New York Now: Home

Isometric Studio
2023

Abstracting the camera lens, the exhibit title typography is bold and declarative with an illustrative element that is delicate and nuanced.
The various exhibit themes, all written to contain at least one "O", also repeat the camera lens illustrative motif, creating a memorable visual identity throughout the exhibit experience.
The typography provides context and wayfinding and helps to conceptually ground the work of more than 30 contemporary photographers.
The exhibit title animation is a full digital expression of the movement and power of the title typography.
Greeting millions of New Yorkers and visitors to the city, the typographic animations set the stage to showcase the work of three Queens, NY, based photographers, creating a sense of belonging and comfort in this city of immigrants.

New York Now: Home is the first installment of the city’s only photography triennial, presenting over 100 works by 33 contemporary artists from across New York City’s five boroughs. The exhibition ponders the vivid multiplicity and complexity of what it means to seek and make “home” in the city, bearing witness to the experiences of immigrant “others,” queer people of color, unhoused people, and chosen families. The exhibition architecture comprises a series of gabled roof frames, repeated at regular intervals to establish a dynamic, grid-like home-in-the-making. Temporary exhibition walls descend from this structure, defining smaller, thematic spaces—including an intimate, living room tableau. The exhibition typography is stately yet illustrative, repeating the word “New York” in a centripetal, lens-like configuration.

Many of the exhibition’s artists focus their lenses on their own communities, creating intimate portraits with profound political implications. Xyza Cruz Bacani, a former migrant domestic worker, documents the everyday experience of her friend Farah, a Filipina survivor of labor trafficking. Dean Majd, a self-taught fine art photographer, explores homosocial tenderness and vulnerability among his male best friends. Cheryl Mukherji, an Indian installation artist, juxtaposes self-portraits expressing empowerment and liberation alongside her mother’s traditional matrimonial photographs. The exhibition design creates an unassuming yet elevated context where these stories can reside with ease, treating artwork with dignity and restraint, while also creating a memorable sense of place.

Isometric also designed a traveling version of the exhibition for Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where 10-second animations played on a multitude of supergraphic screens. Featuring photography by Queens artists Xyza Cruz Bacani, Maureen Drennan, and Elias Williams, the animations were seen by millions of visitors and residents as they passed through the airport, identifying New York City as a shared home for all.

Partner
Andy Chen
Partner
Waqas Jawaid
Senior Graphic Designer
Paolo Fabbri
Graphic Designer
Ana David
Content Director
Kate McBride
Curator
Sean Corcoran
Curator
Thea Quiray Tagle
Animation
Enrico Gisana
Videographer
Rob Berry
Project link