Charles Darwin: A Life in Letters +
Charles Darwin: Off the Page
2023
New York City Public Library
Cultural (Completed)
550 SF + 1370 SF + 1370 SF
Curator: Elizabeth Denlinger + Becky Laughner (NYPL), Alison Pearn (Cambridge, UK)
Fabrication: Guest Exhibit Production (Robert Guest)
Graphic Design: Portrait Design (Courtney Gooch, Rory Simms)
Photography courtesy of the New York Public Library
This two-part exhibition explores Charles Darwin’s social world through sketches, notes, and letters exchanged with various friends and colleagues, illustrating a network combining science and gossip—and mixing the personal with the professional. Additional ephemera highlights their collective impact on the world around and reaching into the present day.
The first part of the exhibition is staged in NYPL’s jewel-box Wachenheim Gallery just off its main entrance. Inside, a projection wall displaying detailed close-ups of the show’s content divides the space into two—on one side artifacts surround visitors in thematic categories while the other features a densely-installed table of works on paper. The gallery balances close reading with a feeling of being surrounded by content. Temporary walls and vitrines float just in front of the marble-clad perimeter surfaces.
On the library’s third floor, two long corridors display additional works anchored by contemporary interpretations of Darwin’s legacy by artists Leonora Saunders and Mark Pernice which are interrupted by quotes, maps, and archival material. New walls peel off the historical building to interrupt passageways and produce conversations between the works, visitors, and the library itself—a portrait gallery full of uncanny associations.
Charles Darwin: Off the Page
2023
New York City Public Library
Cultural (Completed)
550 SF + 1370 SF + 1370 SF
Curator: Elizabeth Denlinger + Becky Laughner (NYPL), Alison Pearn (Cambridge, UK)
Fabrication: Guest Exhibit Production (Robert Guest)
Graphic Design: Portrait Design (Courtney Gooch, Rory Simms)
Photography courtesy of the New York Public Library
This two-part exhibition explores Charles Darwin’s social world through sketches, notes, and letters exchanged with various friends and colleagues, illustrating a network combining science and gossip—and mixing the personal with the professional. Additional ephemera highlights their collective impact on the world around and reaching into the present day.
The first part of the exhibition is staged in NYPL’s jewel-box Wachenheim Gallery just off its main entrance. Inside, a projection wall displaying detailed close-ups of the show’s content divides the space into two—on one side artifacts surround visitors in thematic categories while the other features a densely-installed table of works on paper. The gallery balances close reading with a feeling of being surrounded by content. Temporary walls and vitrines float just in front of the marble-clad perimeter surfaces.
On the library’s third floor, two long corridors display additional works anchored by contemporary interpretations of Darwin’s legacy by artists Leonora Saunders and Mark Pernice which are interrupted by quotes, maps, and archival material. New walls peel off the historical building to interrupt passageways and produce conversations between the works, visitors, and the library itself—a portrait gallery full of uncanny associations.










