The Curated Object

Fairs. SOFA 2012. The Best Bits from Leslie Ferrin, Mark Lyman, Sienna Freeman, David Revere McFadden. The Curated Object

Timothy Schreiber
Black Ice Tables
richlite material
Wexler Gallery

 

David Clarke 
Ooh La La, 2007
Silver plated nickel, silver coffee pot,
and lead sheet 
25cm x 16cm x 37cm 
Ornamentum Gallery

 

Ann Van Hoey
Growing, 2009 
White Earthenware, 
slab building and molding
H15x30x30cm., H13x23x23cm, H10x15x15cm 
J. Lohmann Gallery

 

Philip Moulthrop
Bundled Mosaic, 2011
mixed wood with resin
13 x 13
Photo: Joel Whisenant
Sarah Myerscough Fine Art

 

Christian Burchard
Another Literary Dynasty, 2011
6 parts, 33 x 46 x 38 cm
Bleached Madrone Burl
Sarah Myerscough Fine Arts

 

Rob and Jaap Thalen
Penguin 1
silver
Thalen & Thalen

 

John Kiley
Obscure Eclipse, 2012
Glass
13 x 14 ½ x 14”
Photo: Jeff Curtis
Schantz Galleries

 

Lola Brooks
Neckpiece, 2012
gold, steel
4 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 1 inches, 19 inches long
Sienna Gallery

 

 

Malene Mullertz
Porcupine Basket, 2009
stoneware
6.75 x 6.25
photo: George Bouret
Lacoste Gallery

 

SOFA NYC: The Best Bits from Mark Lyman, Leslie Ferrin, Sienna Freeman, David Revere McFadden 

Interviews by Cappi Wiilliamson 

The Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair impressed fair-goers from April 20-23rd at the Park Avenue Armory. Visitors traveled through a celestial mise-en-scene created by architect David Ling into a world of glasswork, silverwork, sculpture, porcelain, wood, and, in all things, beauty and invention.  Gallerists and dealers from as far away as Tel-Aviv and London and as near as Hudson, New York brought their most cutting-edge wares in the world of contemporary decorative arts: a Jean-Francois Thierion stoneware vase comes under the same roof as a Kent Townsend zircote coffee table and a David Bielander pearl brooch. The fair asked us to transcend labels like “furniture” and “jewelry” and question the very definition of art. Here, we talk with the curators and gallerists redefining contemporary arts and design at this year’s SOFA NYC. 

 

Leslie Ferrin is the owner of Ferrin Gallery. This year, the gallery presented Covet, an installation of new works by ten top ceramicists including Molly Hatch, Kurt Weiserand Sergei Isupov. From simple updates of content and cultural perspective to recreations in new technology, Covet artists reinterpret historic museum artworks in collaboration with curators from the likes of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Arts and Design, Museum of Fine Arts Boston and others. 

How did the COVET project come about, and what do you hope that it achieved? 

COVET was originally inspired by conversations between Museum of Fine Arts Boston curator, Emily Zilber and designer/artists Molly Hatch about the direct relationship between contemporary artists and historic artworks in museum collections.  Starting in summer of 2011, a formal dialog began between artists and the museum curators responsible for specific artworks or collections.   The exhibition will present new artworks inspired by the curator/artist conversations about content, context, social history and patronage.  The project has exceeded all our expectations.  With Adrienne Spinozzi working with Alice Frelinghuysen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the artists have been given full access to information about the works they reference both in person and through the use of their online digital material.  The same has been true at all the other museums and with curators involved with the project.  They've each opened their offices, storage and helped our artists develop a deeper involvement with the material that inspires them.  At SOFA New York, we preview just the first artworks to be produced in the project, our summer programs in the Berkshires will involve more artists and works in all mediums.  Our programming taking place during the fair will bring artists and curators from throughout the country to a series of talks, panels and conversations and gives the public an opportunity to participate in the process and explore their own "covetousness.  

The COVET project is intended to look at historical artworks through the interpretations of the contemporary artists who are inspired by them. Talk about some of your own favorite historical artists/artworks. Who or what has inspired you? 

The inspiration for COVET began with the dialog begun between Molly Hatch and curator Emily Zilber about the powerful John Singer Sargent family portrait of the Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, 1882.   The painting is prominently on view in the newly opened American Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, positioned between the two large scale 19^th century Japanese porcelain vases in the painting.  It was one of those moments when it became clear that the relationship established by the installation and placement of the Japanese vases portrayed in the painting on either side, was exactly what were doing in the present with our artists producing both two and three dimensional works.  It turns out that several of the artists we were working with felt the same way and were inspired to produce new works based on the painting and the concept of two and three dimensions.  At SOFA you will see a photograph by Bill Wright that references the actual painting through subject and content and works by Molly Hatch that use other paintings in the collection and features sculptural figures as silhouette. 

Can you discuss  one or two of the pairings to be presented, and what makes them especially interesting.

Look at the work of Giselle Hicks, whose work is informed conceptually by European still life paintings, she "covets" the beauty of the temporal moment expressed in the paintings, the careful detailed paintings of flowers that were once alive, captured in their best moment by the painter.  She produces works that are equally beautiful and capture the spirit in those paintings, in real life moments in three dimensions through ceramic still life artworks.  Also see how Molly Hatch is exploring engravings through her plate series and her paintings with three dimensional figures in silhouette. 

What are you most interested to see at SOFA this year? 

How we solve the problem of how to present all the incredible work we have in an installation that makes sense to the viewer.   Sienna Patti, my co-curator and director of a gallery that specializes in contemporary jewelry said last night "we should have done headsets for people to hear the artists talk about their work", I answered "great idea, let's tape the artists during their in-booth conversations and then for the summer, we'll have the dialog captured at the gallery for our artBerkshires program."

 

Sienna Freeman is the director of the Wexler Gallery, who exhibited work from innovative talents such as Vivian Beer, Timothy Schreiber, Philipp Aduatz, David Trubridge, Esque Studio, and more at SOFA NYC this year. 

You say that your booth this year is about “the interaction of contemporary design with traditional forms of craft.” How does the juxtaposition of your master glass artists and such contemporary and cutting-edge work as Vivian Beer’s and Philipp Aduatz’s (two artists whose work you’ll be showing) open up this dialog? 

 By juxtaposing contemporary design pieces with works by master glass artists we hope to illustrate a common thread in visual language. For example, Joel Philip Myers Dr. Zharkov pieces were heavily influenced by his time as a designer at Blenko Glass.  Like Joel, Vivian Beer has roots in craft, specifically metal fabrication. Both of their work crosses over into the design world on an aesthetic and functional level. Our booth aims to challenge viewers to broaden their interpretation of the terms associated with this field.

Can you discuss 1-2 pieces you’re excited to be bringing to the fair, and how they reinterpret decorative arts and design?  

Philipp Aduatz and Timothy Schreiber have backgrounds in industrial design and architecture, however, their work addresses many of the same questions that traditional studio furniture or craft artists have posed in the past. They both create beautiful functional objects that are also sculptural in nature using innovative new techniques and processes as well as the latest technology.

