The Curated Object

Exhibitions Atlanta. European Design Since 1985: Shaping the New Century. The High Museum. The Curated Object

 

European Design Since 1985

June 5 - August 29, 2010

BY JoAnn Greco

This sweeping survey — 155 designers, 240 pieces — begins dramatically enough with an entry room of several large pieces that give proof to the power of CAD in today' design. Mathias Bengtsson's "Slice Chair" stacks undulating layers of laser-cut aluminum sheets to form a gleaming thing of beauty. Ron Arad's "This Mortal Coil" similarly uses steel to shape a bookshelf that resembles a nautilus.

Upstairs, though, things get more interesting — the works seem less about "art" and more about process, an approach that's more craft-like, that while still bringing art to useful objects doesn't strive to turn them into monumental think pieces. 

Rooms here are divided into several movements, several of which overlap in the chronology and intent: Decorative, Geometric Minimalism, Biomorphic, Neo-Pop, and Conceptual. Highlights include Yoichi Ohira's glass vases, a seamless blend of Japanese colors and motifs with the Italian glassmaking tradition (Decorative), familiar chairs from Artemide and Vitra, and commonplace products like Tynant's cobalt water bottles and Ikea's gazillon-selling long-spouted watering can (Biomorphic). 

The exhibit ends where it begins, with conceptual pieces (on a smaller scale) such as Philippe Starck's lamp with a gold-plated pistol serving as its base. Starck is of course well-represented throughout the exhibit, but the other familiar names here, from relative newcomers like Marcel Wanders to iconic groups like Memphis and Droog, highlight that in the relatively short span of years showcased European design has enjoyed an incredibly fertile period.

For more information please visit: The High Museum

  
 

Exhibitions Atlanta. The Furniture of Eero Saarinen: Designs for Everyday Living. The Museum of Design Atlanta. The Curated Object: International Decorative Arts Exhibitions

The Furniture of Eero Saarinen: Designs for Everyday Living

January 31 (opening night) - May 5, 2008

In cooperation with Knoll, MODA presents the first exhibition to examine the complete range of furniture designs of Eero Saarinen.  Widely heralded as America’s formost architect in the 1950s, Eero Saarinen (1910 - 1961) gained his earliest international prominence with his prize winning furniture designs done with Charles Eames for the 1941 Museum of Modern Art Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition. Saarinen’s subsequent cooperation with his life-long friend Florence Knoll resulted in his most noted designs: the Grasshopper Chair, the Womb Chair and derivative 70-Series searing and the iconic Pedestal Series of tables and chairs.

Designs for Everyday Living presents examples of Saarinen’s early furniture designs, sketches, photographs and descriptions of each of Saarinen’s collections, including a rare remaining example of the MoMA Organic Design chairs.  Knoll has provided archival examples and pieces of Saarinen’s timeless designs from current production.

For more information go to: Museum of Design Atlanta
-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Atlanta. Medieval and Renaissance Treasures from the Victoria and Albert Museum. The High Museum of Art. The Curated Object: International Decorative Arts Exhibitions

Medieval and Renaissance Treasures from the Victoria and Albert Museum
September 13, 2008–January 4, 2009

The Victoria and Albert Museum has one of the world’s greatest collections of medieval and Renaissance works of art, ranging in date from 300 to 1600 A.D. and in scale from the miniature to the monumental. The masterpieces shown here focus on the “Treasury Arts” and provide insight into artistic production across this vast period, highlighting both continuity and change. Whether designed for church or palace, these works were not only admired for their beauty and workmanship, but they also tell a variety of stories about their makers and owners. The exhibition will feature treasures from the collection that are rarely lent, including the Carolingian ivory cover of the Lorsch Gospels, an ivory statuette of the crucified Christ by Giovanni Pisano, Donatello’s bronze Putto with Fish and a pair of gilt-bronze statuettes of prophets by Hubert Gerhard. This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to see these works together before they are installed in a new suite of galleries devoted to medieval and Renaissance Europe at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2009.

For more information please visit: The High Museum of Art
-Joanne Molina