City of Faith: Religion, Activism, and Urban Space

Isometric Studio
2022

The exhibition takes up the full space of the gallery walls, expressing community solidarity through layers of typography, graphic shapes, and images.
The same visual ingredients work to unite an eclectic set of original artworks, image reproductions, and informational maps.
Sometimes, the graphic design adapts to include additional languages or recedes to give space to the exhibit artwork, though it still provides a connection back to the overall visual identity.
Illustrative typography in translation annotates artworks as a secondary layer of experience.

Isometric collaborated with the Museum of the City of New York on Mellon Foundation Fellow and curator Azra Dawood’s capstone exhibition City of Faith: Religion, Activism, and Urban Space. Through historical analysis, bespoke art commissions, and visualizations of activist networks, the exhibition uplifts the voices and stories of South Asian communities in New York City that have long endured religious profiling, scapegoating, and surveillance. Corrugated metal and exposed plywood structures frame images and artwork as everyday, street-level expressions of faith—abstracted and elevated nonetheless to the dignity of a museum exhibition. Bold, colorful shapes and emphatic titles focus visitors on the curatorial text, while subtle linework and arrows connect concepts across the gallery walls. What results is an effusive and starkly contemporary expression of religious difference and coexistence that challenges the image of New York as a “godless” city, reframing it as a home that minorities fight daily to make their own.

Partner
Andy Chen
Partner
Waqas Jawaid
Design Director
Maria Loes
Architectural Designer
Abhishek Thakkar
Graphic Designer
Paolo Fabbri
Graphic Designer
Ingrid Schmaedecke
Design Intern
Madi Ritenburgh
Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow, Museum of the City of New York
Azra Dawood
Director of Exhibitions Installation, Museum of the City of New York
Todd Ludlam
Project Manager, Museum of the City of New York
Elizabeth Indek
Associate Director of Curatorial Projects, Museum of the City of New York
Tracy McFarlan
Chief Curator, Museum of the City of New York
Sarah Henry