How does SOFA – and perhaps the art fair in general - validate the importance of contemporary arts and design in today’s marketplace?

Art fairs like SOFA expose works to new audiences with fresh eyes that may not be concerned with categorizing an object as “craft, art or design”. This opens the field to new interpretations for artists, dealers and collectors on an international level.

What other booth, talk, or artist’s work are you most excited to see at SOFA this year?

  We are excited to see David McFadden speak during the Covet discussion, as the mission statement of the Museum of Art and Design is very similar to the vision of Wexler Gallery. 

Mark Lyman is the President of the Art Fair Company. He produced this year’s SOFA show in NYC, as well as the SOFA Chicago and SOFA West: Santa Fe annual fairs. 

What makes SOFA different from the other fairs you produce? 

SOFA is the only art fair focused on contemporary studio arts and design-gallery presented. It explores select works by master-level artists. 

Speak a little bit about how you curated the fair. What were you looking for in this year's collection of dealers and their objects? 

The most interesting, masterful works representing concept and virtuosity with material. We had a dealer-based selection committee to determine presenters. 

Talk about the David Ling installation at this year's fair. How did it come about? 

We wanted to make the experience of viewing art at the Armory a totally different environment. David’s design does just that. The Armory hall is turned into a work of art itself.  

What are you most excited for this year? Are there any particular objects, or booths, you're dying to see?  

SO MANY NEW WORKS!!  The furniture of Vivian Beers At Wexler Gallery - all the furniture at Zimmerman and Jacobson galleries. Thalen & Thalen raised silver objects.  Ferrin and Sienna galleries collaboration "Covet"

David Revere McFadden is Chief Curator and Vice President for Programs and Collections at the Museum of Arts & Design. He participated in a panel discussion titled The Design Continuum: Looking Back to the Future with David Ling (David Ling Architect), Jamie Drake (Drake Design Associates) at the curators breakfast this morning.  

What do you think distinguishes this year's fair from previous years?

Each year the SOFA brings together a broader cross section of the art and design community, and has welcomed new technologies (like rapid prototyping) as part of the vocabulary of processes represented. The world of art, craft, and design is a wonderful blur zone, where old hierarchies no long apply, and SOFA this year represents this new artistic diversity.

Why do you think fairs such as SOFA are so important to the contemporary decorative arts community, and to the marketplace? In the age of online auctions, why do we keep coming back?

Fairs are a wonderful resource for new collectors, as they can see a broad range of work in one place. For the seasoned collectors, it is  a chance to take the pulse on what is happening in the visual arts, and to discover new and emerging talent.

Is there a booth, talk, or artist's work you’re especially excited to see at SOFA this year? 

It would be unfair to single out one booth! I am excited by the live installation by sand painter Joe Mangrum that MAD is presenting as part of its current exhibition Swept Away: Dust, Ashes, and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design at SOFA this year.

For more information pleaes visit the official SOFA site 

 

 

Auctions Brussels. The Universe of Cleto Munari. "Design Auction of the Century" by Adroyt's Saxon Henry. Pierre Bergé & Associés. The Curated Object

Alessandro Mendini 2003

 

Alessandro Mendini 2006

 

Carlo Scarpa 1977

 

Carlo Scarpa 1978

 

Carlo Scarpa by AndyWarhol 1981

 

Ettore Sottsass 1962-63

 

Ettore Sottsass 1981

 

Ettore Sottsass 2001

 

Meret Oppenheim 1982

 

Mimmo Paladino

 

Palafitte Tably by Cleto Munari

 

Sandro Chia 2006

 

Auction: Cleto Munari, April 24, 2012 

The Curated Object is proud to announce the auction of the Italian master and design legend: Cleto Munari

Those who recognize architectural greatness have already understood Cleto Munari's vision and aligned it with history's masters. So it should come as no surprise that the eye of this Italian architect and designer has amassed a collection of just as historic. 

And to understand the importance and relevance of this monumental event, it's natural to turn to a writer whose words offer the equivalent of her subject's talent. So, we turn to the brilliant Saxon Henry of the cutting-edge social media agnecy for design Adroyt for the full scoop about why this auction is, as she beautifully muses, "the design auction of the century." Happy reading ... and bidding!

For more information please visit: Pierre Bergé & Associés and Adroyt and should you want to bid remotely, please go to:  http://pba.masteredit.com/pba/site/page_120.php?method=getUpcomingAuctions

Subject/Object: Genius on Display. Architect Constantine D. Vasilios reviews Stanley Tigerman: This is not a dream; it is a life’s work at The Graham Foundation. The Curated Object

 Stanley Tigerman, Architoon - Houston, 1983.

 

 Stanley Tigerman, Instant City Model, 1966. Photo Balthazar Korab.

 

Stanley Tigerman, Little House in the Clouds Model, 1976.

 

 Stanley Tigerman, American, born 1930, The Titanic, 1978, Photomontage on paper, Approx. 28 x 35.7 cm, Gift of Stanley Tigerman, 1984.802, The Art Institute of Chicago. Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago.

 

Installation view, Foyer, "Ceci n'est pas une reverie: The Architecture of Stanley Tigerman," 2012, Graham Foundation, Chicago. Photo James Prinz.

 

Installation view, Utopia, "Ceci n'est pas une reverie: The Architecture of Stanley Tigerman," 2012, Graham Foundation, Chicago. Photo James Prinz.

 

Installation view, Allegory, "Ceci n'est pas une reverie: The Architecture of Stanley Tigerman," 2012, Graham Foundation, Chicago. Photo James Prinz.

 

Installation view, Division, "Ceci n'est pas une reverie: The Architecture of Stanley Tigerman," 2012, Graham Foundation, Chicago. Photo James Prinz.

 

Installation view, (Dis)Order, "Ceci n'est pas une reverie: The Architecture of Stanley Tigerman," 2012, Graham Foundation, Chicago. Photo James Prinz.

 

Installation view, Humor, "Ceci n'est pas une reverie: The Architecture of Stanley Tigerman," 2012, Graham Foundation, Chicago. Photo James Prinz.

 

Installation view, Death, "Ceci n'est pas une reverie: The Architecture of Stanley Tigerman," 2012, Graham Foundation, Chicago. Photo James Prinz.

Stanley Tigerman: This is not a dream; it is a life’s work.

-through May 19, 2012

Review by Constantine D. Vasilios

 

How many times in the previous decades have we heard the name ‘Stanley Tigerman’ in the realm of architecture in Chicago, our windy city? The Graham Foundation is about to close another chapter in this dance with an exhibit called “Ceci n’est pas une reverie (this is not a dream): the Architecture of Stanley Tigerman.” The words are sparse and the visuals plenty. The exhibition opened in the Rudolph Hall Gallery at Yale, where Stanley the student developed under one of his mentors, Paul Rudolph, who presided over the architecture department at the time. From there, the exhibit traveled and opened at The Graham Foundation on January 26.

