JMB — Kurt Lewy

‘Towards Abstraction’ – an exhibition about the Brussels based German modern artist Kurt Lewy (1898 – 1963) by The Jewish Museum of Belgium and the Callewaert Vanlangendonck Gallery.

From the public communication posters to the exhibition signage and the catalogue, we were delighted to work with this precious material.

The exhibition scenography emphasises the evolution of Kurt Lewy's work from figuration to abstraction through time. We base many of our layouts on the idea of this timeline. From a real timeline featuring archive documents dispatched chronologically to a frieze running all around the exhibition rooms hosting the names and dates of the artworks.

The catalogue is refined and textured at the same time. The mix of the finest papers contain different material; a cream uncoated paper to hold the historical texts by David Vermeiren, and a coated smooth one for the artwork reproduction. A paint reproduction features on the cover of the book which is discretely embossed and only be revealed with skimming light. The same timeline as the exhibition one, is found inside a special fold of the cover. The reproduction of Kurt Lewy's works are sequenced in the book in chronological order from the early years onwards. The layout of the small prints such as the name of the works and year subtly frame the exquisite prints. These also shift page after page towards the right, emphasising almost unconsciously this classification choice towards the most modern works of the artist.