Stefan Sagmeister: The Happy Show

July 13–September 23, 2013

Chicago Cultural Center, Exhibition Hall & Sidney R. Yates Gallery, 4th Floor North

Chicago Cultural Center  >  Visual Art Program  >  Exhibitions  >  Past Exhibitions  >  The Happy Show

 

Sagmeister Actually Doing Things I Set Out to Do Increases My Overall Level of Satisfaction(click on image to enlarge)

 

Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister not only tests the boundaries between art and design, he often transgresses it through his imaginative implementation of typography. Filling the fourth-floor galleries and activating the in-between spaces of the Chicago Cultural Center, The Happy Show offers visitors the experience of walking into the designer's mind as he attempts to increase his happiness via meditation, cognitive therapy and mood-altering pharmaceuticals. "I am usually rather bored with definitions," Sagmeister says. "Happiness, however, is just such a big subject that it might be worth a try to pin it down." Centered around the designer's ten-year exploration of happiness, this exhibition presents typographic investigations of a series of maxims, or rules to live by, originally culled from Sagmeister's diary, manifested in a variety of imaginative and interactive forms.

To contextualize the maxims that appear throughout the exhibition, Sagmeister has gathered the social data of Harvard psychologists Daniel Gilbert and Steven Pinker, psychologist Jonathan Haidt, anthropologist Donald Symons, and several prominent historians. A 12-minute segment of the Happy Film, a feature length exploration of whether it is possible to train the mind the way we train the body, will also be on view.

 

Stay Connected

Visit us:

Chicago Cultural Center

Admission is FREE
Monday–Friday, 10am–7pm
Saturday–Sunday, 10am–5pm
(Closed Holidays)

Plan Your Visit

 

Find us:

Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington St.
Chicago, IL 60602

Take CTA to Chicago Cultural Center

  • From the elevated lines: exit at Washington/Wabash and walk east.
  • From the subway: exit at Lake (Red Line) or Washington (Blue Line) and walk east.
  • Served by Michigan Avenue buses 3, 4, 19, 20, 26, 60, 66, 124, 143, 147, 151, 157 and Washington St. buses 4, J14, 20, 56, 66, 147

Photo Gallery