A life’s work cannot be captured within a tight, short essay. Upon having said that, one can be written about an exhibition. An exhibition of a life’s work can be seen as a glance backward. Then again, that is one way of looking at it. Stanley Tigerman’s lifelong dance with his love, Architecture, falls between passion, intuition and human frailty on one side, and the rigorous pursuit of striving for perfection “to get it right” on the other side. 

In its current stage the exhibition is uneasy, it possesses a certain discomfort and collides with the historic Madlener House, as Tigerman noted in his recent lecture, (through no fault of the organizing team) since it was conceived for the opening at Yale. Sectioned in the ‘rooms’ of the house, it has trouble flowing from one portion to the next. However, by coincidence is this not a life’s work? Do we not encounter collisions, contradictions and questions with partial answers, a search for truth, faith, and direction?

I am well aware of the perils of writing about someone’s life work in a short essay. Nevertheless, in a Tigermanesque ‘bite’ of the big picture one can take aim at a fragment.

Walking through the ornate punctured front door of the Graham Foundation, the exhibit begins on the first level and ascends to its final destination: ‘Identity and death,’ as it is titled. The precise cut curvilinear simple Plexiglas covered tables house a collection of specific drawings, models, sketches and objects mostly seen from above as in a drafting table. The emphasis is on the art of conception, prior to a translation into a subsequent reality. Stanley Tigerman’s sketch book was ‘the well’ for nourishment of ideas that translated into the built realities. As such, the purity of thought prized was in the ideas. The simple quality Plexiglas cases speak to this effect. After all, the buildings can be compromised, altered and misdirected. The sketch, the drawing and the model incorporate the poetic syntax of the artist, prior to its release to the mass production where compromise and budgets will have deprecations.

The first stage of the exhibit ‘Yaleana,’ displays the work of the architect’s student days under Paul Rudolph at Yale. Stanley convinced Rudolph that one year would be all that he would need to complete what is required for an architect to receive his masters’ degree. The work reveals the long nights spent at a drafting board:persistent, with quality of line and some perseverance in the possibility of ‘getting it right.’ The outcome is impressive. Lines, dots, shapes are executed better than some of our current computer drawings that at times direct the hand, versus the hand directing the line.

The second space is dedicated to Utopia. The scale changes to large, imaginative structures whose shapes concentrate on their mass. One of them, ‘Instant Football,’ has a hotel above the stadium looking to the freezing fans below from climatically comfortable conditions. Beyond the humor of a hotel straddling, say, Soldier Field with its fine patrons at the top symbolically gazing down on the freezing fans below, the drawings demonstrate a firm inquiry with structure; points of strength and limitation. They are mass-based, unapologetically.

‘Drift’ and ‘Allegory’ follow and introduce a time where the work of the Architect has taken meandering curvilinear shapes in high precision. The Illinois Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, a personal favorite of this writer, takes the curves from the plan and presents them in elevation. Tigerman mentioned in a lecture long ago that this was one of the buildings that he designed where the plans presented less of a struggle than was usually the case for him. He wanted to work for this type of user. The intellectual and playful components of practice are on display. The library for the blind may be ‘worth a second look’. Who is blind? The texture and vivid color has practical considerations of intensity to those that may not be able to see.  Color stimulates the eye and the whole building design is charged with energy. Unfortunately it has not survived ‘improvements to the current built environment.’ In a similar case scenario Tigerman’s Anti Cruelty Society highlighting a band signaling ‘puppies..puppies..puppies’ a humorous and effective communication to pedestrians was also silenced. Recent improvements saw this as useless. A freeze in antiquity accomplished communication. Communication in our age of architectural silence would make anything close to buildings that speak be valid. The work displayed in ‘Drift’ and ‘Allegory’ may be seen as the antithesis of Utopia, except for the rigorous monk-like persistence of the quality of line and the closure of the mass in the projects. This is what Paul Klee would refer to ‘as taking a line out for a walk’ - however, with discipline.

Entering the room named ‘Division’ one witnesses examples of just that. The first, as exemplified in the Baha’i Temple Archives Center in Wilmette Illinois, shapes and textures show the center to be as important by absence. The Urban Villa, a project at Tegeler Hafen in West Berlin, emphasizes the ‘presence of absence’ at the center of the villa by a gap with a black and white checkerboard announcing the void on both sides. Is it East versus West?

Continuing to the next space, ‘(Dis) Order’ is a collection of work that reveals Tigerman’s life long wrestling match with the grid. The Momochi Fukuoka housing in Japan shows a perfect cube grid in the center all dressed in white that erodes and turns black as grids appear at the exterior of the building. One has the opportunity to stand in the center of the interior and experience the perfection. On the other hand the street calls to erosion and disorder where masses push and pull on the grid at times swallowing it in parts. 

Humor has its own category in a subsequent space, although one may argue parts of other projects in the exhibition reveal the childlike humor mischievously present or lurking in the majority of the work. The Dasie House is a humorous, complete plan of a hous showing the male and female genital regions in intercourse. Yet, from the point of view of the client (not looking from above) who was requesting the house and was terminally ill with cancer, it spoke to the joke that sometimes life can be.

Taking the Madlener house stairway to the top floor of the exhibit you arrive at ‘Identity and Death.’ The Holocaust Museum in Skokie, Illinois, seems to have driven Tigerman the way the Library for the Blind once energized him. In a brilliant, striking model the original rail car that would bring the Jews to their death is hidden and produced as the wedge of the building between good and evil, black and white, life and death, the [INTERPRETATION OF] Soren Kierkegaard’s [WORK] that Stanley Tigerman questioned and embraced in his search [FOR] meaning.

Ambivalence, complexity, antithesis, thesis, drifts, life and death, humor and - if we are lucky - time for other events, are part of human beings, part of our make up, and what life presents to us unyieldingly. Architecture has the power to express and communicate our human design. Perfection as in a precise grid is an ideal, a search for the unreachable, incurable aspect of life never reached. Stanley Tigerman battled with the energy of a child for decades, the intellectual, theoretical component of Architecture, with its intuitive and practical aspects. In private he is reminiscent of a slice of Frank Lloyd Wright who was paraphrased as saying ‘I prefer honest arrogance over hypocritical humility.’ Over the years he practiced the “kind” and the “arrogant”with his clients and anyone that would listen, for that matter. In his voice, like it or not (and I am not taking sides), he placed Chicago on the architectural map after a gap since the Mies van der Rohe era, by the wind he generated and exhibitions he brought about, his teaching not withstanding.

Like an archer trying to split the arrow time after time toward perfection of an idea in utter frustration Tigerman sought the perfect as in Mies van der Rohe. In Mies’s followers he saw beggars reminiscent of Lorado Taft’s personified sculpture of Time where a line of slumbered tired souls represented in statuary are passing through Time represented larger and more powerful. They walk like beggars to death totally defeated.  Architects turning in copies of Miesian glass boxes had Tigerman nauseated. Possibly a fear of imitation is what drove him to reflect the times with his designs. ‘Getting it Right’ and ‘Architecture is a Calling’ are present at the exhibition. Maybe [THEY WOULD BE GOOD TITLES AS WELL?] a good title as well. The rest of his life is in his book Designing Bridges to Burn. Let’s allow him to tell the story, an interesting one for an Architect raised in the Windy City. 

