The Curated Object

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. 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).

----

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

Exhibitions NYC. CONFUCIUS: His Life and Legacy in Art. The China Institute Gallery. The Curated Object

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

Finial for a staff, Warring States Period (475–221 BCE), Bronze with gold and silver inlay, H. 10 × W. 22 cm, Kong Residence Cultural Relics Archive, Cultural Relics Administrative Committee of Qufu City, Shandong Province

Anonymous, Memorial Portrait of Madame Li, Wife of Kong Chuanduo, 68th-generation Duke for Perpetuating the Sage, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, 176.5 × 97 cm (painting only), 313.5 × 118 cm (overall with mounting), Kong Residence Cultural Relics Archive, Cultural Relics Administrative Committee of Qufu City, Shandong Province

Statue of Confucius (one of a pair),
Song dynasty (960–1279),
Wood, originally painted,
H. 37 cm; W. 15.5 cm,
Kong Residence Cultural Relics Archive, Cultural Relics Administrative Committee of Qufu City Shandong Province
Imprint of imperially bestowed ‘Poetry, Documents [or Books], Ritual [and] Music’ seal, Ming dynasty (1368–1644) Soapstone (shoushan shi), H. 7.2 x W. 6 x D. 3.5 cm, Kong Residence Cultural Relics Archive, Cultural Relics Administrative Committeeof Qufu City, Shandong Province

Rectangular food container of the Earl of Lu (Lu Bo xu),
Western Zhou (1027–771 BCE),
Bronze
H. 19 × W. 35 × D. 17 cm,
Kong Residence Cultural Relics Archive, Cultural Relics Administrative Committee of Qufu City, Shandong Province

Confucius: His Life and HIs Legacy in Art
February 11-June 13
For those who want to be graced by the objects of enlightenment, not just consume them, The Curated Object recommends experiencing the culture of Confucius. This landmark exhibition on the extraordinary philosopher, statesman and teacher known as Confucius (551- 479 BCE) will be on view at China Institute Gallery from February 11 through June 13, 2010. CONFUCIUS: His Life and Legacy in Art will focus on the life, teachings and continuing influence of Confucius, who has become increasingly synonymous with Chinese culture. Nearly 100 objects from the world of Confucius and his ennobled descendants will be on exhibition, including hanging scrolls, album leaves, bronze vessels, stone carvings, jade ceremonial implements, wood-block prints and textiles. The works are on loan for the first time in the U.S. from the Shandong Provincial Museum in Jinan and the Confucius Museum in his hometown of Qufu. CONFUCIUS: His Life and Legacy in Art is the first exhibition in the U.S. to explore the culture of Confucius. The show incorporates images and artifacts that were created to venerate the man himself, as well as the ideas associated with him, loosely called Confucianism. A fully illustrated scholarly catalogue will accompany the exhibition.
For more information please visit: The China Institute Gallery

Exhibitions Fremantle, Australia. Expanded Ceramithéque Drug Time Present, An Exploration into 1970s and 80s Ceramics. The Fremantle Art Center. The Curated Object

2010-02-10T18:14:04-05:00

Nite Store by Kathy Morano

Guy Benfield, Mother Door Spirit Level, 2007, performance, Jack the Pelican Presents, New York

Guy Benfield: Expanded Ceramitéque Drug Time Present

January 30 - March 14, 2010

Guy Benfield returns to Fremantle Arts Centre to present Expanded Ceramithéque Drug Time Present, an exploration into 1970s and 80s ceramics. A quasi-anthropologist, Benfield takes cues from architectural structures and material culture of utopian groups. He immerses himself in the brown, encrusted ceramics synonymous with the era: relics and reminders incorporated into his own pop-psychedelic aesthetic. In a rare glimpse into the City of Fremantle Art Collection, dated ceramics are incorporated with gusto into Benfield’s chaotic installation. The result is an eclectic collection of objects and textures – the homely brown ceramics of the City of Fremantle Art Collection alongside those of his own creation, contrasted with the faux-wood grain, woven textures and silver foils that permeate his own personal style.

Expanded Ceramithéque Drug Time Present is a point of reflection on the history of ceramics in Fremantle. Still a vestige of creativity in WA, Benfield has used his time in Fremantle to capture the vibrancy and honesty of the ceramic craft. Joined by artist and collaborator Constanze Zikos, Guy Benfields’ opening night performance will transform the gallery space through a séance like disco. His choreographed chorus of silver and clay reflects upon a recent era in which the hand-made, the backyard and the local seemed paramount.

Exhibitions NYC. Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary. The Drawing Center. The Curated Object

2010-02-10T17:27:55-05:00

Study for Metastaseis, 1954, Ink on paper, 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches, Iannis Xenakis Archives, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

Study for Polytope de Montréal (light score), c. 1966, Color pencil on paper, 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches, Iannis Xenakis Archives, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

Study for Terretektorh, c. 1965 –66, Color pencil on paper, 8 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches, Iannis Xenakis Archives, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

Study for Metastaseis, 1953, Pencil on paper, 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches, Iannis Xenakis Archives, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary

January 15 – April 8, 2010

The Drawing Center announces Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary, onview in the Main Gallery from January 15 – April 8, 2010. The exhibition will explore thefundamental role of drawing in the work of avant-garde composer Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001).One of the most important figures in late twentieth-century music, Xenakis originally trained as an engineer and was also known as an architect, developing iconic designs while working with Le Corbusier in the 1950s. This premiere presentation of Xenakis’s visual work in North America will be comprised of samples of his pioneering graphic notation, architectural plans, compelling preparatory mathematical renderings, and pre-compositional sketches—in all, nearly 100 documents created between 1953 and 1984. Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary is cocurated by Xenakis scholar Sharon Kanach and critic Carey Lovelace and will travel to the Canadian Centre for Architecture (June 17 – October 17, 2010) and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (November 7, 2010 – February 13, 2011).

