of 2019 Nationalmuseum presented Hella Jongerius’s exhibition Breathing Colour which was a visual installation that featured the results of her longstanding research into colour, shape, light and materials.
Art and design are configurations of colour, light, form, shadows, reflections and materiality. The Hella Jongerius – Breathing Colour exhibition was ensconced in the borderline between art and design. It presented a visual examination of how colour and light interplay and change during all hours of the day. In forms of paper, textiles, ceramics, metal and plastics, internationally renowned star designer, Hella Jongerius displayed her many years of artistic research into colour, light and materiality. As a designer, she often questions the perfunctory views of design manufacturers and the use of colour in the development of products. Jongerius argues that this leads to our missing out on aspects and experiences of the world around us. Her study was deepened in the meeting of the works of art she had chosen from Nationalmuseum’s collections.
The interaction of colours
After the renovation of Nationalmuseum, the museum exhibits art against coloured walls and integrated so that painting and sculpture meet textiles and ceramics from the same period. The colour schemes in the different rooms is the result of long-standing studies conducted by the museum into how colour, art and design interplay with the goal of giving the objects a context that increases their degree of visual attraction. Presenting Hella Jongerius – Breathing Colour to the audience hopefully led to increased reflection and discussion about how colour influences us and our experience of the world.
Thanks!
The exhibition was developed in partnership with the Design Museum, London where it was on show during summer 2017. In summer 2018 it was on show at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The exhibition in Stockholm was made possible by the generous support of Nationalmusei Vänner.