After its exhibition at the Graham Foundation, the exhibtion will travel to the Buell Gallery at the School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Stanley Tigerman’s archives will transfer in 2012 to the Yale University’ Manuscripts and Archives depository.

For more information please visit: The Graham Foundation and to see the Constantine Vasilios' world or imagination and inspiration please visit CVAdesign.com

 

Subject-Object: Genius on Display. Regina M. Connell reviews The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition at San Francisco's de Young Museum. The Curated Object

Paolo Roversi, Tanel Bedrossiantz, 1992
Barbès collection
Women’s prêt-à-porter fall/winter 1984–1985
Digital print
© Paolo Roversi

 

Perou, Dita Von Teese Flaunt, 2003
Dada collection
Women’s prêt-à-porter spring/summer 1983
© Perou

 

Pedro Almodóvar, Victoria Abril and Jean Paul Gaultier for the opening of Kika, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, 1993
© DR/Archives Jean Paul Gaultier

 

Perou, Dita Von Teese Flaunt, 2003
Buttons collection, “Circé” ensemble
Haute couture spring/summer 2003
Black hat-gown of lace appliqué on fine straw and
black horsehair, jet pin; black lace bloomers; black fishnet tights
© Perou

 

Gaultier Paris lace label, for haute couture
© Jean Paul Gaultier

 

Jean Paul Gaultier. Cages collection, Calligraphie gown (detail)
haute couture fall/winter 2008-2009
© Patrice Stable/Jean Paul Gaultier

 

 

Jean Paul Gaultier. Fishnet tights, Parisiennes collection
haute couture fall/winter 2010-2011
© Patrice Stable/Jean Paul Gaultier

 

 

photo by Regina M. Connel, A Handful of Salt 

photo by Regina M. Connel, A Handful of Salt 

 
photo by Regina M. Connel, A Handful of Salt 

 

photo by Regina M. Connel, A Handful of Salt 

photo by Regina M. Connel, A Handful of Salt 

 

photo by Regina M. Connel, A Handful of Salt 

 

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk 

through Aug. 19, 2012

Review by Regina M. Connell, Editor & Founder of A Handful of Salt

Conical bras. Not what you think about, usually, on a Sunday morning.

But there I was, taking in an entire room of conical bras, corsets, and dresses. The scene was the De Young Museum in San Francisco, and more specifically, a retrospective of the work of the French enfant terrible of fashion, Jean Paul Gaultier.

Known for his embrace of fetish themes, gender-bending explorations, his collaboration with Madonna on her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour, and of course, those conical bras, Jean Paul Gaultier is one of those designers–like Alexander McQueen–whose designs, provocations and talent for spectacle overwhelm the amazing, exquisite, daring craftsmanship of his work.

Luckily, both spectacle and craft are on display–in abundance–in this unusual, exhilarating, satisfying exhibition, Including 120 haute couture and pret-a-porter designs between the 1970s and 2010, sketches, fashion photographs and video clips.  

Unsurprisingly, of course, it’s Gaultier’s love of and talent for spectacle and showmanship that overwhelms you the moment you walk into the first gallery.

Instead of empty-featured mannequins wearing the designer’s work as in so many other fashion exhibits, many mannequins (including one of JPG himself) had come to life (courtesy of the collaboration between Gaultier and Montreal-based theatre company Ubu Compagnie de Creation). They had faces; they spoke. Unnervingly, though, they lacked expression in a way reminiscent of certain over-Botoxed celebrities.

The effect was creepy and perhaps not best for the nightmare-prone.

And yet... those speaking mannequins–far more memorably than those tedious, hard-to-read descriptions usually found on walls–helped Gaultier tell his story and his motivations for his designs, and brought to life his deep humanity, his belief in tolerance and diversity. 

Also spectacular...the clothes themselves, of course. Exuberant, beautiful, provocative...they demonstrate his penchant for appropriating themes: street style, S&M, militarism, exoskeletons, tribes, religions (Catholicism in particular) and cultures.

And yet surprisingly, the more I looked at the works, I realized that Gaultier often managed to whisper–not bellow–his inspirations. Jean Paul Gaultier subtle? Yes, in this instance, at least. A favorite was a stunning tulle dress with a knitted overlay was from his Russian collection. No Cossack themes, no Russian Red: just a magical, yet restrained, combination of cream and a light mocha.

However, it was neither the mannequins nor the designs that took my breath away. It was the audacity of Gaultier and the curators to let us truly connect with the clothes, and the designer.

Unlike so many other fashion exhibits, the Gaultier exhibit does not separate you–by glass or space or velvet ropes–from the pieces: you can lean in so you are just a few inches away (but don’t touch please). 

And it’s only when you’re that close that you can fully appreciate the complexity, rich detail and craft–the soul–of the clothes.

Letting us get close to the clothes is the greatest gift the curators have given us, and the true brilliance of the exhibit. Without the ability to see the craft, the fine, layered detail, the meaning and metaphor, Gaultier’s work would just be exciting, titillating eye candy. By leaning in, you understand, you feel, you connect.

You also better appreciate a core aspect of Gaultier’s uniqueness: his love of and talent for using and combining unconventional materials… alligator with crochet, industrial-looking metal studs on silk, gold thread embroidery on plastic, woven palm leaves, even human hair. It’s this willingness to explore combinations that lets him avoid cliche, gives his work a profound sophistication, and keeps it vital.

Another curatorial gift: signs by select pieces indicated how long that piece took to make. One of the ruffled tulle ball gowns (worn, the sign noted, by Sarah Jessica Parker at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards) took 312 hours.

When he first started designing, Gaultier couldn’t afford to buy from more established suppliers, so he sourced his work from Parisian flea markets. That love of combining materials, cultures and craft traditions is one of his hallmark styles, and infuses his work the energy and exhilaration that’s allowed him to stay a force in design for over 35 years. (The title of the show, From Sidewalk to Catwalk, clearly embraces not just style, but materials as well.)

In many ways, it’s this willingness to see beauty in all things–and people–that’s his greatest gift, and his lasting contribution.  "I'd like them to understand that beauty can be found everywhere; even in the least expected places and that there is not one kind of beauty, but many kinds," he wrote for the retrospective. "I think this has been my guiding thought all these years."

For more information please visit. M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco. deyoung.famsf.org and A Handful of Salt to read more features, reviews and insights from Regina and her team!

 

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Conical bras. Not what you think about, usually, on a Sunday morning.

 

But there I was, taking in an entire room of conical bras, corsets, and dresses. The scene was the De Young Museum in San Francisco, and more specifically, a retrospective of the work of the French enfant terrible of fashion, Jean Paul Gaultier.

