LONDON.- On 19 July,
House of Illustration will open an exhibition dedicated to the pioneering graphic designer and science educator Marie Neurath.
From the 1940s to the 1970s, Neurath led a team of researchers, artists and writers at the Isotype Institute to produce over 80 illustrated childrens books, half of which are dedicated to science education. At a time when most women were expected to raise children, Neurath instead set about educating them, transforming complex science into striking infographics and diagrams to be easily understood by those of all ages.
Marie Neurath: Picturing Science will demonstrate this process of transformation, from early ideas for picture books, research documents and initial sketches to final page spreads and bold book covers.
The exhibition will include original designs for The Wonder World of Land and Water as well as a newly digitised film strip created by the Isotype Institute for use in schools.
Marie Neurath: Picturing Science is co-curated by Sue Walker and Eric Kindel at the Otto and Marie Neurath Archive at the University of Reading and Katie Nairne at House of Illustration.
University of Reading co-curator Sue Walker, says: Marie Neurath was an extraordinary graphic designer whose innovative books for children showed and explained complex concepts in ways that could be easily understood. We are delighted to collaborate with House of Illustration in this exhibition of her books that picture science and technology. Displayed alongside is material showing the design process followed by Marie Neurath and her team.
House of Illustration co-curator, Katie Nairne, says: Marie Neuraths ground-breaking approach to communicating complex information through pictures has had a huge impact on contemporary design and infographics and deserves much greater acclaim than it currently receives. We are delighted to be able to share some of the University of Readings extensive archive in order to celebrate this pioneering woman and shed light on her innovative methods.
This exhibition is produced in partnership with the University of Reading and Design Science and supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council. It is part of Transforming science for young people: Marie Neurath and Isotype books for children, a project aiming to find new audiences for the approach to science communication taken by Marie Neurath. It is also part of Insiders/ Outsiders, a nationwide arts festival taking place from March 2019 to March 2020 to celebrate refugees from Nazi Europe and their contribution to British culture.
Marie Neurath (née Reidemeister) was born in Germany in 1898 and moved to Austria in 1925 where she worked as an assistant and transformer (designer) at Otto Neuraths Social and Economic Museum of Vienna. After the February Uprising in Austria in 1934, they moved to The Hague, but were forced to flee again in 1940 when the Nazis invaded the Netherlands. Marie and Otto Neurath came to England, were married and founded the Isotype Institute. After Ottos death in 1945, Marie continued to work with a small number of assistants until her retirement in 1971. She died in 1986.
Isotype (International system of typographic picture education) was a method for assembling, configuring and disseminating information and statistics through pictorial means. Initiated by Otto Neurath in 1920s Vienna, its basic elements are pictograms simplified pictures of people or things, designed to function as repeatable units. Isotype was used to visually communicate multiple topics, including science education for children.