The Curated Object

Exhibitions NYC. Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H.A. Rey. The Jewish Museum. The Curated Object

2010-03-11T13:00:00-05:00

H. A. Rey, cover of dummy for La Rue: Découpages à colorer (unpublished), Paris, c. 1938, pen and ink, color pencil, and crayon on paper. H. A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi. Curious George, and related characters, created by Margret and H. A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. (c) 2009 by HMH

H. A. Rey, final illustration for “He crawled into bed and fell asleep at once,” published in The Original Curious George (1998), France, 1939–40, watercolor, charcoal, and color pencil on paper. H. A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi. Curious George, and related characters, created by Margret and H. A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. (c) 2009 by HMH.

H. A. Rey, final illustration for “This is George. He lived in Africa,” published in The Original Curious George (1998), France, 1939–40, watercolor, charcoal, and color pencil on paper. H. A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi. Curious George, and related characters, created by Margret and H. A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. © 2009 by HMH.

Margret and H. A. Rey at a book signing, United States, c. 1945. H. A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi.

H. A. Rey, unpublished drawing, United States, c. 1950s–60s, pencil on paper. H. A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi.

CURIOUS GEORGE SAVES THE DAY: THE ART OF MARGRET AND H.A. REY

March 14 - August 1, 2010

Curious George, the impish monkey protagonist of many adventures, may never have seen the light of day if it were not for the determination and courage of his creators: illustrator H. A. Rey (1898–1977) and his wife, author and artist Margret Rey (1906–1996). They were both born in Hamburg to Jewish families and lived together in Paris from 1936 to 1940. Hours before the Nazis marched into the city in June 1940, the Reys fled on bicycles carrying drawings for their children’s stories including one about a mischievous monkey, then named Fifi. Not only did they save their animal characters, but the Reys themselves were saved by their illustrations when authorities found them in their belongings. This may explain why saving the day after a narrow escape became the premise of most of their Curious George stories. After their fateful escape from Paris and a four-month journey across France, Spain, Portugal, and Brazil, the couple reached New York in the fall of 1940. In all, the Reys authored and illustrated over thirty books, most of them for children, with seven of them starring Curious George. The exhibition at The Jewish Museum will feature nearly eighty original drawings of the beloved monkey and other characters, preparatory dummy books, vintage photographs, and documentation related to the Reys’ escape from Nazi Europe, as well as a specially designed reading room for visitors of all ages.

For more information please visit: The Jewish Museum

Exhibitions NYC. Modern Art, Sacred Space: Motherwell, Ferber and Gottlieb. The Jewish Museum. The Curated Object

2010-03-11T10:00:00-05:00

Herbert Ferber (American, 1906-1999), And the Bush was Not Consumed, 1951, copper, lead, brass. Congregation B’nai Israel, Millburn, New Jersey Photo © Herbert Ferber Estate.

Adolph Gottlieb, Torah Ark Curtain, Millburn, New Jersey, United States, 1950-51, velvet: appliqué and embroidered with metallic thread. The Jewish Museum, New York; Gift of Congregation B'nai Israel, Millburn, New Jersey. Art © Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Robert Motherwell, The Walls of the Temple, 1952, oil on Masonite. Collection of Congregation B’nai Israel, Millburn, New Jersey. Art © Dedalus Foundation, Inc./Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

MODERN ART, SACRED SPACE: MOTHERWELL, FERBER AND GOTTLIEB

March 14- August 1, 2010

In 1951, architect Percival Goodman charged three avant-garde artists with commissions to decorate his Congregation B’nai Israel synagogue in Millburn, New Jersey. Robert Motherwell, Adolph Gottlieb, and Herbert Ferber—each of whom went on to become a major figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement—created, respectively, a large-scale lobby mural, velvet Torah curtain, and a monumental exterior sculptural relief. This exhibition marks the first time these works have been exhibited in a museum setting since they were created over sixty years ago. Motherwell’s mural presents abstracted Biblical references such as Tablets of Moses (Ten Commandments), diaspora of the twelve tribes of Israel to the four corners of the world, and Ark of the Covenant. The mural, one of the largest paintings of its time, is one of the few works in which the artist worked in a semi-representational manner; however, Motherwell’s abstraction of the objects is in keeping with the bold style that he established in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Gottlieb’s iconographic design for the Torah curtain, now in the collection of The Jewish Museum, is a late example in the development of his influential pictograph paintings of 1941–53. Ferber’s monumental exterior relief, entitled And the Bush Was Not Consumed, expresses a religious theme in an abstract three-dimensional form. In addition to these major works, the exhibition will include studies, maquettes, and photographs, as well as an architectural model of the Goodman-designed synagogue, to highlight the creative process of this groundbreaking collaboration.

For more information please visit: The Jewish Museum

Exhibitions NYC. Envelopes. The Pratt Manhattan Gallery. The Curated Object

2010-03-10T18:02:49-05:00

"Wanderings," is from Lally's Climate Design™series, Image courtesy of Weathers.

Envelopes

March 5 – May 5, 2010

"Once there was the enveloping body and the enveloped body, the latter being the more mobile through what Aristotle called locomotion... the one who offers or allows desire moves and envelopes, engulfing the other. It is moreoever a danger if no third term exists. Not only to serve as a limitation. This third term can occur within the one who contains as a relation of the latter to his or her own limit (s): the relation to the divine, death, to the social, to the cosmic. If a third term does not exist within and for the container, he or she becomes all-powerful.-- Luce Irigaray

Pratt Manhattan Gallery presents “Envelopes,” an exhibition that will explore new and sustainable potentials of the architectural surface in terms of the skin of a building and also as a sensorial space that envelops the body. “Envelopes” will feature full-scale, interactive models accompanied by architectural renderings in the form of drawings and computer animations, and documentation of the process of investigation into these models from eight international firms and designers. The exhibition will run from March 5 through May 5, 2010 and will be celebrated with an opening reception on Thursday, March 4 from 6–8 PM. The exhibition and opening reception are free and open to the public. “Envelopes” is guest curated by Christopher Hight, an associate professor at Rice University’s School of Architecture.

Hight’s inspiration for the exhibition title and concept originated from parallels between the envelope of a building and the envelope of human skin; the building envelope repeats the metaphor of the building as a body and as a prosthetic second skin that allows human beings to exist within a hostile environment. Inspired by early 20th century biologist Jacob von Uexküll and his interest in how living beings relate to and perceive their environment, the title of the show refers to the role of the building envelope and the idea of envelopment of one’s body and senses within a larger environment.

“Issues of sustainability and ecology raise many conceptual and design issues about the nature of the boundary between body, building, and larger environments,” said Hight. “The architects in ‘Envelopes’ are all exploring relationships between systems—human, animal, plant, and energy flow—as a site for architectural innovation in the 21st century,” he added.

Hight pursues design research on the nexus of landscape, ecology, and emerging forms of urbanization. He is co-editor of AD: Collective Intelligence in Design (Academy Press, 2006), Heterogeneous Space (Wiley, 2009), and has recently published a book on cybernetics, post-humanism, formalism, and post- World War II architectural design, titled Architectural Principles in the Age of Cybernetics (Routledge, 2008).

Participating architects and architecture firms include:

• !ndie Architecture, a Denver-based firm that engages in a range of architectural and urban

questions through research projects and practice, with a specialization in digital and industrial

technology, housing, and suburbanism

• HouMinn Practice, a Houston and Minneapolis-based firm recognized for its research and

innovative design whose collaborative efforts reach beyond the discipline of architecture

• Mary Ellen Carroll—MEC design studios, a New York-based conceptual artist, with Kevin

Topek of Permaculture Design, LLC; and Carlise Vandervoort

• Michael U. Hensel and Defne Sunguroğlu Hensel are research directors and board members at OCEAN Design Research, an international, interdisciplinary, and independent research firm that conducts research by design in the intersection of architecture, design, music, and science with the goal of improving the current built environment and anthropobiosphere

• Nataly Gattegno and Jason Kelly Johnson are founding design partners of Future Cities Lab, an interdisciplinary design and research collaborative bridging architecture and landscape urbanism with material sciences, robotics, and engineering

• Philippe Rahm, an architect who practices out of Paris and Lausanne and focuses on

“meterological” architecture

• Tobias Emilsson, Jonah Fritzell, Marcelyn Gow, Ulrika Karlsson, and Chris Perry of servo,

an international research and design collaborative that focuses on the development of

architectural environments through the proliferation of electronic and digital equipment and

interfaces

• Weathers, a Chicago-based environmental design office that studies social, spatial, and

organizational structures and their implications to lifestyle and environment.

