Isaac Julien Exhibition
Exhibition identity, printA philosopher and an art collector in dialogue, their exchange rewriting what each understands about the African objects between them. Statues Never Die, Isaac Julien's five-screen immersive film installation, was commissioned by the Barnes Foundation Museum to mark its centennial, staging an invented yet archivally grounded encounter between Foundation founder Dr. Albert C. Barnes and philosopher Alain Locke, the "Father of the Harlem Renaissance." Woven from original script, recently discovered archival footage, and Julien's own deep research in the Barnes archives, the work excavates a lesser-known chapter of the institution's history while entering into live debates around the display and restitution of African material culture in Western collections.
A work this cinematically and intellectually dense asks something specific of its graphic design: to carry the gravity of the subject while remaining in service of Julien's installation rather than competing with it. The exhibition identity, invitation suite, and brochure I developed for Statues Never Die sought that equilibrium.
+ Type: NaN Jaune by Studio Triple and Nautica by Resistenza
+ Art Direction: Olivia Verdugo
+ Graphic Design: Olivia Verdugo, Pauline Nyren
+ Mockups: Pauline Nyren
+ Photography: Alexander J Rotondo
© 2026 Olivia S Verdugo