 

Known for his embrace of fetish themes, gender-bending explorations, his collaboration with Madonna on her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour, and of course, those conical bras, Jean Paul Gaultier is one of those designers–like Alexander McQueen–whose designs, provocations and talent for spectacle overwhelm the amazing, exquisite, daring craftsmanship of his work.

 

Luckily, both spectacle and craft are on display–in abundance–in this unusual, exhilarating, satisfying exhibition.

 

Unsurprisingly, of course, it’s Gaultier’s love of and talent for spectacle and showmanship that overwhelms you the moment you walk into the first gallery.

 

Instead of empty-featured mannequins wearing the designer’s work as in so many other fashion exhibits, many mannequins (including one of JPG himself) had come to life (courtesy of the collaboration between Gaultier and Montreal-based theatre company Ubu Compagnie de Creation). They had faces; they spoke. Unnervingly, though, they lacked expression in a way reminiscent of certain over-Botoxed celebrities.

 

The effect was creepy and perhaps not best for the nightmare-prone.

 

And yet... those speaking mannequins–far more memorably than those tedious, hard-to-read descriptions usually found on walls–helped Gaultier tell his story and his motivations for his designs, and brought to life his deep humanity, his belief in tolerance and diversity. 

 

Also spectacular...the clothes themselves, of course. Exuberant, beautiful, provocative...they demonstrate his penchant for appropriating themes: street style, S&M, militarism, exoskeletons, tribes, religions (Catholicism in particular) and cultures.

 

And yet surprisingly, the more I looked at the works, I realized that Gaultier often managed to whisper–not bellow–his inspirations. Jean Paul Gaultier subtle? Yes, in this instance, at least. A favorite was a stunning tulle dress with a knitted overlay was from his Russian collection. No Cossack themes, no Russian Red: just a magical, yet restrained, combination of cream and a light mocha.

 

However, it was neither the mannequins nor the designs that took my breath away. It was the audacity of Gaultier and the curators to let us truly connect with the clothes, and the designer.

 

Unlike so many other fashion exhibits, the Gaultier exhibit does not separate you–by glass or space or velvet ropes–from the pieces: you can lean in so you are just a few inches away (but don’t touch please). 

 

And it’s only when you’re that close that you can fully appreciate the complexity, rich detail and craft–the soul–of the clothes.

 

Letting us get close to the clothes is the greatest gift the curators have given us, and the true brilliance of the exhibit. Without the ability to see the craft, the fine, layered detail, the meaning and metaphor, Gaultier’s work would just be exciting, titillating eye candy. By leaning in, you understand, you feel, you connect.

 

You also better appreciate a core aspect of Gaultier’s uniqueness: his love of and talent for using and combining unconventional materials… alligator with crochet, industrial-looking metal studs on silk, gold thread embroidery on plastic, woven palm leaves, even human hair. It’s this willingness to explore combinations that lets him avoid cliche, gives his work a profound sophistication, and keeps it vital.

 

Another curatorial gift: signs by select pieces indicated how long that piece took to make. One of the ruffled tulle ball gowns (worn, the sign noted, by Sarah Jessica Parker at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards) took 312 hours.

 

When he first started designing, Gaultier couldn’t afford to buy from more established suppliers, so he sourced his work from Parisian flea markets. That love of combining materials, cultures and craft traditions is one of his hallmark styles, and infuses his work the energy and exhilaration that’s allowed him to stay a force in design for over 35 years. (The title of the show, From Sidewalk to Catwalk, clearly embraces not just style, but materials as well.)

 

In many ways, it’s this willingness to see beauty in all things–and people–that’s his greatest gift, and his lasting contribution.  "I'd like them to understand that beauty can be found everywhere; even in the least expected places and that there is not one kind of beauty, but many kinds," he wrote for the retrospective. "I think this has been my guiding thought all these years."

 

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk: The show Includes 120 haute couture and pret-a-porter designs between the 1970s and 2010, sketches, fashion photographs and video clips. Runs through Aug. 19. M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco. deyoung.famsf.org

 

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Announcing a New Category on The Curated Object. Subject/Object: Genius on Display

 

Peitho (the goddess of  goddess or spirit (daimona) of persuasion, seduction and charming speech.) & Aphrodite, Apulian red-figure krater C4th B.C., Dallas Museum of Art

 "Why not say things more simply? Yet how many times would we be justified in throwing it back? Even leaving aside the healthily and joyously esoteric character of some plebian language, is old criticism so sure that it too does not have its own gratuitous floweriness? .... [to] write is not to enter into an easy relationship with an average of all possible readers, it is to enter into a difficult relationship with our own language: a writer has greater obligations towards a way of speaking which is the truth for him than towards the critic of the Nation francaise or Le Monde. 'Jargon' is not an instrument of appearances, as has been suggested with gratuitous malevolence; 'jargon' is a way of approaching metaphorical language which intellectual discourse will need one day." -- Roland Barthes, from Criticism & Truth

 

We at The Curated Object believe that too often what we call "writing," and "criticism," is confined to either a report or a rant. And while these have their place and value in the journalistic marketplace, we look to hear a cacophony of voices. We find that sometimes the voice of the novice writer-- the "non-professional" writer-- the voice of an architect, a curator, a poet, a philosopher, an artisan, a designer, an art historian or purveyor of antiquities (to name a few) may, through the use of their own "language" and specialization in the universe, bring into being a truth that might remain invisible sans their unique contribution. 

For this reason we have created the category called Subject/Object: Genius on Display. This soecial category was designed to allow those who might not typically be asked to pen a narrative about their experience at an exhibition the space and the encouragement to do so-- because they are as much as genius in their own capacity as the object(s) to which they respond, receive and reflect upon. We thank them in advance for their time, their generosity and their unique spirits that assist us all in re-thinking, re-considering the Object.

 

-- The Editors

 

Exhibitions Toledo. Color Ignited: Glass 1962–2012. The Toledo Museum of Art. The Curated Object

Robert Fritz (American, 1920–1986), Vase Form. Light olive green glass, blown, applied prunts, 1966. H. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm). Toledo Museum of Art. Museum Purchase Award, Toledo Glass National, 1966.135. Photo: Richard Goodbody ©1966 Robert C. Fritz

 

 

Image courtesy of the Toledo Museum of Art





Image courtesy of the Toledo Museum of Art

Paul Seide (American, born 1949), Radio Light. Glass, blown; mercury and argon gas, 1985. H. 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm); W. 16 3/4 in. (42.5 cm). Toledo Museum of Art. Gift of Dorothy and George Saxe, 1991.135. Photo: Richard Goodbody ©1985 Paul Seide

Color Ignited: Glass 1962–2012 

June 14–Sept. 9, 2012 

This year there is no better place to see studio art glass than at the Toledo Museum of Art.   The Museum is renowned for its extensive glass collection and for being the site of the historic 1962 Toledo Workshops. Those workshops, led by Harvey Littleton at the invitation of then-Museum Director Otto Wittmann, nurtured the artists now considered pioneers of the American Studio Art Glass movement and, through extension, helped to rejuvenate studio glass in post-war Europe. 