“Envelopes” is made possible by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.

For more information please visit: Pratt Manhattan Gallery

Exhibitions San Francisco. Shanghai. Asian Art Museum. The Curated Object

2010-03-10T15:32:23-05:00

Qipao, 1930s. Silk georgette and silk cut-velvet. Collection of the Shanghai History Museum.

Vanity and stool, 1920-1935. Hardwood and glass. Private collection.

Rug, 1920-1935. Wool with yin and yang pattern. Private collection.

Shanghai Lily, 2009. By Zhou Tiehai (b. 1966). Acrylic (airbrush) on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

Round table and four chairs, 1920-1935. Hardwood. Private collection.

A Prosperous City That Never Sleeps, 1930s. By Yuan Xiutang (dates unknown). Chromolithograph on paper. Collection of the Shanghai History Museum.

A pair of armchairs, 1920-1935. Hardwood, burl, and fabric. Private collection.

Mawangdui, 2009 (detail). By Liu Dahong (b. 1962). Embroidered silk, one of two pieces. Collection of the artist.

Shanghai

Feb. 12 - Sept. 5

Perhaps no modern city is more imbued with exoticism than Shanghai: in the past, a potent symbol of imperialism and Art Deco, more recently a shining city of global capitalism and modern Orientalism. Here, in the sister city of the Chinese megalopolis, more than 130 artworks including paintings, furniture and rugs, movie clips, revolutionary posters, and contemporary video and art installations, trace 160 years of that complicated history.

Divided into four broad eras — Beginnings (1850-1911), High Times (1912-1949), Revolution (1920-1976), and Shangai Today (1980-present) — the exhibition revisits the city's rise from a modest regional center in eastern China to its prominence as a strategically-placed port city, positioned roughly halfway between Peking and Hong Kong. It ends with a look at its powerhouse position of today: a skyscraper-filled financial capital, one of the largest cities in the world. In fact, the exhibit is timed to coincide with the selection of Shanghai as host of the World Expo this May.

The exhibition's impact rests solidly in the middle, the 1920s, '30s and '40s. This golden age is depicted in objects that range from a pair of curving bentwood Deco armchairs, still aswirl in tangerine and fuschia, to a vivid Maoist woodcut print that cries "Roar, China!" The glamour that we've come to associate with this era is exemplified in the five silk qipao on display, the form-fitting shantung dresses that came into being just as Shanghai's film industry reached its height. A once cool and sultry, simple and sumptuous, they're the very essence of Shanghai.

Posted by JoAnn Greco

For more information, please visit:Asian Art Museum

Exhibitions London. Sustainable Futures-- Can Design Make a Difference? Design Museum, Shad Thames. The Curated Object

2010-03-10T14:04:09-05:00

Credits –
Andre Air Purifyer - Pierre Favresse

Magno Wooden Radio – by Singgih S Kartono

Solar Lab – Designed by Christoph Behling

Sustainable Futures-- Can Design Make a Difference? Design Museum in association with PUMA.Safe

March 31, 2010 – September 5, 2010

To sustain is to offer support and relief-- it is to bear the weight of someone or something. But how do we bear the weight of our own desires, often conflicting and misunderstood? How do we learn to discuss the often dangerous pleasure of emotions we channel through acquisition and image? This important exhibition asks questions that venture beyond the trendy vocabulary and into a more interesting and necessary realm: the psyche of the 21st century citizen. Diving into the often narcissistic waters that create the pools of our cultural unconscious, it dares to ask: not just how I want my world to appear/function but why. Bravo.

This exhibition showcases a range of design and architecture projects that explore the most important issues associated with sustainability. Celebrated through a selection of pioneering and forward thinking design approaches, this exhibition places sustainable design centre stage, focusing on how design can lead the way and make a positive contribution towards a more sustainable future.

Curated under five themes: Cities, Energy and Economies, Food, Materiality and theCreative Citizen, this exhibition will explore projects that are either in the market place or in development, including the Masdar Development hailed to be the world’s first carbon neutral city in Abu Dhabi designed by Fosters + Partners. Fashion designerChristopher Raeburn and his Digital Rainbow Collection which reuses Ministry of Defense parachute materials will be displayed alongside projects that have not yet been seen by a wider audience, including the Energy AWARE Clock designed by the Interactive Institute in Stockholm that monitors the energy consumption in a domestic household, Local River by Mathieu Lehanneur, a concept for a domestic ‘refrigerator-aquarium’ that breeds freshwater fish and grows herbs at the same time, and Yves Bèhar’s FUSE project for sportslifestyle brand PUMA which is set to revolutionise their packaging and distribution system."

Visitors will be encouraged to look at their own consumption habits and recognise the individual role they can play in embracing sustainability. The website CanDesignMakeaDifference.com will also enable visitors to engage with sustainable issues and share their opinions on sustainability.

Architecture models, products and prototypes will feature alongside material samples, film footage, visuals and interactive displays. The exhibition design, build and graphics will support the use of sustainable and ethically sourced materials where the full lifecycle and minimal impact of materials has been considered.

Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO, PUMA AG comments ‘PUMAVision, through our PUMA.Safe program, is honoured to partner with the Design Museum to introduce groundbreaking work in sustainable design. As a business leader in environmental and social initiatives, PUMA’s commitment to sustainability is reflected in the exhibition, ‘Can design make a difference’, which will drive and encourage individuals and corporations to achieve a higher standard of sustainable practice.’

For more information please visit: Design Museum

Exhibitions Philadelphia. A Purer Taste of Forms and Ornaments: Josiah Wedgwood and the Antique. The Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Curated Object

2010-03-10T13:16:54-05:00

Krater vase, c. 1790. Made by the Wedgwood factory, Etruria, England, 1759 – present. Stoneware with encaustic decoration, 36 x 20 3/8 x 17 ¾ inches. Gift of Charlotte and David E. Zeitlin in honor of Susan Z. Baer, 1992.

Oil Lamp, c. 1790. Stoneware (basalt ware) with encaustic decoration. Made at the Wedgwood factory, Etruria, England, 1759–present. On loan from the Rubin Collection

Vase, c. 1790 Stoneware (basalt ware) with encaustic decoration Made at the Wedgwood factory, Etruria, England, 1759–present, On loan from the Rubin Collection

Vase and Cover, c. 1805, Stoneware (basalt ware) with encaustic decoration, Made at the Wedgwood factory, Etruria, England, 1759–present, On loan from the Rubin Collection

Vase, c. 1805, Stoneware (basalt ware) with encaustic decoration, Made at the Wedgwood factory, Etruria, England, 1759–present, On loan from the Rubin Collection

Pastille Burner, c. 1815, Stoneware (basalt ware) with encaustic decoration, Made at the Wedgwood factory, Etruria, England, 1759–present, Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Meyer P. Potamkin

A Purer Taste of Forms and Ornaments: Josiah Wedgwood and the Antique

October 24, 2009 - March 14, 2010

The basalt ware pieces on display here — richly hued in blacks, russets and browns — might not be what made Wedgwood a household name. For that, of course, we must thank the potter's distinctive blue matte vessels and dinner plates with their signature encaustic white figures. These 20 or so pieces instead look to the neoclassical for inspiration and as such are the right choice for an exhibit that celebrates the 250th anniversary of Josiah Wedgwood's factory, the Ivy House Works in Burslem, England.

The factory's early years coincided with the discovery of the ancient buried cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and Wedgwood embraced not only the motifs (wheat shafts, lutes) of that time, but the forms such as oil burners and urns. The "Krater" vase, even though designed at the end of Wedgwood's life, pays homage to the red-figure vase painting of the ancient Greeks and Romans. One of the earliest manufacturers to embrace this style, Josiah was instrumental in establishing a taste for it that quickly found favor among the European aristocracy.

For more information, please visit:The Philadelphia Museum of Art

Posted by JoAnn Greco

Exhibitions Katonah. The Art of Contemporary Puppet Theater. The Katonah Museum of Art. The Curated Object

2010-03-10T12:39:04-05:00

The Blue Fairy, from Basil Twist's La Bella Dormente nel Bosco, 2005; Photo by Richard Termine.

