This past May in New York City, The Met opened their 2025 exhibition for The Costume Institute, entitled Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. The exhibit explores the importance of style to the formation of Black identities from the 18th century to today through a presentation of garments and accessories, paintings, photographs, decorative arts, and more. Continue reading to learn why the exhibition’s lighting design team chose to use Rosco OPTI-SCULPT Lenses to light this one-of-a-kind presentation.
When Executive Lighting Designer Renée Molina and Senior Lighting Designer Coby Beck from CS Global reviewed the dramatic concept artist Torkwase Dyson created for the exhibition, they knew it would be challenging to strike a balance between statement and subtlety in their lighting treatment.
The team explained that they were inspired by the scale and exquisite presence of the geometric displays and wanted to ensure that they did not disappear against the dark background of the perimeter walls, which required a delicate touch. “We wanted to showcase the beauty of the forms and their uniqueness.” Renée recalled. “Our goal with lighting was both to accentuate the shapes to bring them forward, all while maintaining a balance with the artwork and the surrounding environment.”
Renée described how they utilized in-house track fixtures to light the individual shapes of forms and perimeter walls but with an available inventory of 4° and 20° fixtures. The team sought a solution to allow them to alter and shape the light beams of this inventory and they chose Rosco OPTI-SCULPT lenses because they were more cost effective than glass lenses and readily available in variety of different beam spreads.
Over 200 fixtures for the display forms and the perimeter walls utilized the OS 40R60 lenses. This reversible lens provided the lighting team with versatility as it produces a 40° spread when inserted into the fixture in one direction and a 60° spread when inserted in the other direction. Nearly 100 fixtures were outfitted with asymmetrical 20x40 or 10x60 lenses to elongate the light beams for some of the displays as well as some of the artwork. Renée noted, “OPTI-SCULPT really allowed us to shape the beam on the fly.”
Superfine: Tailoring Black Style premiered as a part of The Costume Institute’s annual Met Gala benefit on May 5, 2025. The exhibition opened to the public on May 10th for a five-month run, closing on October 26th, 2025.
Met Gala 2025 Live Stream Highlights
Superfine is organized into 12 sections, each representing a characteristic that defines the style, such as Champion, Respectability, Heritage, Beauty, and Cosmopolitanism. Together, these characteristics demonstrate how one’s self-presentation is a mode of distinction and resistance—within a society impacted by race, gender, class, and sexuality. Click here to learn more about the exhibition.
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Many thanks to Lighting Designers Renée Molina and Coby Beck at CS Global for sharing their experience lighting Superfine with us. CS Global is a worldwide agency that delivers complete production services for live events. To learn more about their services, and to see more examples of their impressive work, visit their website: www.csglobalgroup.com. To learn more about the Rosco products that Renée and Coby used in their Superfine lighting design –please visit the OPTI-SCULPT product page on the Rosco website. |
Joel Svendsen August 28, 2025 Questions?
Marketing Director: Joel's Rosco career began in Rosco's Hollywood office in 1999 – first in sales covering the Western US and the Los Angeles Film & Television market, and then as Product Manager for Rosco's Film & Television Products. Joel's knowledge about Rosco's products and how they're used in each of our different marketplaces makes him well suited for bringing the stories in Spectrum to life.