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of those workshops, TMA is presenting Color Ignited: Glass 1962–2012, an enticing ―coming of age‖ look at the medium. The free exhibition is on display to the public June 14–Sept. 9, 2012. 

 

Design's New Wave: NYC20. 1stdibs' Michael Bruno & Dolphin Promotions' Rosemary Krieger Reveal Why NYC20 is the Fairest of the Them All. The Curated Object

 

 

Downtown of LA is showing a Set of Four Arturo Pani fiberglass lounge chairs, Mexico City c1965

 

Caira Mandaglio of London UK is showing a pair of rare wall mounted shelving units by Gio Ponti purchased directly from his family, Italian.

 

 R 20th Century of New York is showing a floor lamp in metal with yellow metal shades, France, c1950s

 

Dragonette Ltd of LA is showing a custom cocktail table in Tamo Ash veneers by Samuel Marx, c1950

 

 

Lobel Modern of New York is showing a free form coffee table in polished steel and thick black glass by Karl Springer, American, c1980

 

Liz O'Brien of New York is showing a pair of chairs designed by Billy Baldwin in his Arbres de Matisse fabric from the Scheftel residence in New York, c1960

 

Le Lampade of New York is showing an Italian Desk by Gio Ponti from the University of Padova, c 1950s

 

R 20th Century of New York is showing a custom made bookshelf in jacaranda designed by Joaquim Tenreiro, Brazil, 1954

 

Donzella of New York is showing Giacomettis Soul a bronze bust by Philip and Kelvin LaVern, USA, c1970

 

Le Lampade of New York is showing a rare floor lamp by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, model 1055

 

Downtown of LA is showing a Pair of Pani tables

 

Wing chairs that will be available at NYC20

 

Vojtech Blau is showing Alexander Calder's "Le Lezard et le Tetard"

 

 Design's New Wave: NYC20

1stdibs' Michael Bruno and Dolphin Promotions' Rosemary Krieger Reveal Why NYC20 is the Fairest of the Them All

By Elizabeth Williamson

Consider this your warning: NYC20 2012, with honorary chair Michael Bruno and honorary design chairs Brad Ford, Julie Hillman and David Mann at Lincoln Center April 12th-15th is not a design and art fair. It is an event that will change the culture of how business is done at the design fair.

And both the inimitable Michael Bruno, the honorary co-chair of NYC20 and the founder of 1stdibs.com, the world’s largest online luxury marketplace for antiques, design, fine art, estate jewelry, couture fashion and fine homes, and the doyenne of the international art fair Rosemary Krieger, owner and President of Dolphin Promotions, have very graciously given The Curated Object a glimpse behind the scenes and a preview of what’s to come—as well as an exclusive selection of the objects of affection Krieger has on her NYC20 list!

Exhibitions Chicago. COLOMBIA: TRANSFORMED ARCHITECTURE = POLITICS. The Cervantes Institute, Chicago. The Curated Object

Biblioteca Parque España in Medellín, Colombia,photo credit, Sergio Gomez

 

Biblioteca Parque España in Medellín, Colombia,photo credit, Sergio Gomez

 

COLOMBIA: TRANSFORMED ARCHITECTURE = POLITICS. 

April 3, 2012- May 27, 2012 

The Instituto Cervantes of Chicago in collaboration with MAS Studio is proud to present the American premiere of this groundbreaking architecture exhibition.

This exhibit traces ten recently built social projects by five leading voices in contemporary Colombian architecture: Daniel Bonilla and Giancarlo Mazzanti from Bogota, and Felipe Mesa, Juan Manuel Pelaez, and Felipe Uribe from Medellin. These visionary and socially conscious works – daycare centers, kindergartens, schools, a sport complex, and a library, mostly winners of architectural competitions, which have become the norm for building public projects in Colombia – reflect significant social shifts that are taking place in Latin America today. They demonstrate ideas of social inclusion, as well as innovative architectural forms and spaces, which have been steadily transforming Colombian cities and the nation.

Thanks to political, economic, and social reforms, in concert with a belief by local politicians in the transformative power of architecture, which is able to bring identity and higher visibility to various parts of towns, create new dignified and attractive public spaces for interactive learning and leisure, and most importantly, uplift the spirits of residents of the poorest neighborhoods. Engaging buildings, convenient public transportation, iconic landmarks, plazas, and parks improve quality of urban space, transform mindset of the inhabitants, and enhance their lifestyle. 
    
The projects are explored through photographs, slides, drawings, and film footage to celebrate how these buildings are appropriated by the public.

Curator Vladimir Belogolovsky, Intercontinental Curatorial Project 
Co-curator Fernando Villa, Magnusson Architecture & Planning

Exhibition sponsored in part by the Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos, Consulado General de Colombia,  and Chicago Sister Cities International.

For more information please visit: The Cervantes Institute of Chicago

Exhibitions NYC. Rosemarie Trockel: A Cosmos. The New Museum. The Curated Object

Rosemarie Trockel, Botanical Slide Show, 2011–2012. Slide projection. Courtesy Sprüth Magers, Berlin/London. © Rosemarie Trockel / VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2011

 

Rosemarie Trockel: A Cosmos
October 24, 2012–February 2013 

in October 2012, the New Museum will present “Rosemarie Trockel: A Cosmos.” Co-curated by Rosemarie Trockel and Lynne Cooke for the Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, this exhibition—encompassing all three main gallery floors of the New Museum building on the Bowery—will present a world shaped by Trockel’s ideas, interests, and affinities. Instead of a traditional retrospective, this exhibition takes the form of an artistic self-portrait in which Trockel’s work shares space with objects that have influenced her thinking and her practice. Spanning different eras and cultures, “A Cosmos” brings together objects from disparate fields to compose a cartography of Trockel’s influences. 

“Rosemarie Trockel: A Cosmos” will be on view at the New Museum from October 24, 2012–February 2013. The Museum’s presentation of the exhibition has been organized by Massimiliano Gioni, Associate Director and Director of Exhibitions, and Jenny Moore, Assistant Curator, in collaboration with Rosemarie Trockel and Lynne Cooke, Chief Curator, Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.

Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director, New Museum, said, “Rosemarie Trockel is one of the leading artsits of her generation and most respected German artists of the past forty years. It is an extraordinary honor for the New Museum to present “A Cosmos,” which will be the most comprehensive survey of her work in the U.S. to date, and the most significant museum presentation in New York since a show of her video work was on view at Dia Art Foundation more than a decade ago. With this new exhibition, we will be able to offer the general public a rare view into the mind of one of our most important artists, with a presentation that is fresh in its totality.”

