Rebeca Méndez | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

ABOUT REBECA MÉNDEZ

Rebeca Méndez, a woman with light tan skin, short, swooping grey hair, and striking gold glasses, looks directly at the camera with a piercing gaze.

Upon graduating in 1984 from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Rebeca Méndez (Mexican-American, born 1962) taught first at her alma mater and then in the Design Media Arts Department at UCLA where she currently works. In 1996, she opened Rebeca Méndez Studio in partnership with her husband Adam Eeuwens. She specializes in film and video installations for cultural programs and institutions, collaborations with architects on interior commissions, photography, book design, and public art commissions. All of her creative activity embodies experimentation, collaboration, and creative integrity.

The natural world is a thread running through all of Méndez’s work. She has traveled to such environments as the Sahara desert, Patagonia, Iceland, Chile, Finland, and the Arctic, studying how different cultures relate to and portray nature and documenting her research through photography. Méndez was the recipient of the 2012 National Design Award in the field of graphic design.

COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS

On a yellow ground with floral motifs in pink, lavender, and green, a blocked out area of ground in darker tones, six lines of text, five as though crossed with a black marker. The last line reads: 6. “I knew, as did everyone, that Bicêtre was both hospital and prison; but I did not know that the hospital had been built to nurture sickness, the prison to nurture crime.” — Poster, The Will of the Potato, 1995; Designed by Rebeca Méndez (Mexican and American, b. 1962); Letterpress and screen print on paper; 73.8 x 52.7 cm (29 1/16 x 20 3/4 in.); Gift of Rebeca Mendez, 1996-59-7

Image is bisected to left of center. At left a close up of a female torso viewed through a gray-green scrim. At right a medical apparatus in gray is seen on a yellow ground. Red and gray images of a 16th century sailing ship are scattered across sheet. At top center a white rectangle with the text "IDENTIDAD". "EXCESO" in gray is stretched across sheet at center. At center and at right, overlapping printed Spanish and English text in gray, red and black. — Poster, Identidad/Exceso, 1992; Designed by Rebeca Méndez (Mexican and American, b. 1962); Screen print on white wove paper; 60.9 x 90 cm (24 x 35 7/16 in.); Gift of Rebeca Mendez, 1996-59-4

Second poster of the Circumpolar series depicting eight film stills of a bird in flight with text about the bird's circumlocution of the globe printed in white in the center. — Poster, Circumpolar 2, 2010; Designed by Rebeca Méndez (Mexican and American, b. 1962); Archival inkjet print on paper; 111.6 x 79.5 cm (43 15/16 x 31 5/16 in.); Gift of Rebeca Méndez, 2018-12-2

Beneath a small, black and white landscape photograph, the words [The Center Fellowships] cascade in an off-kilter fashion from a swooping yellow abstract design. A vertical string of stamped letters swings down from the end of the word [Fellowships], reading [This sentence is weightless]. — Poster, The Getty Center Fellowships; Designed by Rebeca Méndez (Mexican and American, b. 1962); offset lithograph on paper; 88 x 48.5 cm (34 5/8 x 19 1/8 in.); Gift of Rebeca Méndez; 2018-12-7

A collage-like poster with yellow flowers overlaid on a black and white photo of people gathered in an art gallery. Large, bold, slightly askew text reads [Open House at Art Center] along the left, with further information about the event posted at other off-kilter angles.

Image of Curator Christina de Leon and Rebeca Mendez, sitting on stage at Cooper Hewitt

FEATHERED BY DESIGN: AN EVENING WITH REBECA MÉNDEZ

A conversation with designer and artist Rebeca Ménde

Post Type

Video

Image of Designer Rebeca Mendez teaches a master class during the 2018 National Design Awards Winners Salon

2018 NDA Winners’ Salon | Master Class with Rebeca MÉNDEZ

2012 National Design Award winner Rebeca Méndez leads a master class exploring the themes on view in Rebeca Méndez Selects, and her research and practice around ‘artistic fieldwork practice.’ Méndez also discusses the CounterForce Lab, a center she created within UCLA, School of Art and Architecture with a focus on art, design and environment.

Post Type

Video

Image features a tornado-like object composed of metal strips at center; text in blue above in a wavy line; text on either side, and photographs of buildings. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.

In the Eye of the Tornado: Rethinking the Limits of Design

Today’s Object of the Day celebrates the winners of Cooper Hewitt’s National Design Awards. Honoring lasting achievement in American design, the Awards take place annually during National Design Week, with festivities for all ages celebrating design creativity and innovation. Today’s blog post was originally published on March 29, 2018. As design director for her alma mater, Art Center...

Posted By

Maeve Coudrelle

Date

October 15, 2018

In the Eye of the Tornado: Rethinking the Limits of Design

In celebration of Women’s History Month, March Object of the Day posts highlight women designers in the collection. As design director for her alma mater, Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, from 1991 to 1996, designer and artist Rebeca Méndez (b. 1962, Mexico City; active Los Angeles) played a key role in re-envisioning...

Posted By

Maeve Coudrelle

Date

March 29, 2018