Scene 1 from Janie Geiser’s Evidence of Floods (detail), 1994–96, Photo by Dona Ann McAdams

Still from William Kentridge/Handspring Puppet Company’s performance video Woyzeck on the Highveld, 1992, Photo by Ruphin Coudyzer, courtesy of Handspring Puppet Company

The Art of Contemporary Puppet Theater

February 28 - June 13, 2010

In every culture mean and women have created stories and myths to explain the forces surrounding them and the fears, hopes and dreams he carries within. For centuries, masks and puppets have been used to add magic to the storyteller’s art. The Art of Contemporary Puppet Theater will show that puppets are indeed more than children’s dolls, that within them can be found the illusion of life. They are symbolic mirrors in which we are startled and sometimes delighted to see ourselves reflected. The art of puppetry has been traced back as early as the 5th Century, BC, when figures operated by strings were employed in ancient Egyptian ceremonies. In more recent times it was relegated to childish entertainment, before reemerging as a sophisticated means of expression. Today, puppetry is the perfect union of theater and the visual arts, fusing painting, sculpture, text, music, movement, and technology.

“This is an exciting time for puppetry,” says Nancy Wallach, Director of Curatorial Affairs for the Museum. “It’s turning up everywhere now – in theater, opera, and film. We’re proud and excited to showcase in a museum exhibition some of the finest work in contemporary puppet theater.”

The Art of Contemporary Puppet Theater will feature works by puppeteers, sculptors, and film and media artists, which demonstrate how the often daring art of puppetry can explore a range of ideas and emotions. On display will be works by many of today’s most important artists including, Eric Bass/Sandglass Theater, Janie Geiser, Liz Goldberg, Chris Green, Dan Hurlin, William Kentridge/Handspring Puppets (who will enjoy a major exhibition of his work at MOMA this Spring), Ralph Lee, Mabou Mines Brian Selznick, Julie Taymor, Hanne Tierney, and Basil Twist. The exhibition will also include films by Genevieve Anderson, Laura Heit and the collaborative team of Tony Giordano, Jason Murphy and Scott Shoemaker. The Art of Contemporary Puppet Theater is curated by Leslee Asch, Executive Director of the National Dance Institute. Before coming to the Institute, she spent twenty years at Jim Henson Productions (the creator of the Muppets) where she was the Executive Director of the Jim Henson Foundation; Producing Director of all 5 Henson International Festivals of Puppet Theater; Director of Exhibitions; and a Puppet Builder/Designer.

Beginning with 12 companies performing at The Public Theater, The Henson Festival sparked a puppetry revival found on Broadway (The Lion King and the upcoming Addams Family), in major motion pictures (Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox), and at the Metropolitan Opera (Philip Glass’ Satyagraha) . "It is a delight and honor to present this very personal journey in the world of puppetry,”

Ms. Asch says. “I hope that it will inspire a deeper appreciation of this magical art form.”

For information please visit The Katonah Museum

Exhibitions NYC. Quicktake: Rodarte. The Cooper-Hewitt. The Curated Object

2010-03-03T11:41:08-05:00

"Quicktake: Rodarte" installation. Photo: Carmel Wilson

Rodarte, Fall/Winter 2009 collection. Photo: Dan Lecca

Rodarte, Spring/Summer 2009 collection. Photo: Dan Lecca

“Quicktake: Rodarte”

February 11- March 14, 2010

“Quicktake: Rodarte” at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of National Design celebrates the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter 2009 standout pieces from founders Kate and Laura Mulleavy. The theme of the installation is “Destruction,” and the sisters did not disappoint. The Cooper-Hewitt Museum is structurally beautiful in and of itself, with polished banisters, carpeted staircases and intricately carved moldings, the portrait of 19th century domestic grandeur. Each article of clothing, relative to one another, their decaying environments, interposed with the design of the Cooper-Hewitt itself, left a striking impression; the romance of the past was beautifully interposed with elements of both utopian fantasies for, and dystopian dismay of, the future.

The installation featured three sections, each inspired by an essence of “destruction” and a facet of the Rodarte aesthetic. Distinctive color palates, silhouettes and fabrics supported a cohesive vision, or storyline, among each vignette. One was so completely developed and so naturally relative to the other two, that a glance at the whole conveyed a real sense of the sister’s successes thus far; the installation was a living, breathing “Best of” Rodarte 2009 biographic. The pieces are at once beautiful, rude, fantastical and sophisticated; they are equally familiar and foreign in construct.

The most striking section was the last, accessed only by passing the other two, and bending ones steps beneath an ornately carved archway, supported this afternoon by two charred black walls and a heavy wooden balcony, precipitously peering downwards, to the richly carpeted staircase below. This scarred visage perfectly augmented the clothing; lending further sheen to plumed epaulettes, textured fabrics and charcoal silks. The clothing was wrapped around slender mannequins, donated by Pucci, achieving ethereal silhouettes of composed chaos. Metallic and black leather, textured stilettos littered the broken floor below, some standing and some fallen amidst the various debris one may cross in a condemned building rather than the polished mahogany halls of the Cooper-Hewitt.

The other two installations were decidedly softer in tone; clothing was arranged in front of what appeared to be chipped and broken plaster—off-white, faded lavender and icy pastels. These designs were more “futuristic” than their smoldering counterparts, but nonetheless in similarly perfect contrast to their environment. Short hemlines, angular silhouettes and metallic colors peeked from beneath alternately frayed and densely layered fabrics. The pieces both bled into and asserted themselves from, the background. A pair of lavender boots, skeletal in appearance, lay in a dusty heap on the floor.

The fashion world has come to intimately know the story of the Mulleavy sisters and their unconventional rise to Fashion Fame. Founded in Berkley, CA in 2005, Rodarte was the vision of two young girls with undergraduate degrees in 19th and 20th century Art History (Kate) and Literature and the Modern Novel (Laura). The first Rodarte collection was comprised of 10 hand-finished pieces. Today, Rodarte has established itself among the forerunners of fashion. The design team was awarded the 2009 Womenswear Designer of the Year by the Council of the Fashion Designers of America, was a 2009 fashion design finalist for Cooper-Hewitt’s National Design Awards, and enjoys a permanent position in the Costume Exhibitions at both the MOMA and F.I.T.

It would seem that the Mulleavy’s are positioning themselves in the concentric spheres of art and fashion. Of course, as Rome, Rodarte is not to be built in a day, a season, or a single, newsworthy piece. Every step made has suggested the controlled ambition of two young women seeking to build an empire. However we define Rodarte in years and collections to come, the almost immaculate advent of the brand, and the immediate embrace of the fashion community, would suggest that the Mulleavy sisters are riding high in the present. I, for one, look forward to their future. -- Natalie Fasano 

For more information please visit: The Cooper-Hewitt

Exhibitions NYC. Workwear. Parsons The New School for Design. The Curated Object

2010-03-01T14:28:00-05:00

Workwear, an exhibition and symposium that explores the legacy of work wear as a uniform for success in New York, photographer Martin Seck

Jeremy Deller, Boilersuit, photographer Martin Seck

Shelley Fox, Undercover, photographer Martin Seck

Shelley Fox, Office Workers, photographer Martin Seck

Workwear

Feb. 8-March 5

To mark the establishment of new graduate programs in fashion at Parsons The New School for Design, the school is presenting an exhibition and symposium that explores the legacy of work wear in American fashion and its influence on contemporary constructions of New York as a fashion capital. This fall, Parsons will be launching two new programs, an MFA in Fashion Design and Society and an MA in Fashion Studies. Both programs are interdisciplinary in nature, placing fashion in a contemporary, global context that recognizes its significance as a cultural, social, and economic force.

Illustrating the themes of WORKWEAR, this exhibition includes a film installation of Donna Karan's Seven Easy Pieces collection; Boilersuit by Savile Row tailors Norton & Sons in collaboration with Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller; Paul Fejos' silent-film classic, Lonesome (1928); a mascot installation by communication designers Rebecca and Mike; a newly commissioned film by Boudicca; and installations by Shelley Fox, director of the MFA program.