Rosemarie Trockel, Botanical Slide Show, 2011–2012. Slide projection. Courtesy Sprüth Magers, Berlin/London. © Rosemarie Trockel / VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2011Since the early 1970s, Rosemarie Trockel has produced an impressive body of work that includes drawing, collage, installation, “knit paintings,” ceramics, videos, furniture, clothing, and books. She brings together a range of associations and references from art history, philosophy, theology, and the natural sciences. For “A Cosmos,” the dense field of Trockel’s influences will be articulated in installations that illuminate the intellectual and formal connections between her practice and that of a range of historical figures including self-taught artists James Castle and Morton Bartlett, and the botanist/mathematician José Celestino Mutis. Objects whose impetus was primarily aesthetic will be juxtaposed with pieces that more conventionally belong to the realm of science. Trockel’s rough- hewn glazed ceramics from the past several years will be displayed in conjunction with Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka’s delicate glass models of sea creatures created in the nineteenth century. A selection of new drawings by Trockel can be examined along with watercolors by the seventeenth-century artist Maria Sybilla Merian, whose impeccably precise yet beautiful renderings of flora and fauna proved invaluable to scientific study.

Trockel’s well-known disregard for the conventional hierarchies in the visual arts, together with her longstanding appreciation of media and materials once categorized as crafts or vernacular art forms, is demonstrated throughout the exhibition. She has adopted a fluid and radical approach to gender, combining activities typically considered feminine in terms of production with aggressive mechanical and industrial forms. This facet of her practice is emphasized through the inclusion of Judith Scott’s obsessively wrapped yarn sculptures alongside Ruth Francken’s plastic and metal assemblages from the 1970s. In addition, Trockel’s celebrated “knit paintings” will be integrated into the exhibition, along with new works made of glass.

About the Artist

Rosemarie Trockel was born in 1952 in Schwerte, Germany. She studied at the Kölner Werkschulen in Cologne, Germany. Since 1998, she has been a professor at the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. She lives and works in Cologne. She has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at venues including: the Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Dia Center for the Arts, New York; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; and the Kunsthalle Zürich, Switzerland. In 2004, she received the Wolfgang Hahn Prize, resulting in the one-woman exhibition “Post-Menopause” which premiered at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne before traveling to the Museo Nazionale Delle Arti Del XXI Secolo in Rome. Trockel represented Germany at the 1999 Venice Biennale and participated in Documenta X in 1997.

 For more information please visit: The New Museum

Exhibitions Montgomery. Psychedelic Mania - Stephen Rolfe Powell's Dance with Glass. The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. The Curated Object

Stephen Rolfe Powell
Pushy Violet Throb
2005
blown glass

 

 

 

Stephen Rolfe Powell
Installation view

 

Stephen Rolfe Powell
Lascivious Torrid Cleavage
2003
blown glass

 

Stephen Rolfe Powell
Coy Curvaceous Drizzle
2010
blown glass

 

 

Psychedelic Mania - Stephen Rolfe Powell's Dance with Glass

October 6 - January 5, 2013

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the American Studio Glass movement, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts will present The work of Alabama-native Stephen Rolfe Powell, an internationally recognized master glass artist. 

This exhibition showcases Powell’s oversized blown glass vessels from the Teasers series and large, asymmetrical sculptures from his more recent Whacko and Screamer series.  Included in the 40+ artworks are ceramic vessels and glass prototypes that inform Powell’s early artistic development.
 
Powell’s work employs a traditional Italian murrine technique, incorporating thousands of tiny beads of vibrant color that are blown and stretched into suggestive, anthropomorphic shapes. His inventive handling of blowing, swinging and torching the molten glass, combined with tongue-in-cheek titles, offers a fresh departure from conventional glass vessels. Powell founded the glass program at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and through it has not only inspired many students to become glass artists in their own right, but he has hosted other internationally known artists such as Lino Tagliapietra and Dante Marioni.

For more information please visit: The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts

 

Exhibitions Montgomery. Fabulous Flatware - Non-traditional Tools for the Table. The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. The Curated Object

Zaja
2007
designed by Zaha Hadid
produced by Wuerttembergische Metallwarenfabrik (Germany)

 

AJ Flatware
1957
designed by Arne Jacobsen
The William P. Hood, Jr. Collection

 

Table setting Installation view, The William P. Hood, Jr. Collection

 

Fabulous Flatware - Non-traditional Tools for the Table

June 23 - September 16, 2012

Drawn primarily from the collection of William P. Hood, M.D. of Dothan, Alabama, Fabulous Flatware: Non-Traditional Tools of the Tabledemonstrates the creativity and unique designs brought to flatware—the implements used for eating and serving food. Often taken for granted, despite daily use, flatware patterns incorporate a range of shapes and motifs. Featuring pieces from 1898 to 2011, the exhibition reveals the exciting blend of practical and imaginative solutions designers and producers used in terms of style, size and form, functional types, and materials and techniques. Place settings of dinnerware and glassware in various patterns augment the wonderfully diverse flatware to capture the ways Americans set their tables.

Fabulous Flatware: Non-Traditional Tools of the Table was organized by the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

For more information please visit: The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts

Object of Our Affection. Aftelier Perfumes. A Rose is a Rose is a Rose is a Rose. The Curated Object

 

 

Once upon a time. Four words that recall the endless possibilities of a life lived without regret; a verbal charm evoking grace, pensive harmony and the sheer joy of enchanted sensibilites.  And what conjurs the magic words of the fairy tale better than scent -- the invisible cloak that shields us from our fears and allows us to see the world with eyes unencumbered.  Mandy Aftel, the high priestess of Nature's perfumery, captures this effervescent paean to sensuality in her ode to the magnificence of the rose.  In the spirit of Gertrude Stein's luscious, sensual poetic repetition, Aftel presents the heart, the soul, the essence of the rose at the very moment she infuses it with sandalwood and frankincense. Purity through the act of intermingling. A metaphor for life and the slight of hand from a woman whose art is perfume.  "A rose is a rose is a rose" -- always a rose, and never a rose. Aftel's fragrance is alive with these nuances and subtleties, making it an Object of Our Affection. 

To enter the world of Aftel and sample her sandalwood- and frankinscene-infused rose scent, please visit: Aftelier

 

Object of Our Affection. A New Category on The Curated Object

Greetings and saluations to you, Gentle Readers!

This is just a small note to express our pleasure in introducing a new category on The Curated Object called "Object of Our Affection."  Sometimes we lovers of the decorative arts and design become smitten with a person, place or object that isn't part of an exhibition, book or event. We do not accept advertising on our site in any way, nor do we solicit any of these items for review or exposure of any kind. They are truly our loves and our joys. For this reason we will, on occasion, submit to you our Object of Affection. We hope you will love it as much as we do!

The Editors at The Curated Object

 

 

Exhibitions Vienna. THINGS. Plain and Simple. MAK. The Curated Object

 

Peter Skubic, Ring, Vienna 1974

© MAK/Georg Mayer

 

Bench seat, design: Donald Judd; execution: Celedonio Mediano, Marfa, Texas

© MAK/Georg Mayer

 

THINGS. Plain and Simple.

