Striking examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions

Recent examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions

Let’s start with fresh, real examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions that have actually happened in the last few years. These shows prove that mixed media isn’t just “paint plus collage” anymore; it’s full-on ecosystem building.

One of the best examples is “Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing” at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. While not branded strictly as a “mixed media” show, walk through it and you’re knee-deep in hybrid work: video installations spilling onto sculptural platforms, sound pieces embedded in architectural interventions, and paintings that incorporate textiles, found objects, and digital prints. It’s a living example of how contemporary curators treat medium boundaries as optional.

Another strong example of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions is MoMA’s ongoing installation-based programming in New York, where artists like Sarah Sze have turned entire galleries into hyper-layered environments. Her 2023–2024 installations combined projection, printed imagery, tiny sculptural fragments, and architectural structures, creating a walk-in collage that changed depending on your path and the time of day.

Across the Atlantic, Tate Modern in London frequently stages mixed media art exhibitions where painting, sound, and performance all occupy the same conceptual space. Shows in the Tanks and Turbine Hall, for example, often merge sculpture, moving image, and live performance, giving visitors a direct example of how mixed media can scale up to monumental, crowd-sized experiences.

These big institutions give us high-profile examples, but smaller spaces and artist-run initiatives are where mixed media gets weird in the best way: hacked electronics, recycled plastics, glitchy projections, and hand-painted surfaces all sharing the same room.

Gallery-scale examples of mixed media art exhibitions

If museum blockbusters feel distant, think about gallery-level examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions—spaces where budgets are smaller, but experimentation is wild.

Imagine an exhibition in a converted warehouse in Los Angeles: one artist suspends resin-coated photographs from the ceiling, another projects animated line drawings over a wall of stitched-together canvas scraps, and the floor is scattered with ceramic fragments embedded with tiny speakers whispering recorded text. This kind of show is a classic example of how mixed media exhibitions can turn a neutral white cube into a sensory maze.

A real example of this kind of experimentation is the programming at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. Their exhibitions often feature artists who combine textiles with video, sound, and performance. An installation might include hand-dyed fabric, archival photographs, motion-triggered audio, and a live performance schedule. It’s a perfect example of how a single exhibition can weave together multiple mediums and time-based elements.

Artist-run galleries in Brooklyn, Detroit, and Chicago are also rich sources of examples. These shows frequently include:

• Painted canvases stitched together with found clothing.
• Sculptures that incorporate screens playing looping video.
• Walls covered in printed Instagram feeds, over-painted with acrylic and charcoal.
• Floor-based installations mixing concrete, LED strips, and hand-drawn diagrams.

None of these works sit neatly in “painting,” “sculpture,” or “video art.” They exist in the overlap, which is exactly what the best examples of mixed media art exhibitions lean into.

Outdoor and public-space examples of mixed media art shows

Mixed media doesn’t have to stay indoors. Some of the most memorable examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions happen outside, in plazas, parks, and streets.

Consider a city-wide light festival where buildings become projection surfaces. Artists layer animated drawings, archival photos, and generative graphics over historical facades, sometimes synced with soundscapes triggered by motion sensors. The exhibition itself is mixed media: architecture, light, sound, and public movement all fused together.

A strong real example: large-scale public art programs in U.S. cities that support temporary installations combining sculpture with digital components. Many city cultural affairs departments and arts councils (often .gov sites) publish calls and archives of such projects. These programs show how mixed media exhibitions can be embedded in everyday life—on sidewalks, transit stations, and public squares—rather than confined to galleries.

Pop-up murals with augmented reality layers are another current trend. You scan a painted wall with your phone and suddenly see animated characters, layered text, or sound-reactive visuals. The physical mural plus the digital overlay form a single mixed media work, and when several of these are curated together along a walking route, you get a distributed mixed media exhibition that lives across a neighborhood.

Digital and hybrid examples of mixed media exhibitions (2024–2025 trends)

Post-2020, some of the most interesting examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions live in the hybrid zone between physical and digital.

Online platforms now host exhibitions where artists combine scanned drawings, 3D models, interactive sound, and browser-based experiences. A visitor might click through a virtual room where every “painting” is actually a portal to a video, a text piece, or an audio track. Curators organize these like traditional shows—titles, themes, artist statements—but the medium list reads like a tech stack.

In 2024–2025, several trends stand out:

• AR-enhanced installations in physical galleries, where visitors use phones or headsets to see extra layers—floating text, animated textures, or data visualizations—over physical sculptures or paintings.
• Browser-native exhibitions where the “gallery” is a navigable 3D environment built with gaming tools, combining illustration, sound design, and interactive code.
• Mixed media performance streams, where live performers interact with pre-recorded video, generative visuals, and audience chat, all archived as part of the artwork.

