Making Their Mark Exhibition – New York, New York

Making Their Mark Exhibition

Leong Leong designed the exhibition architecture for “Making Their Mark,” a landmark show debuting the Shah Garg Collection, one of the most significant private collections of women artists spanning eight decades. Located in a former gallery space in Chelsea, the 11,000-square-foot exhibition creates a series of carefully orchestrated spaces across two floors that allow different artistic dialogues to emerge.

Working in close collaboration with curator Cecilia Alemani, the exhibition design responds to the unique architectural qualities of 548 West 22nd Street while creating distinct environments for experiencing the collection’s diverse works. The ground floor focuses on gestural abstraction and investigations of light, featuring works by artists like Joan Mitchell and Mary Weatherford alongside contemporary innovators. The upper level explores more figurative works and examines how artists have used abstraction to depict bodies and identity.

The exhibition design emphasizes connections between generations of artists while creating intimate moments for encountering individual pieces. Custom lighting solutions developed with TM Light enhance the viewing experience through illumination strategies that respond to different artistic mediums – from large-scale paintings to delicate fiber works and sculptures.

The exhibition transforms the Chelsea space into a platform for artistic dialogue that challenges traditional hierarchies and celebrates the bold expressiveness of women artists across time.