21C Museum

Last week our class took a field trip to a few different art museums. We have been working on designing an art gallery for the Bienenstock Furniture Library competition and were looking to find some inspiration. One of the locations we visited was 21C, a modern art gallery found in Durham, NC. The gallery features lots of unexpected exhibitions that are very successful in portraying the direction that 21st century art is moving in. The art gallery itself contributes to the experience of viewing the art as it is spread throughout three floors with unique pieces on each floor. The distribution of art keeps the visitors moving throughout the space so not to stay in one place too long. Additionally, the art gallery is known for its innovative “pink penguin” gimmick. The freestanding pink penguins become part of the gallery as they are moved around to new locations everyday by visitors. Outside of being a unique asset to the art gallery, the pink penguins support the modern and alternative branding of the gallery.