Previously On View: October 5, 2018 through June 16, 2019

See exhibitions currently on view.

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.

#RebecaMéndezSelects

Highlights

A selection of objects featured in the exhibition.

Exhibition Brochure

The cover of the exhibition brochure with the exhibition title set against an ombre pattern of gold, light blue, white, and gold bands of color. Click on the image to open the pdf of the 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.

Exhibition Dates
October 5, 2018 through June 16, 2019
View All Exhibition Objects
Rebeca Méndez Selects

From the Blog

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
Read Time
3 minutes
Image features a large egg carved with the allegorical image of "America" as a female figure wearing a robe and feather headdress, holding arrows, and seated before a palm tree and crocodile within a landscape. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
A Hard Shell to Crack
This ostrich egg is carved with allegorical figures representing the Four Continents—Europe, Asia, Africa, and America—a subject that originated in sixteenth-century drawings and prints and that later gained popularity in the decorative arts.[1] The collection of the late James Hazen Hyde, from which the ostrich egg comes, comprised hundreds of objects and prints depicting the...
Read Time
3 minutes
Posted By
Cynthia Trope
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
Read Time
3 minutes

Past Events

Designer Rebeca Mendez stands next to a yellow and light blue gradient textile.
Feathered by Design: An Evening with Rebeca Méndez
A conversation with designer and artist Rebeca Méndez and Christina De León, Associate Curator of Latino Design at Cooper Hewitt will focus on the process of organizing the installation Rebeca Méndez Selects, an exploration on humanity’s complex relationship with the natural world and our ties with other species. The exhibition is framed by the Spanish...
Post Type
Event
Event Date
January 29, 2019