New York City's Cooper Hewitt's Retrospective of British Artist's Es Devlin
An Atlas of Es Devlin is the first monographic museum exhibition dedicated to British artist and stage designer Es Devlin (born 1971), who is renowned for work that transforms audiences. she has charted a course from kinetic stage designs at the National Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera to installations at major institutions, including the World Expo, Lincoln Center, and the United Nations headquarters.
Her sculptures for Olympic Ceremonies, NFL Super Bowl halftime shows, and stadium tours for Beyoncé, The Weeknd, and U2 frame narratives that feel personal at a monumental scale. Over the past decade, she has adapted her craft to address climate and civilizational crises. Her public installations on endangered species and languages have inspired audiences to reimagine their connections to each other and to the planet.
She shapes stories in ways that stay with us and reframe our thinking. These stories often begin in the margins of texts.
Devlin’s work is rooted in a lifelong practice of reading and drawing. Sketches and small cardboard models form the seeds of her large-scale architectures. Until now, these drawings, paintings, and sculptures have remained unseen. For this first monographic exhibition of her work, Devlin and the curators dug through her 30-year archive, mapping throughlines that connect her teenage paintings to her stage designs to her contemporary installations. Devlin calls the result an atlas — a collection of maps.
Connect with your own inspiration, explore the Es Devlin Creative Curriculum.
Exhibition Highlights
Photo by Es Devlin Studio. Courtesy of Es Devlin. Sculptures, Ideas to Forms. Cut paper and board.
Presented 2020, BBC Culture in Quarantine Masterclass.
Photo by Es Devlin Studio. Courtesy of Es Devlin. Studies, Sphere. Mixed media on paper.
Staged 2023, U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Photo by Es Devlin Studio. Courtesy of Es Devlin. Model, Atlas. 3D-printed resin and LED, recreated for exhibition.
Atlas, by Meredith Monk, staged 2019, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Photo by Es Devlin Studio. Courtesy of Es Devlin. Model, The Lehman Trilogy. Painted MDF, acrylic, cardstock, 3D-printed resin, brass, and LED, recreated for exhibition.
The Lehman Trilogy, by Stefano Massini and Ben Power, staged 2018, Royal National Theatre, Lyttelton, London, UK, and 2019, Park Avenue Armory, New York, New York, USA.
Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution. Model, Compton Super Bowl. Laser-cut MDF, acrylic, 3D-printed resin, and LED, recreated for exhibition.
Staged 2022, NFL Super Bowl Halftime Show featuring Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, and 50 Cent, SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution. Model, Your Voices. Acrylic, filament, nylon thread, and LED, recreated for exhibition.
Installed 2022, Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, New York, USA.
Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution. Model, Please Feed the Lions. 3D-printed resin and LED, recreated for exhibition.
Installed 2018, London Design Biennale, Trafalgar Square, London, UK.
Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution. Theater in a Box installation.
Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution Films installation.
Photo by Es Devlin Studio. Courtesy of Es Devlin. Book Unbound installation.
Photo by Es Devlin Studio. Courtesy of Es Devlin.