For more information, please visit: Parsons

Exhibitions NYC. Temperance! by Anders Ruhwald. MIYAKO YOSHINAGA Art Prospects Gallery. The Curated Object

2010-02-26T10:11:17-05:00

Overall Installation view of "Temperance!" Anders Ruhwald, Feb. 11-Mar. 13, 2010, MIYAKO YOSHINAGA art prospects, New York

"Beginning and ending (version 2)" 2010, 34 x 17 x 17.5 in. Earthenware (chair), wood and screw (a hook)"

"Beginning and Ending Version II and III" (left) and "For You Only" (right)

Temperance! By Ander Ruhwald

Feb. 11-Mar. 13, 2010

"The world of the objects of old seems like a theatre of cruelty and instinctual drives in comparison with the formal neutrality and prophylactic 'whiteness' of our perfect functional objects. Thus the handle of the flatiron gradually diminishes as it undergoes 'contouring' - the term is typical in its superficiality and abstractness; increasingly it suggests the very absence of gesture, and carried to its logical extreme this handle will no longer be manual - merely manipulable. At that point, the perfecting of the form will have relegated man to a pure contemplation of his power " — Jean Baudrillard, from The System of Objects

The Anders Ruhwald solo exhibition “Temperance!” at the Miyako Yoshinaga gallery in Chelsea is the continuance of the artist’s 10 year fascination with the utility, or lack there of, of common household objects and socially identifiable shapes. His glazed ceramic sculptures, often made in uniform colors, are meant to be imposing. Outlines are blurred, shapes and common figures distorted, textures anything but smooth (a direct confrontation of the “smooth” quality we expect of ceramic sculpture). Ruhwald’s figures literally chisel away at his audience’s normative expectation about what the object should “be,” and what it is meant to “do.”

The gallery was filled with distorted domestic objects, few but nevertheless impactful. They were arranged as if they were obstacles not only to our individual movement, but also to our cogent understanding of what, exactly, we were supposed to be looking at. I imagine Ruhwald would suggest that we aren’t really “supposed” to be looking at anything, as the basis of the supposition lies somewhere outside of the distinct personal experience. Our expectations of shape, form and figure are ingrained in our subconscious and we learn, rather than simply "know" how to interpret our surroundings. As the artist imposes upon us with his massive ceramic structures, so does society impose upon us its collective vision of what “is,” or reality, and what “should do,” or utility.

Ruhwald directly challenges these commonly held views of domestic life, including the way that we move about our homes, decorate our rooms and “use” mundane objects . Indeed, “The Shades About to Fall,” a line of windowpanes hung from the ceiling by delicate strings, were sculpted as a division of the gallery space, a check to the audience’s movement and a tangible representation of restraint. As each pane progressed, the colors subtly shifted, twisting and turning in an imperceptible wind.

Two chairs were mounted on the wall perpendicular to the shades, supported by a single, bright orange tack; a “television” sat at an awkward angle on the floor, in lugubrious acknowledgement of the objects above. Directly across from the shades, and intersecting the studio space between the “living room” and the entrance, two oversize yellow vases, too large to sit atop an Upper East Side coffee table and with handles far too small to grasp, sat upon a prominent wooden platform. As I stood back at the entrance, I was struck by how this almost comical arrangement perfectly typified Ruhwald’s intent, to challenge the “nominative role certain objects play in our daily lives.”

Though the gallery was a very small and narrow space, and though the objects were few from a numerical standpoint, an audience member will not find that he or she is necessarily limited by the size of the gallery, or the number of ceramic figures. Instead, he or she can expect to feel small themselves-- travelers lost in Ruhwald’s artistic vision without a firm understanding of where they are, what they should be doing, or where, really, the exit is.

In a city constructed according to the virtues of easy navigation, it's uncanny to experience disorientation. And the impression Ruhwald left upon me was not as easily shaken as the rain that clung to my umbrella. I left the gallery, and returned to life, walking the course to the subway, the station that never failed to be there, as it ever was-- only a few steps away but, for the moment, worlds apart -- Natalie Fasano

For more information please visit: MIYAKO YOSHINAGA art prospects

Designer Interviews. A Coup for Collectors: Bius Designers Mary Little and Peter Wheeler are Fabricating the Future. The Curated Object

2010-02-25T10:30:00-05:00

Blue Chair, In the collections of La musee des arts decoritif, Paris and Vitra Design Museum, Basel. (photography RCA)

Margrét, Sidechair. Shot silk and wool cover.In the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (photography Steve Speller)

Genghis, Armchair with 'Tafbi' and wool cover. In the collection of the Ulster Museum, Belfast (photography Steve Speller)

Annelies – swivel chair and table in its linen and silk garment. Black American Walnut base and table, Linen seat cover and silk back cover.In the Collection of Manchester Art Galleries & Museums UK (photography Steve Speller)

Annelies – swivel chair and table in it's alternative velvet garment. Black American Walnut base and table. Devoré velvet. In the collection of Manchester Art Galleries & Museums UK (photography Steve Speller)

Matthias - Ottoman, three quarter view. Felted wool seat with ribbed wool legs.

Matthias - Ottoman, leg detail. Felted wool seat with ribbed wool legs.

Alena - Ottoman, three quarter view. Felted wool seat with ribbed wool legs

Alena - Ottoman, legging detail. Felted wool seat with ribbed wool legs.

Beatrice - Ottoman, three quarter view. Felted wool seat with ribbed wool legs.

Beatrice - Ottoman, leg detail. Felted wool seat with ribbed wool legs.

A Prelude: It is very much in vogue to call one's self a curator. But to be included in an institutional collection curated by those who have the education and experience to make decisions about items worthy of inclusion in the authoritative timeline of design is something special. This nod is to be celebrated and savored. And Bius, a design team that resists and exceeds the simple cliche of art as design (as if designers needed to demand the hyperbolic weight of the word artist to afford their work sanctity and prowess), has been recognized by the top institutions in the world for their contributions to the field. Bius' designs are not simply museum-worthy, they are recognized and celebrated by actual museums. They reposition the predictable and normative boundaries of "taste," revealing the limitations inherent in claims regarding the accuracy of the aesthetic palette. Still, each one of their designs is also an emotional coup, exuding the character and depth of the novels you should be reading. Any questions? I refer you to Genghis (see above).

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The husband-and-wife team of Mary Little and Peter Wheeler together form Bius, a design studio based in New Haven, CT. In additions to private collections in Europe and North America, their work can be found at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Vitra Design Museum, Basel; Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; and Museo de las Artes Decorativas, Barcelona. For their first limited edition collection, they've decided to concentrate on the ottoman. The Curated Object's JoAnn Greco talked with the designers.

First, what does Bius mean?

MARY It's a play on words — using the fabric term of bias and mixing it with "by us." It's a nice simple word that really appealed to us.

Tell us about a little about your professional partnership.

MARY I'm from Northern Ireland and Peter is from London, and we met many decades ago, but decided to go into business together in 1997 when we were living in London. We were doing a lot of one-of-a kind commissions for private clients and arts organizations. One of our clients in the U.S. encouraged us to move here, he said there was a much better audience for what we do. We applied for teaching jobs and both landed work in the Bay Area. After a while, we decided to move to the east coast and to explore the possibility of creating some edition work. The design world has changed so much in the last 10-15 years, we thought it might make sense to try and go forward in a new direction.

How has the design world changed?

MARY Well, people are just so much more appreciative of design and unusual ideas.

So how did you move from your specific disciplines, Mary, of sculpting, and Peter, of industrial design, into furniture design?

MARY Actually, we're both trained as furniture designers, both trained at Royal College of Art. I've never been trained as a sculptor, but I work with form and character so within our own studio, I define myself as a sculptor.

PETER And, I've always principally concentrated on production work.

Peter, can you speak a little more specifically about how that experience finds its way into your current work?

PETER A lot of my previous work was for commercial clients, like, say, cubicles that divide the bathroom stalls. My then-partner and I designed a system that allowed for very efficient installation of those. In these kind of commercial uses, the object would be a system with a series of components with a coherent logic. And I suppose that's one of the things I bring to what Mary and I now do. It allows for us to have a coherent production. Everything is planned and there are stages that you go through, paying attention to both the form-making and how that interacts with the way the piece is constructed. So, the construction informs the aesthetics.

And how do those approaches manifest themselves in your design process? How do you approach a project?

PETER If you're working for an individual, you have the constraints that that client requires: the use that they're going to put that piece of furniture to, where it goes, the budget, how it's constructed. All of that is inevitably tied up with the artistry, the character develops from all of those things. Constraints are a positive thing, if you don't have any, it can take you forever.

