The exhibition comprises of six thematic sections and features 72 remarkably inventive works from 42 international designers and artists, including such seminal works as Marcel Wanders's Knotted Chair, wallpaper by Paul Noble and Vik Muniz for Maharam Digital Projects, and fashions created from reconstructed second-hand clothes by Junky Styling.
The breadth of the work - drawn from the fields of graphic design, industrial design, fashion, furnishings, architecture, and digital media - speaks to the pervasiveness and relevance of pattern and ornament today. Its hybrid languages are the aesthetic equivalent of the fast-paced and complex exchanges of our contemporary world.
Deep Surface features several objects that have not been shown in the United States such as Minale-Maeda's Table Manners - and many objects that have not been exhibited outside of their originating venue, including Hella Jongerius's Sampler Blankets commissioned by the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum.
"This exhibition reveals the ongoing value of ornament and pattern through the work of contemporary designers and artists who are evolving deep and rich traditions," said Denise Gonzales Crisp, co-curator of the exhibition. "We have gathered works that are ingenious, surprising, sophisticated, and innovative in their form, their story, and their use of technology. Seen here together, these pieces assert, in a variety of ways, ornament and pattern's relevance to human expression and to the quality of every day life."