These hybrid projects are modern examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions because they treat websites, apps, and platforms as materials in the same way older generations treated oil paint or clay.

Thematic examples: how mixed media exhibitions tell stories

The best examples of mixed media art exhibitions don’t just stack materials; they use different media to tell layered stories.

Imagine a show about climate anxiety. One artist presents a wall of watercolor paintings overlaid with printed climate graphs. Another builds a sound installation from field recordings of storms and forest fires. A third creates sculptures from recycled plastic, illuminated by flickering projections of news headlines. The exhibition becomes a single narrative told through paint, data, sound, and found material.

Real-world examples include museum and university shows focused on social issues—migration, health, identity, and technology. Exhibitions might combine:

• Archival documents and photographs with contemporary painting.
• Oral history recordings embedded in sculptural objects.
• Scientific diagrams or medical imagery layered into collages or projections.

Institutions often publish catalogs and online essays for these shows, which are great references if you’re researching examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions organized around a theme rather than a medium.

Material-focused examples of mixed media art exhibitions

Sometimes the theme is the material itself. Curators organize exhibitions around how artists push a specific medium—like paper, textiles, or found objects—into mixed media territory.

A paper-focused exhibition might include:

• Collages built from magazines, receipts, and printed emails.
• Sculptural installations made from shredded documents.
• Drawings combined with laser-cut paper structures and projected light.

A textiles-driven show could feature painted fabric, embroidered photographs, and garments wired with sensors that trigger sound. These are subtle but powerful examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions because they show how a “traditional” material can be reimagined through technology, sound, or installation.

Found-object exhibitions are another classic example of mixed media thinking. Artists collect discarded plastics, metal scraps, or household items and combine them with paint, photography, or video. The result is part sculpture, part social commentary, part time capsule.

How curators structure mixed media art exhibitions

Looking at examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions is also a lesson in exhibition design.

Curators often:

• Group works by experience rather than by medium—quiet rooms for intimate drawings plus audio, louder rooms for video and performance.
• Use lighting and sound as connecting media, so a subtle soundtrack or color wash ties wildly different works together.
• Play with height and proximity, placing floor installations near wall pieces to force viewers to constantly shift their bodies and attention.

In many of the best examples, the exhibition itself becomes a mixed media artwork: signage, wall text, floor plans, and even the visitor’s route are treated as creative elements. The show isn’t just a container; it’s part of the piece.

Practical takeaways from these examples of mixed media exhibitions

If you’re planning your own show and studying examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions for ideas, here are patterns you’ll notice again and again:

• Variety of materials: paint, print, digital, sound, found objects, textiles, light.
• Variety of time: static works (paintings, sculptures) alongside time-based works (video, performance, interactive pieces).
• Variety of scale: tiny, intimate pieces next to large installations, giving visitors different physical experiences.
• A thread: even the most chaotic mixed media exhibition usually has a conceptual through-line—theme, question, story, or shared process.

Study real examples, note how they balance chaos and clarity, and then ask: what materials and media actually serve your idea, rather than just adding noise?

FAQ: real examples of mixed media art exhibitions

Q: What are some real examples of mixed media art exhibitions I can research online?
Look up recent programming from major institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Tate Modern, and The Fabric Workshop and Museum. Their exhibition archives often feature mixed media shows that combine painting, installation, video, sound, and performance.

Q: Can you give an example of a small-scale mixed media exhibition format?
Yes. A common example of a small mixed media show is a single-room exhibition where wall-mounted paintings incorporate collage and digital prints, sculptures include embedded screens, and a looping audio track plays in the background. The room becomes a single mixed media environment instead of a series of isolated works.

Q: How do curators describe mixed media exhibitions in wall text and catalogs?
Curators typically highlight the range of materials and media used, but they frame them around a theme or question. Instead of listing ingredients like a recipe, they connect the media choices to the ideas—memory, technology, identity, environment—so visitors understand why the mix matters.

Q: Are digital-only shows still considered examples of mixed media art exhibitions?
They can be. If a digital exhibition combines illustration, animation, sound design, interactive elements, and text, it functions as a mixed media show, even if all the components live on a screen. What matters is the interplay of different media, not whether they’re physical.

Q: Where can I find more examples of mixed media art exhibitions for research or teaching?
Museum and university websites often maintain archived exhibitions with images, essays, and sometimes video tours. These archives are excellent for studying examples of diverse examples of mixed media art exhibitions without traveling.