MARY When we have a brief from a manufacturer, or one we've created ourselves in response to interviewing the appropriate individuals, we start to generate ideas. Inevitably, once we start to develop the work, it takes a different form. When you make something in three dimensions, it's quite different from what you expected when you were drawing it in two. So, we move very quickly into the 3D world, we make a lot of 3D prototypes..

What is it about the ottoman that so appealed to you, as the first way to enter retail?

PETER We chose that very pragmatically, because of the amount of investment we'd have to put in. It turns out to be a really interesting vehicle for small scale experiments, though. If you're doing a chair, you have a lot more things to consider.

Can you discuss your approach to fabric?

MARY: The Hiroshi ottoman, for example, is named for the craftsman who made the fabric for us. We had a very small piece of it, so we treated it like golddust. We wanted to use the fabric in very small amounts, so we developed the idea of having the fabric just peep out of the seam. The seam is sewn and then slit, the shibori just peeks through.

PETER These two pieces were done for a gallery in Palo Alto, for a group show, and they really were in love with the shibori because JoAnn Edwards, the owner, had seen some other pieces that Mary had done, some chairs. The fabric is irreplaceable, it can't be made again. The pieces have to sell for a certain price in the gallery, so we have to use it in very sparing way. The result is quite a surreal aesthetic ... the shibori seems to be exploding. This use evolved out of a conversation about how best to incorporate the fabric, then together we pared it down, then there were lots of trials to see how difficult it is to do, what the result is going to be aesthetically, etc. From a technical point of view, the way it breaks through the seam is quite complex. There are only certain places on the seam where you can have that break, and then there's the issue of constructing the structure inside that will allow the fabric to peek through.

MARY I'm the one experienced in sewing and pattern-making, so for something like this, I might make a lot of very rough trials, and Peter can come along and talk about the direction it needs to go and then we'll create some more trials. He might come along and fold it, or turn it upside down and make it work . . . there's a great deal of to-and-fro.

Many of your pieces are in museums. Tell us a little about those, and what makes them specifically museum-worthy, in your mind?

PETER They are unique in their form-making, the way the form comes from how the fabric is used. The structure is purely from the fabric. A lot of our techniques come from haute couture fashion or costume- making. The things that tend to be collected are really us experimenting with the cloth and how you can get form in a cloth simply by the way you cut it, just as a fashion designer would construct a suit or dress. In fact, fashion is a good analogy for us. We're really interested in the idea that a chair is one of the products that interacts closest with our bodies — it can almost be 'worn'.

MARY For me, why a curator chooses something is actually mystifying. But I do think it has to do with the work we are doing at any particular time. It's a reflection of the times.

To order from their new limited-edition, made-to-order collection, or to make other queries please visit: BIUS and for inspiration but sure to take a scroll through their blog

Exhibitions Santa Fe. Sole Matters: Cowboy Boots and Art. The New Mexico Museum of Art. The Curated Object

2010-02-23T16:00:00-05:00

Playing cards from the 1950s

Teal McKibben's boots, made by Montana Boots, courtesy of the estate of Teal McKibben, photo by Blair Clark.

Deana McGuffin stitching shaft pieces, 2009, photo by Blair Clark.

Playing card boots from the 1940s, made by Abraham Rios of Mercedes, Texas, courtesy of Larry Jennings and Linné S. Miller, photo by Blair Clark.

Lisa Sorrell, Butterflies and Bluebirds, September 2008, kangaroo and crocodile, courtesy and © of the artist.

Sole Mates: Cowboy Boots and Art

May 14, 2010 - September 5, 2010

Sole Mates: Cowboy Boots and Art celebrates the art of the West and views cowboy boots as important symbols of western life. The exhibition includes paintings, drawings, postcards, advertisements, sculptures, video imagery, and of course boots. The images define changing aspects of the West, from 1880 to the present. The exhibition includes more than 130 objects and pairs of boots that investigate freedom, neliness, gender, fashion, allure and contemporary art.

Joseph Traugott, Ph.D., summarized the goal of the exhibition by stating that "Sole Matesbroadens our understanding of the West and western art, and encourages discussions between western artists and the general public." He is curator of twentieth century art at the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the organizer of Sole Mates.

Each section of the exhibition is titled with a line from a well known western song. The introduction- I See by your Outfit that You Are a Cowboy-sets the tone for the exhibition which is simultaneously stimulating, educational, and fun. Western songs will play in the background of the exhibition.

The historic section of the exhibition includes works by Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, and Herbert "Buck" Dunton. These artists defined and then promoted a view of cowboy life that is descriptive, inspiring, and romantic. This section also describes the construction of boots through the work of Deana McGuffin, a third generation bootmaker from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Conceptual sections of the exhibition allude to western attitudes that are infused into boots and art. These sections incorporate popular culture images that help to expand the notion of western art beyond the restrictive stereotype of ranch workers as men on horseback riding with a herd of cattle. For example, David Politzer's video self portrait, Rio Macho, shows the artist dressed as a middle-aged dude-ranch cowboy bemoaning his lost youth and his failure to become a working cowboy.

The contemporary art in the exhibition presents the West in a complex, provocative manner. The nationally known contemporary western artists in this section include James Drake, Betty Hahn, Martin Cary Horowitz, Luis Jiménez, Bruce Nauman, Patrick Oliphant, Bill Schenck, Lisa Sorrell, and Donald Woodman. The contemporary artists' point of view can be summarized by Horowitz's sculpture Baby Bomb that references Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons, but also presents a powerful antiwar commentary.

Oklahoma artist Lisa Sorrell's leather sculptures, such as Butterflies and Bluebirds, are included in the exhibition. In addition, this sculpture just happens to be a pair of cowboy boots. Butterflies and Bluebirds captures the essence and irony of the West- while the sculpture can worn, it may never hit a dance floor.

James Drake's waterless lithograph Valley of the World relates to his Tony Lama boots with inserts of red snake skin that are also in the exhibition. The print shows a bridge over the Rio Grande connecting Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas. A rectangle of snake skin attached to the print can be understood as both a symbol of the economic ties bridging the two countries, as well as a reference to El Paso-the cowboy boot center of the universe.

Of course, these categories often overlap. Carol Sarkisian's Maurice's Boots, Galisteo, NM . Sarkisian transformed tin-artist Maurice Dixon's worn out boots into jewel-like sculptures, encrusted with glass beads. This work combines sculpture, popular culture, jewelry, and western philosophy into a seductive form.

The content of the exhibition is further explained in Sole Mates: Cowboy Boots and Art, published by the Museum of New Mexico Press: http://www.mnmpress.org/ The publication includes 130 full-color illustrations with narratives by Traugott that further explain the concepts underpinning the exhibition. The book is designed by David Skolkin, the press's award-winning designer.

Sole Mates: Cowboy Boots and Art was organized by the New Mexico Museum of Art, Department of Cultural Affairs, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Exhibitions London. Shhh…it’s a Secret. The Wallace Collection. The Curated Object

2010-02-22T17:00:00-05:00

Jean-François Leleu, A Writing Table, 1774-6, “All by kind permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection.”

Snuff Box, c. 1780, Dresden, “All by kind permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection.”

Gauntlet, attributed to Jacob Halder, Royal Workshop, Greenwich, c. 1608, “All by kind permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection.”

Nicolas Maes, The Listening Housewife, 1656, “All by kind permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection.”

Shhh…it’s a Secret, Unlocking the secrets behind the treasures of the Wallace Collection

A unique, innovative, interactive family exhibition, curated by children

February 4 – March 28, 2010

For the first time in any national museum, The Wallace Collection is proud to present a unique, innovative and interactive exhibition curated by children.

Behind every object lies a story. Twelve young curators from the local school, St. Vincent’s Catholic Primary have been working with Wallace Collection staff to unravel the mysteries behind some of the most enigmatic and enchanting pieces in the Collection, from paintings, to armour, from ceramics to furniture.

Shhh… it’s a Secret explores the secret symbols, functions, compartments and stories behind some of these beautiful pieces. One of the highlights chosen by the children is an exquisite gold and cornelian snuffbox. In1976 curators found an amazing secret. Discovered in a hidden slide were two miniatures, of the famous philosopher Voltaire and his mathematician lover, Émilie, marquise du Châtelet. Unseen for hundreds of years they are as vibrant and sparkling as if they had been painted yesterday.

