"Possibly because a designer who was at the cutting edge of design when he was active has now been copied so often that the radical is now familiar. If you lived through those early years, the work is exciting. If not, it can feel a bit like walking into the shop that furnished my teenage bedroom - Habitat. That's the challenge with an exhibition of the work of the Italian designer and architect Alessandro Mendini, currently on at the Estorick Collection."
"So it could have still been a really interesting exhibition if the curation had told us more about the items on display. There are labels telling us their names, but nothing else about them. I want to know why or how the items were designed, or what the reaction to them was. If a curator decides this object is important enough to display, I want to know why."
"Unfortunately, I almost wish I had left at that point and not read the room explainers. I have a visceral distaste for galleries that use complicated language, as it's off-putting to laypeople. That sort of thing triggers memories of a very bad experience after I went to an amazing art exhibition decades ago and wanted to learn more, so I bought the catalogue, which at the time was a very expensive purchase for me."
An exhibition of Alessandro Mendini at the Estorick Collection feels overly familiar because his once-radical designs have been widely copied. Longtime observers find the work exciting, while newcomers sometimes experience an underwhelming sense of déjà vu, likening pieces to mass-market Habitat furniture. Labels provide object names but rarely explain design intentions, context, or public reaction, leaving visitors wanting. Dense curatorial language and opaque catalogues can alienate non-experts and recreate gatekeeping memories, making visitors feel unintelligent. Visitors request clear, accessible interpretation that explains why objects matter without assuming prior expertise or oversimplifying complex ideas.
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