13 June – 30 September 2012 

In an unusual take on the subject, the MAK exhibition THINGS. plain & simple explores the ideal of simplicity as a significant and formative element of style history across epochs and cultures. The broadly conceived exhibition from the museum’s collection, which will be on view at the MAK Vienna from 13 June puts the principle of simplicity in different perspectives, discussing it not only as an aesthetic premise, but also in the context of socio­political and socio­logical phenomena.

 

THINGS. plain & simple combines three parallel theme exhibitions in a notable curatorial experiment: curated by three MAK collection curators, the exhibition traces the aesthetics of simplicity in both European and Asian art history. The exhibits on view impressively evidence how reductionism informed style over centuries in almost periodical waves.

 

While simplicity in furniture design is mainly surveyed as a Modernist issue, the exhibition segment about plainness in everyday objects and utensils focuses on the polarity between functionality in use and moderation in luxury. Finally, an excursion into Asian art history explores simplicity in relation to a specific way of living and view of the world, but also to European tendencies.

 

Plain Furniture

Functionalism and purism, modesty and moderation, poverty and luxury: surveying plain furniture design from the Biedermeier epoch to the early 20th century and from the interwar years (1918-1939) up to the present day, the exhibition segment about Plain Furniture covers the full range of associations evoked by simplicity. Exemplary of this stylistic diversity is a selection of table situations in the show—living-room and kitchen tables, but also desks and working tables plus chairs and stools from the early 19th century onward: it was the time when simple functionalism first gained relevance as an aesthetic quality in the design of objects of everyday use.

 

With the classical attributes that are normally associated with simplicity, that is, reduced shapes, no ornamentation, and strict functionality, the bentwood furniture from the Thonet Brothers, for example, prevailed against the opulent taste of the Historicist period. However, simplicity gained significance through­out all classes of the population. So, around 1900, the growing share of furniture that was designed plain and simple—taking account of the cramped housing conditions and meager financial means of the working classes—was also much appreciated by the better-off population.

 

Today, the paradox of the richness of simplicity applies more than ever. The essentialist aesthetics of American Minimal Art, one of the most important art movements in the second half of the 20th century, had a formative influence on the style of contemporary architecture and design. In a time when each and everything seems available simplicity is the ultimate (self-)adornment.

 

Plain Useful / Luxuriously Simple

In the exhibition segment named Plain Useful / Luxuriously Simple, exhibits of ceramics, precious or base metals, glass, and textiles illustrate the develop­ment of simplicity in everyday utensils from the 15th century until today. The dichotomy of sparingness and luxury that is inherent in the idea of simplicity becomes particularly evident in objects of everyday use. With clear shapes and sparse ornamentation, utility objects were informed from the 15th cen­tury by their intended use and the prevailing standard of crafts­manship. Already back then, however, simplicity as an aesthetic ideal imbued the design of luxurious and prestigious tableware made of exquisite materials.

 

With unsurpassed simpleness of formal expression, tableware and toilet sets of plain undecorated silver, as were made in Vienna in the first half of the 19th century, still have a very special effect today. A similar aesthetic can be found in products of the Viennese Porcelain Manufactory of the same period. Both types of products may also have inspired the designers of the Wiener Werkstätte. Simple grid objects made of sheet iron or silver to designs by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser are as unique examples of the plain and simple form as are cutlery, cases, or tea and coffee services.

 

Moreover, this segment of the exhibition features jewelry from the 1980s and ’90s: characteristically reduced design combined with perfect craftsman­ship. With exponents like Peter Skubic, Manfred Nisslmüller, Gert Mosettig, and Helfried Kodré based here,Vienna has a special position in this field.

 

Simplicity: The East-Asian Way

In the countries of Eastern Asia, the turn toward simplicity can be first observed inChina in the 11th century, instigated by scholar-officials and occurring in parallel to the transition from military state to civil administration.

Drawing on the flourishing Chan Buddhism as well as on ancient vernacular philosophical traditions, the new ruling class defined their own, mostly socio-politically motivated aesthetics. Reduction was seen as an expression of exemplary modesty and also began to inform the design of everyday utility objects. The Song culture had a strong influence on China’s neighbor states, which developed it further independently, relating it to their own traditions.

 

Although Japan—with a feudal military caste remaining in power well into the 19th century—saw a development contrary to that of China, the concept of “modesty” also found a—depoliticized—form of expression there. Not literally translatable, the dual notion of “wabi-sabi” refers to a sophisticated sense of the beauty of simplicity.

 

Europe had been fascinated with the decorative and formal richness of Asian cultures for a long time, and the creative drive inherent in the newly imported plain wares fromChina, Japan, and Korea again set an aesthetic example in Europe. Showing select objects from the MAK collection, this part of the exhibition keeps track of Eastern Asian design principles throughout the centuries.

Exhibitions London. After Bloomsbury: Rugs From The Omega Workshops, 1913-1916. Christopher Farr at Somerset House. The Curated Object

 

 
The Omega Workshop
Hand-knotted weave
Hand-spun Anatolian wool and mohair
2.2 x 3.3 m, limited edition of 15
Christopher Farr

 

The Omega Workshop
Hand-knotted weave
Hand-spun Anatolian wool and mohair
2.2 x 3.3 m, limited edition of 15
Christopher Farr

 

The Omega Workshop
Hand-knotted weave
Hand-spun Anatolian wool and mohair
2.4 x 3.3 m, limited edition of 15
Christopher Farr

 

After Bloomsbury: Rugs From The Omega Workshops, 1913-1916

May 3 - June 24, 2012

In an inspired collaboration between Christopher Farr and The Courtauld Gallery, five hand-crafted rugs based on original designs by the Omega Workshops will be unveiled at Somerset House in London. Visitors to the Great Arch Lobby will encounter extraordinarily contemporary-looking rugs displayed alongside their original designs of nearly 100 years ago.

The short-lived Omega Workshops marked one of the most creative moments in the history of modernist craft and design in Britain. Founded by the artist and influential critic Roger Fry in 1913, the Omega Workshops was a laboratory of radical design ideas involving many of the most avant-garde artists of the day, notably Fry’s young friends from the Bloomsbury Group, Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell who became co-directors of the company.

The Courtauld Gallery owns the largest surviving group of Omega drawings, about a hundred, bequeathed by Fry’s daughter Pamela Diamand in 1958. The majority of these are for rugs and reveal much about working practices at Omega. However, only a handful of Omega rugs was ever made, probably by the Wilton Carpet company which was one of the few British carpet manufacturers open during the War. A rare survival is the Lady Hamilton Rug in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The new rugs at Somerset House were hand-knotted in Konya in central Turkey, to which some of the earliest examples of hand-weaving can be traced, and are made using the finest handspun Anatolian yarn, rich in lanolin due to the extreme winter conditions.

This dynamic textile art will resonate as powerfully with collectors today as it did nearly a century ago. The five rugs, each produced in a limited edition of 15, are for sale at prices ranging from £5,000 to £15,000.

For more information please visit: Christopher Farr and Somerset House