An elegant oak writing desk by Jean-François Leleu may seem on the surface to be a beautiful but functional piece, but on closer inspection the upper section encloses three cupboards closed by doors faced with dummy book spines and a secret drawer. As one pupil said upon seeing it opened up; “we were fascinated by this piece of furniture, two members of the Wallace Collection held the magical keys and we discovered lots of hidden secret compartments which were a must for our exhibition.”

The pupils loved Nicolas Maes's The Listening Housewife. One of them wrote "I was automatically drawn to this painting for its colour and wit. The lady has her forefinger close to her lips, for me this represents ‘Shhh...’ Is she eavesdropping? What secrets can she hear? It’s great how it ties in beautifully with our exhibition title.”

So if you love a secret and want to know how the beautiful Madame de Sérilly escaped the guillotine and what the initials ‘HP’ stand for on elaborate gauntlet join us on this exciting journey. This exhibition celebrates these small details which you may have previously overlooked and provides an opportunity to enjoy the collection in a new light. But just one thing, Shhh…it's a Secret...!

The pupils have been working with staff from the Wallace Collection one day a week for a year. They have been involved in every aspect of the exhibition from choosing the objects and themes; the display of the galleries including label writing and layout; helping with all press and marketing material and giving a presentation to journalists; designing and running educational workshops and keeping an eye on the budget.

For more information please visit: The Wallace Collection

Exhibitions Santa Fe. Silver Seduction: The Art of Mexican Modernist Antonio Pineda. The International Museum of Folk Art. The Curated Object

2010-02-22T15:00:00-05:00

Antonio Pineda, Pectoral necklace with layered feather design, Silver, onyx inlay, 1953–present Photo: Don Cole

Antonio Pineda, Domed silver cuff with amethyst cabochon set in shadow box, Silver, amethyst, 1953–present, Photo: Don Cole

Antonio Pineda with model, Photographer and date unknown, Courtesy of Antonio Pineda and Javier Ruiz

Antonio Pineda, Necklace with onyx crescent shapes, Silver, onyx, 1953–present, Photo: Don Cole

Silver Seduction: The Art of Mexican Modernist Antonio Pineda

June 4-January 2, 2011

In the mountain town of Taxco in Mexico's state of Guerrero, large-scale mining can be dated to the sixteenth century, and silver is a way of life. In the years following the Mexican Revolution (1910-20), jewelry and other silver objects were crafted there with an entirely innovative approach, informed by modernism and the creation of a new Mexican national identity. Antonio Pineda was a member of the Taxco School and is recognized as a world-class designer. He lived a long and creative life, passing away at the age of 90 on December 14, 2009.

Nearly two hundred examples of Pineda's acclaimed silver work will be displayed inSilver Seduction: The Art of Mexican Modernist Antonio Pineda, a traveling exhibition opening at the Museum of International Folk Art June 4, 2010 through January 2, 2011.

From its inception, the Taxco movement broke new ground in technical achievement and design. While American- born, Taxco-based designer William Spratling has been credited with spearheading the contemporary Taxco silver movement, it was a group of talented Mexican designers who went on to establish independent workshops and develop the distinctive "Taxco School." Pineda, internationally renown for his silver work identified himself primarily as a taxqueño, or Taxco, silversmith. These designers incorporated numerous aesthetic orientations-Pre-Columbian art, silverwork, religious images, and other artwork from the Mexican Colonial period, and local popular arts-merging them within the broad spectrum of modernism.

Pineda himself is lauded for his bold designs and ingenious use of gemstones. Silver Seduction traces the evolution of his work from the 1930s-70s, and includes more than a hundred necklaces and bracelets, as well as numerous rings, earrings, and diverse examples of his hollowware and tableware. All of the works feature Pineda's hard-to-achieve combination of highly refined execution and hand-wrought appeal.

Pineda's jewelry is especially known for its elegant acknowledgment of the human form. It is often said that a Pineda fits the body perfectly, that it feels right when it is worn. For example, a thick geometric necklace that might at first glance seem too weighty or rigid to wear comfortably is, in fact, faceted, hinged, or hollowed in such a way that it gracefully encircles the neck or drapes seductively down the décolletage.

In addition, no other taxqueño jeweler used as many costly semiprecious stones or set them with as much ingenuity, skill, and variety as did Pineda. Only the most talented of silversmiths could master the unique challenges posed by setting gemstones in silver at the high temperature necessary to work the metal. Pineda, however, managed to set gems with as little metal touching them as possible, giving them a free or floating look while still holding them firmly in place. In Pineda's hands, some stones were embedded; rows of gems were set close together to emphasize the structural lines of a design; or stones were cut to fit irregular shapes in a design. Pineda often used cultured pearls, large amethyst drops, and onyx in his designs, many examples of which are on display in the exhibition.

The remarkable creativity of this "Silver Renaissance" era represents a unique moment in the design of Mexican jewelry. Pineda's and his colleagues' modernist works lives on today in Taxco with a thriving industry in silver smithing.

Silver Seduction: The Art of Mexican Modernist Antonio Pineda and its publication are made possible through the generosity of the Donald B. Cordry Memorial Fund and Jill and Barry Kitnick. The exhibition was developed by the curatorial team of the Fowler Museum with consulting curator Gobi Stromberg. All works presented are either from the collections of Cindy Tietze and Stuart Hodosh or the Fowler Museum at UCLA.

For more information please visit: The Museum of International Folk Art

Exhibitions Houston. Magic: The Science of Wonder. The Houston Museum of Natural Science

2010-02-22T14:00:00-05:00

Rapping Hand, photo by Tom DuBrock

This hand was the centerpiece of a popular late 19th and early 20th Century spiritualistic stage effect. The carved wooden hand, resting on a sheet of clear glass held by audience members, would rap out answers to questions. Traditionally, the hand would rap once for “yes” and twice for “no,” but it could also respond with numerical answers to personal questions, such as “How many children will I have?” and “How old will I be when I marry?” The effect could be played straight or tongue-in-cheek, depending on the performer and audience.

Photo by Tom DuBrock, In 1563, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a law was passed making the practice of witchcraft a felony. This led to the persecution of many innocents and so outraged a gentleman farmer, Reginald Scot, Esquire (1538-1599) that he decided to publish an exposé of the fallacies of such superstitious thinking. In 1584, his self-published The Discoverie of Witchcraft became the first book in English “debunking” such superstitions. But it was regarded by many as heretical, since it countered the teachings of the Church of England at the time.

Scot chiefly discussed tricks with balls, coins and cards, but also apparent feats of self mutilation and even decapitation. In doing so, he gave us an intimate portrait of the 16th century conjuring repertoire and its technical basis. Although Scot’s intent was to expose—rather than teach—magic, his book formed the basis of conjuring literature in English and several other languages (it was quickly translated into Dutch and German) for more than 200 years. It is also said to have been used by Shakespeare as a source for his plays when dealing with the themes of witchcraft.

The Crystal Clock Dial, Photo by Tom DuBrock

A classic stage effect that dates to the 19th century and remained popular into the early 20th century, but is seldom seen today. In this spiritualistic feat, a number from 1 to 12 – merely thought of by an audience member – is divined by the spirits when the freely spinning clock hand mysteriously slows and stops on the spectator’s number.

Magic: The Science of Wonder

February 26-September 6, 2010

Magic—illusory feats of wonder that dazzle the eye and confound expectations—has fascinated humanity for centuries. Mesmerized by the masters of illusion who perform this mysterious craft, we’re drawn to the spectacle, curious to discover “How did they do that?”

Though their methods are enshrouded in secrecy, magicians combine the art of performance with a variety of scientific disciplines, including math, physics and psychology, to create their dazzling effects and fascinating illusions. With a touch of hocus-pocus and a dash of abracadabra, the Houston Museum of Natural Science pulls a spectacular new exhibition out of its hat—Magic: The Science of Wonder, opening Friday, February 26, 2010. The extraordinary show examines how science and magic are intertwined through more than 100 fascinating artifacts and mesmerizing live performances. Magic is the perfect subject to inspire people of all ages, especially kids, to learn about the science behind magic and the world around them.

