Museum touched by Pentagram NY

Pentagram New York presented first concepts last week for the interior signage at the Museum of Sex, which is due to open in the city on 23 September. London group Casson Mann has meanwhile confirmed it is working on the inaugural exhibition.

The exhibition, NYC Sex: How New York City Transformed Sex in America, occupies three large rooms of a four-room space in a converted office building on Fifth Avenue. It consists mainly of 2D exhibits like photographs, drawings and videos, according to Casson Mann partner Dinah Casson.

‘The hypothesis [of the exhibition] is that New York showed the rest of America how to understand sexuality. The exhibition is arranged under six thematic headings and is broadly chronological from the 1830s, through the Aids crisis to not quite the present day,’ says Casson.

Casson Mann is situating the exhibits in the centre of the space, avoiding any wall hangings and using concealed light sources to create a ‘clean, crisp and smart’ look and feel. Casson contrasts the design approach with the tacky image of sex museums in Amsterdam and Berlin.

‘It’s a serious exhibition with academic credentials, not some greasy raincoat number,’ she says.

The consultancy, which is also working on planning the design of the museum shop and entrance, was appointed in January.

Pentagram New York has also created the Museum of Sex’s identity, along with stationery, tickets, marketing materials and a book for the exhibition.