The concept
Designed in 2016 as the opening event of the non-profit organisation Numéro 52 : 95, Art Histories (Histoire d'Arts) was first exhibited at the Conservatoire de Valenciennes (France) in June 2018. Art Histories is an itinerant exhibition, new artworks exploring various eras of Art History are constantly added to the exhibition's catalogue. They aim at interpreting various periods of Art History, put them into perspective, tell them from a contemporary point of view. For Art Histories I was put in charge of the online and offline visual campaigns.
Art direction
The art direction is inspired by Emma Wirton's Histoires de mains (Stories of hands), a series of engravings depicting famous hands and gestures of Renaissance paintings. In the communication campaign, the hand is used to evoke the artist's main tool with which their imagination (symbolised by the double exposures) is catalysed into art. The artworks merging with or emanating from the hands are from various European art periods and movements interpreted by the artists of Art Histories. Numéro 52 : 95's team decided very early on not to feature any work of art included in the catalogue in the visuals so as to make them exclusive to the exhibition itself. The logos and typographies are very simple and elegant so as not to clutter the visuals and promote legibility.
On the web
Various images and animations were designed for the social media campaign. A web portal dedicated to Art Histories was also created on Numéro 52 : 95's website.