“In a way, it’s Science that gives us the language to experience Wonder. It’s the head-on collision of the two that inspires an unexpected feeling within...that’s what magic is all about for me,” said Scott Cervine, guest curator of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. “It’s no accident that Magic’s greatest innovators are often inventors or scientists first, who then become smitten with their own feeling of amazement and want to share it with a larger audience.”

Presenting an array of artifacts connected with legendary performers of the past and present, the exhibition will also feature film and video clips of famous magicians, as well as guest illusionists performing live. Among the many intriguing artifacts to be featured are torches for fire eating; magic lanterns and automatons; Harry Houdini’s trademark milk can and water escape trunk; Harry Blackstone’s “Zig Zag Girl” prop; Mike Caveney’s linking coat hangers; and items from the acts of Doug Henning, Penn & Teller, and other superstars of magic.

Walk Through the Exhibition

As visitors enter Magic, they will immediately pause at the impressive sight of a giant keyhole, which creates a feeling of ‘peering in’ to a secret room. At the end of the corridor, the ornate stone bust of a beautiful woman, modeled after Adelaide Herrmann, one of the feminine figures of magic history, stands seven feet tall. The eyes of the statue are closed, but her spirit draws visitors just the same.

Walking through the eccentric hallway that leads within, a glance from side to side reveals translucent walls and images of 22 well known magicians, such as Robert-Houdin, Harry Houdini, Blackstone, Dai Vernon and many other legends. Then, travel through the history of magic. Learn how this mystical art began; meet famous magicians who transformed the art from the earliest recorded illusions, dated back to the first century A.D., to the present day, and find out how popular writers such as Chaucer and Rabelais used the colorful metaphor of the magician in their works. Marvel at sensational relics used to ‘wow’ audiences – like the mysterious rapping hand illusion; a flea circus; and cups and balls—the earliest recorded illusion, this classic deception, in which the magician makes three small balls vanish and appear under three cups, is now known throughout the world.

Enter the Hall of Principles and discover different principles of magic (click to play video) through visual illustrations: appearance; disappearance; restoration; penetration; suspension; levitation; transformation; and transposition. Then, discover the Women of Magic. See photographs, posters and props used by past performers, followed by contemporary women Magicians including Tina Lenert, who combines mime, story and magic to create her award-winning act.

Next, experience an all-new illusion by entering a life-size replica of Alexander Herrmann’s private train car, created especially for this exhibition. Known as Hermann the Great, Alexander traveled from one magical performance to the next by train with his wife, Adelaide; this powerful illusion —where visitors experience something akin to a séance led by the spirit of Adelaide Herrmann herself —is designed for only the bravest visitors.

Finally, enter a live theater, built from the ground up especially for this exhibition. At just under 100 seats, the theater’s ornate proscenium and red velvet curtain create a feeling of intimacy for visitors’ live encounter with one of our many award-winning Magicians.

Many, many other surprises are in store. The Houston Museum of Natural Science invites you to step out of everyday life and into a world where amazement lies around every corner.

Magic: The Science of Wonder, developed by the Houston Museum of Natural Science in partnership with Movies From The Heart, is generously supported by Weatherford International Ltd. and HMW Entertainment.

For more information please visit: The Houston Museum of Natural Science

Exhibitions Milan. What Things We Are. Triennale Design Museum. The Curated Object

2010-02-22T11:00:00-05:00

Stefano Giovannoni, Lullaby, 2006

Gumdesign, Swing, 2008, COLLEVILCA Cristalleria - COLLE VAL D'ELSA

Alessandro Ciffo, Damien, 2009

Roberto Mora, Oil, 2002

Third Interpretation: What Things We Are

From March 27th 2010 

  After having answered the question "What is Italian Design?" through the Seven Obsessions of Italian Design and Series, Off Series, starting from 27th March 2010 the Triennale Design Museum presents a new interpretation of Italian design entitled "What Things We Are." The   Triennale Design Museum confirms its role as a dynamic museum, capable of being constantly renewed and providing visitors with unprecedented and diversified perspectives, viewpoints and approaches. The museum offers an emotional and inclusive experience as a live organism capable of challenging its own approach, denying it and asking new questions. The theoretical position upon which the third interpretation of Triennale Design Museum is based is that Italy hosts a multifaceted and endless world characterised by invisible and unorthodox design, parallel to the world of institutional design.   The exhibition is focused on the histories and stories originating from individual objects that, arranged sequentially, form a network of relations and connections-- a multifaceted landscape liable to lead to unbalance and puzzlement, albeit steeped in emotion.   A selection of works by masters, artists and young designers starts a dialogue with unexpected objects that initially do not seem to be consistent but are not what they seem. They reveal complex schemes, offer unprecedented evidence of Italian creativity and contribute to supplying a different definition of the identity and essence of Italian design.   The exhibition “stages” Italian design using an installation presentation entrusted to Pierre Charpin.

  Silvana Annicchiarico states: ”With the first interpretation we have compared and contrasted Peter Greenaway’s baroque approach with the eclectic attitude of Italo Rota and the radical stance of Andrea Branzi.  In the second interpretation, we started a dialogue between the classic, rigorous and rationalist clarity of Antonio Citterio and the scientific and didactic approach of Andrea Branzi.  We now create a short circuit between the poetic and conceptual minimalism of Pierre Charpin and the punctilious and surprising encyclopaedic approach adopted by Alessandro Mendini, with his endless and ever-changing passions for all forms of material culture.   Once again, our goal is to be surprising and revealing, turning the museum into an unexpected environment.   We wish to provide visitors – specialists and art lovers alike – with an approach leading to the revision of certainties and stereotypes and, once again, to a reflection on how objects contribute to determine what we are.”

For more information please visit: The Triennale Design Museum

Exhibitions Minneapolis. How Secretaries Changed the 20th Century: Office Design, Image, Culture. The Goldstein Museum of Design. The Curated Object

2010-02-22T10:00:00-05:00

Female employees sewing in employee lounge, Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, Minneapolis,  credit line: Charles J. Hibbard

Fay N. Christenson, legal secretary at her desk. credit line: St. Paul Dispatch & Pioneer Press

Miss B. M. Knorr on the telephone at an office desk, credit line: Minnesota Historical Society

Northwestern Bell Telephone Company office workers exercising,  credit line: Charles J. Hibbard

Private first class Ruby Peterson and Private first class Helen Canfield at work in the office of the air inspector, Casper Army Air Field, Wyoming.

Office of Janney, Semple, Hill and Company, Minneapolis,  credit line: C. J. Hibbard & Company

Western Freight traffic office,  credit line: Charles J. Hibbard

Flavia Daniels, secretary in the Pine County offices,  credit line: Minnesota Historical Society

Employee lounge, Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, Minneapolis , credit line: Charles J. Hibbard

Interior of office at Melone-Bovey Lumber Company, Minneapolis, credit line: Minnesota Historical Society

Lila Johnson Goff in her office at the Minnesota Historical Society,  credit line: Eugene Debs Becker

February 6 – May 23, 2010

During the 20th century women poured into offices all over the U.S. to work as “typewriter girls,” stenographers, and secretaries. New spaces, furnishings, and clothing emerged to meet their needs, while popular culture glamorized them. The exhibition explores transformations in the workplace and women’s lives and features office equipment, furniture, fashions, magazines, and much more. Co-curated by Midori Green (Ph.D. candidate, Art History) and Katherine Solomonson (Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Design) They mined archives from New York to Los Angeles, researched office design, and talked with scores of women who had been secretaries. During the exhibition GMD will collect donations of gently used women’s office wear for Women Achieving New Directions.

