Rebeca Méndez Selects | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

About the exhibition

Designer, artist, and educator Rebeca Méndez is the 17th guest curator of the Selects series, for which designers, artists, writers, and cultural figures are invited to mine and interpret the permanent collection. Winner of the 2012 National Design Award for Communication Design, Rebeca Méndez was born in Mexico and is the founder of Los Angeles-based Rebeca Méndez Design. For her installation, Méndez draws on the tragic history of Aztec ruler Moctezuma II’s private aviary to reflect on birds as sources of design inspiration and scientific study, as well as victims of climate change and human avarice. Selecting design objects from Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection, bird specimens from the National Museum of Natural History, and rare books from the Smithsonian Libraries, Méndez evokes the tensions arising from humankind’s conflicting impulses towards nature. Animated with the sounds and images of bird life, Rebeca Méndez Selects invites visitors to consider how culture, design, technology, and the natural world have converged throughout history.

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Highlights

A selection of objects featured in the exhibition.

A colored illustration of a toucan from the 1806 text Natural History of Birds of Paradise and Rollers: Follow by that of Toucans and Barbets, Vol. 2, — Book, Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers: suivie de celle des toucans et des barbus (Natural History of Birds of Paradise and Rollers: Followed by that of Toucans and Barbets), Volume 2; 1806; Written by François Levaillant (French, 1753–1824); Illustrated by Jacques Barraband (French, 1767–1809); Smithsonian Libraries, QL674.L65 1806

Hammered steel nails feather outward from a raised gold, silver, mother of pearl necklace .

Sidewall; 1905–13; Manufactured by Zuber & Cie (Rixheim, Alsace, France); Block-printed on paper; Gift of James J. Rorimer, 1950-111-10

The wing of a male Montezuma Oropendola. Brown feathers with a specimen tag attached. From the Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural History. — Bird Specimen, Montezuma Oropendola (Psarocolius montezuma); Skin (male), wing; Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 562726

Drawing, Study for “Quickest Way by Air Mail” Poster; 1935; Designed by Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, 1890–1954) for the British General Post Office (London, England); mixed media on paper; Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer, 1963-39-898, 1963-39-899, 1963-39-900

Exhibition Brochure

Supporters

Rebeca Méndez Selects is made possible by the Marks Family Foundation Endowment Fund and received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.