Curators Zoë Salditch and Julia Kaganskiy bring emojis out of their native, networked environments for an exhibition focused on how these little icons are shaping art and communication. Rebecca Bratburd writes via The Wall Street Journal:

Emojis, the tiny pictures inserted into Facebook updates, emails and text messages, are increasingly part of everyday communication—the word made it into Oxford Dictionaries Online this year—and they are the subject of a brief exhibition at Eyebeam Art+Technology Center, opening Thursday and closing Saturday.

According to Zoë Salditch, one of the show’s curators, the digital icons have become an important part of art and design today.

“Visual communication has been a part of human expression since the beginning of time, from hieroglyphics to cave paintings to religious iconology and you see that here too,” Ms. Salditch said. “We wanted to bridge that gap.”

photo by Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal

emoji art and design show is on view at Eyebeam in New York City until Dec 21. Learn more at emojishow.com