For more information please visit: The Goldstein Museum of Design

Exhibitions San Francisco. Pocket Guide to New Zealand Jewelry. Velvet da Vinci Gallery. The Curated Object

2010-02-12T15:00:00-05:00

Alan Preston, Pendant: Breastplate 2006, Gold lip oyster shell, vau, gold, 14,5 cm breastplate, 7,5 cm pendant

Lisa Walker, Necklace: Untitled 2006, New Zealand mussel shells, wool, plastic, glue, fabric, 55 cm

Octavia Cook, Brooch: A Diplomatic Acquisition for the Ambassador of the Bi-Cultural Merger 2008 Bakelite, acrylic, sterling silver, 10 x 8 x 0,8 cm

Warwick Freeman, Brooch: Face Ache 2007, Horse tooth, sterling silver, 2,5 x 2,5 x 2 cm

Jason Hall, Pendant: Shotgun Heart 2009, Shotgun barrel, linen cord, 3,5 x 1,5 cm

Warwick Freeman, Brooches: Kiwi Footprint stone, sterling silver, 8 x 3,5 x 1 cm

Anna Wallis, Pendant: Large White Crystal Pendant 2009, Sterling silver, powdercoat enamel, 7 x 4 x 4 cm

The Pocket Guide to New Zealand

January 13-Feb. 28, 2010

During the Second World War, American soldiers in New Zealand were issued an informative and witty guide to familiarize themselves with the country in which they were stationed. Published by the War and Navy Departments in 1943, Pocket Guide to New Zealand was, as the name promised, a descriptive guide to the history, culture, peoples and language of New Zealand. "Deep in the heart of the south seas", the guide suggested, soldiers would discover a society both similar and different to America. Reassuring readers that New Zealanders were a pioneering society who had been "seeing our movies, listening to our radio, and reading our magazines", the Pocket Guide to New Zealand concluded that American soldiers would meet "a people with some of the British reserve, with many British methods and institutions, but with American outspokenness and directness "plus a working knowledge of American slang."

Five decades later, the Pocket Guide to New Zealand Jewelry continues this tradition of cultural exchange, introducing a new generation of Americans to contemporary jewelry made "deep in the heart of the south seas". Small enough to fit in your pocket, yet big enough to survey the best contemporary jewelers currently working in New Zealand, the Pocket Guide to New Zealand Jewelry is an indispensable introduction to the history and practice of adornment in a country that continues to transform cultural influences from England (and Europe) and America into jewelry that American audiences will find both familiar and strange.

Participating artists: Anna Wallis, Jane Dodd, Jason Hall, Peter Deckers, Fran Allison, Warwick Freeman, Areta Wilkinson, Alan Preston, Renee Bevan, Lisa Walker, Peter McKay, Lynn Kelly, Octavia Cook, Andrea Daly, Pauline Bern, Niki Hastings-McFall

Curated by Dr. Damian Skinner

For more information please visit: Velvet da Vinci

Exhibitions Frankfurt. The Inner Life of Things. Frankfurter Kunstverein. The Curated Object

2010-02-12T11:00:00-05:00

EGILL SÆBJÖRNSSON, “Grey Still Life II”, 2009, Ausstellungsansicht: Grusenmeyer Art Gallery, Ghent, Foto/Photo: © Grusenmeyer Art Gallery, Ghent, Courtesy by the artist, i8 Gallery Reykjavik and Grusenmeyer Art Gallery Deurle

FLORIAN HAAS, "Fliegenpilz“, 2007, Öl auf Leinwand /Oil on canvas (90 cm x 120 cm) Foto/ Photo: Martin Url, Courtesy Galerie Heike Strelow

NINA CANELL, "Temporary Encampment (Five Blue Solids)“, 2009, (Detailansicht), Electromagnetic devices, gypsum panels, plastic, Courtesy by the artist und Konrad

The Inner Life of Things

February 5 – April 25, 2010

The probing of nature and the world of things through representation and imitation in order to gain a deeper understanding of the worlds being, runs like a thread throughout the history of fine art. The central theme in the group exhibition “The Inner Life of Things” revolves around questions of mimesis, which is understood as the simulated representation of reality, and traces the role it takes today in artistic production.

The works at the Frankfurter Kunstverein by the artists Nina Canell, Florian Haas, Till Krause, Bettina Lauck, Yoon Jean Lee, Egill Sæbjörnsson and Andreas Wegner present different methods in the search for the “Inner Life of Things”. They thereby employ a formal, at first seemingly similar,language in which they mostly show series of painted, photographic or filmed effigies of everyday objects such as bottles, glasses, balls, stones, mushrooms, flowers, tools, toys or everyday products. By means of various observational and representational approaches, they carry out investigations so as to gain a better insight into the character of the object. In this manner, they also bring something fundamentally new into existence. Thus the artistic works question, in exemplarily fashion, the structure of the “real world” and the relationship of the viewer to it. Complementing the seven artistic positions, several objects from the Museum der Dinge / Werkbundarchiv (Berlin) will be shown.

The concept of mimesis lost its relevance by the beginning of the 20th century with the onset of modernity and prevailing mass media reproductive technologies. Since then, it is exactly this questioning that has become the central motif of artistic production: A representation of what is considered to be the real world is hardly possible without a reflexion on the parameters associated with it. Now, with the most diverse artistic strategies such as seriality, fragmentation, scaling or dissolution, images continue to come into being that put their relationship with reality or their own status into question. Till Krause (*1965) is known for his mappings of landscapes and spaces. Yet some of his artistic investigations do not refer to actual constellations, as is so in the work “Element für eine künstliche Natur”. This work consists of 128 photographs that each show the same stone before a neutral background, and in which only the viewing angle varies. After a while it becomes possible to discern that this stone cannot in fact be real and that it concerns, instead, an artificial model. It is an object, which is reminiscent of a “stone”, the mimetic effigy of an idea that was examined with photographic meticulousness.

On the other hand, the artist Florian Haas (*1961) presents in his naive paintings that are rich in colour, physical things that arise from his imagination. Therefore, portraits of mushrooms, flowers or physical and scenery pictures appear through a process of sensitive observation and appreciation. Then again, one is reminded of baroque models of naturalistic still life painting in the staged photography of Bettina Lauck (*1973). With dreamlike illuminated fruits, branches and blossoms, the artist leaves the likelihood open, whether they concern arrangements or natural found assemblages. The works of the Icelandic artist Egill Sæbjörnsson (*1973) and the South Korean artist Yoon Jean Lee (*1972) focus on little noticed, everyday items such as bottles, cups, tables or chairs. Sæbjörnsson rouses arrangements of still lifes of mundane objects through the use of light, sound installations and video installations; elicits them as protagonists of his stage-like settings in the large hall of the Frankfurter Kunstverein, calling forth new traits as a result. Yoon Jean Lee, again, uses photography of supposedly trivial interior situations to question the attention that everyday objects currently receive, by way of individual visual compositions and perspectives.

The installations of the Swedish artist Nina Canell (*1979) often appear as functional interconnections: plastic tubs, neon tubes, measuring instruments, loudspeakers, fixtures and documents are combined with natural materials such as branches, stones and earth, as arrangements. These irritate, on the one hand, by means of their unusual sculptural qualities while, on the other hand, a logic of experimental circulation appears to be the outcome. The being in the thing here turns out to be an interplay between various dimensions. The contribution to the exhibition by Andreas Wegner (*1958) is to be conceived in the context of the store display, which was installed by the artist during the past exhibition “Notions of the Artists”. This store was a branch of the currently closed store “Le Grand Magasin” at HermannQuartier, in Berlin. Within the scope of “The Inner Life of Things” the new installed objects from cooperative production, which will now no longer be on sale, pass through redefinition and will now be questioned concerning their “Dinghaftigkeit” (a kind of “thingliness”). An extensive program of lectures, events and artist talks accompanies the exhibition.

“The Inner Life of Things” is made possible by the kind support of the Hessische Kulturstiftung, the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts, and also by Culture Ireland and the Center for Icelandic Art.

For more information please visit: Frankfurter Kunstverein

Exhibitions Middlburg, Netherlands. Superflex: Porcelain Pirates. Zeeuws Museum. The Curated Object

2010-02-11T13:00:00-05:00

filmstill, Porcelain Pirates

SUPERFLEX - Porcelain Pirates

October 3, 2009 - March 28, 2010

In 2009 the Zeeuws Museum is exploring the significance of local identity in an international context. Important themes within this project are how a collection is formed, expanded and how it can serve as a source of inspiration. How can a museum use its collection in new ways and make it accessible to the public? How can the collection inspire you? What does the collection reflect local identity? And how do you deal with copyright issues? The museum has posed these questions to the Danish artists' collective SUPERFLEX. Following a year of research they have presented their findings in an exhibition that opened this autumn. With their work SUPERFLEX offer a razor-sharp critique of contemporary society. They make use of the opportunities the art world affords them in order to denounce it.

SUPERFLEX have exhibited at the Venice Biennale (2003), the Taipei Biennial (2008), the Louisiana Museum near Copenhagen, the Kunsthalle Fridericianum in Kassel and the Kunsthalle Basel.

For more information please visit: Zeeuws Museum