Es Devlin: Behind the Images of Our Time

Millions of people have likely seen her work without knowing her name. They've encountered her at an Olympic ceremony, in a stadium during a concert, in front of a theater set, or inside a museum installation. From October 2, 2026, to April 4, 2027, the Design Museum in London is dedicating the first major British exhibition to Es Devlin's career. Born in 1971, Devlin has worked for over thirty years in a difficult-to-define field, where theater, visual arts, temporary architecture, and live performances overlap. Her signature appears behind some of the most watched events of recent decades: opera productions, plays, Olympic ceremonies, Super Bowls, and tours by artists such as Beyoncé, Adele, U2, and The Weeknd. Yet her work often escapes the visibility that accompanies the figures traditionally associated with these projects. The Design Museum exhibition seeks to refocus attention on the creative process that precedes these creations. The exhibition brings together models, sketches, notebooks, notes, preparatory materials, and new installations conceived for the occasion. More than a showcase of professional successes, the project reconstructs how images destined to be seen by millions take shape. Over the course of his career, Devlin has progressively broadened his scope. While his early work was primarily focused on theater and opera, in recent years his interest has shifted to public installations and participatory projects. Works such as Forest for Change, presented in the courtyard of Somerset House in London, or the British Pavilion at the Dubai Expo, have demonstrated a growing attention to themes of collective memory, the environment, and the relationship between individuals and communities. This evolution coincides with a broader transformation in the role of contemporary design and scenography. The images that define the public imagination are no longer created solely in museums and galleries, but also in stadiums, urban spaces, digital platforms, and events broadcast live globally. Devlin was among the first designers to move naturally between these contexts, treating them as parts of a single visual landscape. The London exhibition comes a few years after An Atlas of Es Devlin, organized by the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, and represents a new chapter in the museum's reflection on her work. While the American exhibition introduced the public to the breadth of her output, the Design Museum's project focuses more on the tools and methods underlying it. The museum's exhibition will feature notebooks, models, annotated texts, and stage machinery. Materials that normally remain behind the scenes, here become the narrative of a method. A rare opportunity to observe how some of the most viewed images of our time take shape.