The exhibition will be accompanied by an ambitious schedule of public programs, concerts, and symposia around New York in collaboration with Electronic Music Foundation (EMF), 92YTribeca, Brooklyn Experimental Media Center at Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Diapason Gallery, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the New York University Percussion Ensemble, the Miller Theatre at Columbia University, and The Morgan Library & Museum. Programs will include a virtual-reality recreation of the programming within the Philips Pavilion, taking place at the Judson Church; a month-long sound installation recreating several of his works; a three-day symposium exploring the composer/architect’s ongoing impact in music and design; performances of Xenakis’s compositions; and a film program. The exhibition will coincide with the 2010 launch of The Xenakis Project of the Americas, under the auspices of the Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation within the Graduate Center of City University of New York.

One of the world’s most widely performed contemporary composers, Xenakis brought together architecture, sound, and advanced contemporary mathematics, moving away from traditional polyphony to create music comprised of masses of sound, shifting abstract aural gestures, linear permutation, and sonic pointillism. A groundbreaking interdisciplinary approach was also apparent in his architectural creations, such as the Philips Pavilion, an icon of twentieth-century architecture, which Xenakis created under Le Corbusier for the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. The design of the Philips Pavilion’s volumetric structure was inspired by the glissandi—glides between pitches—that made up Xenakis’s groundbreaking orchestral work Metastaseis (1953–54). The meticulously rendered works on view in the exhibition burst with kinetic energy and palpable sonic qualities,providing a singular insight into this extraordinary innovator’s process of “thinking through the hand.” In addition, listening stations and preloaded iPods and will provide an intimate aural experience to accompany the works on view.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Iannis Xenakis was born in 1922 in Braïla, Romania, and died in 2001 in Paris, France. A Greek Resistance fighter in World War II, he fled to France as a political refugee in 1947. Having obtained an engineering degree from the Athens Polytechnic Institute, he collaborated with Le Corbusier in Paris from 1947–1959. From 1950–1953, while working with the noted architect, he studied composition at the Paris Conservatory under Olivier Messiaen. Xenakis’s collaboration with Le Corbusier as an engineer and architect yielded innovative projects such as the Couvent de La Tourette (1955) and the Philips Pavilion at the Brussels World’s Fair (1958). Xenakis was also a speculative thinker, the author of such books as Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition; Music and Architecture; and Arts/Sciences: Alloys. He was the founder (1965) and Director of the Center for Studies of Mathematical and Automated Music (CEMAMu) in Paris; Associate Professor, Electronic Music and founder and Director, Center for Mathematical and Automated Music (CMAM) at Indiana University in Bloomington (1967–72); researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris (1970); Gresham Professor of Music, City University London (1975); and Professor at the University of Paris (1972–89). Iannis Xenakis was awarded the Kyoto Prize in 1997, considered the Nobel Prize of Music, and the Polar Prize in 1999.

ABOUT THE CURATORS

Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary is co-curated by Sharon Kanach and Carey Lovelace. Sharon Kanach, a Paris-based new music specialist who worked closely with Xenakis until the end of his life, has edited and translated several books of his writings. New York-based critic Carey Lovelace is co-president emeritus of the International Association of Art Critics, U.S. Chapter, anda writer for Art in America, Artforum, and other publications. Lovelace, formerly an avant-garde composer, and Kanach both attended Xenakis’s legendary class at the Université de Paris I, which he led from 1972 through 1989.

For more information please visit: The Drawing Center

Exhibitions Paris. Pergola. Palais de Tokyo. The Curated Object

2010-02-10T16:22:43-05:00

Raphaël Zarka, "La draisine", 2009, Replica of the gang car of Jean Bertin's Aerotrain, Two Jawa motorbikes, galvanized iron, plywood, 129 x 222 x 446 cm, Exhibition view L'abbé Nollet, Les Eglises, Centre d’Art Contemporain de Chelles, 2009, Photo : Aurélien Mole, Collection Raymond Azibert, Carcassonne, Courtesy galerie Michel Rein, Paris*

Hand, Charlotte Posenenske, "Vierkantrohre Serie D," Authorised reconstruction with certificate, Main train station Frankfurt am Main, 1989 *vue exposition chasing.jpg*

"Square tube Serie D (Vierkantrohre Serie D)", 1967-2009, Exhibition view, Chasing Napoléon, Palais de Tokyo , 2009, Paris, Authorised reconstruction with certificate, Modular elements, galvanised sheet steel, adaptable dimensions, Courtesy gallery Medhi Chouakri, Berlin. Photo André Morin

Valentin Carron: "Pergola", 2001, (c) Valentin Carron. Courtesy Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich.

PERGOLA

February 19 - May 16, 2010

We are haunted by our interiors and exteriors and kept in motion by the velocity of their intersections. Pergola asks what it means to take shelter -- and how shelter takes us......

LAITH AL-AMIRI / VALENTIN CARRON / CHARLOTTE POSENENSKE / SERGE SPITZER / RAPHAËL ZARKA

PERGOLA

1916 – Le Corbusier builds a "Villa Turque" (Turkish Villa), the Villa Schwob, flanked by a pergola, in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland). Some years later, he publishes photos of it in L'Esprit Nouveau. On the ground, in front of the villa, a white smear betrays retouching: the pergola has disappeared from the reproduction. Less than a century later, the Iraqi journalist Mountazer al-Zaïdi throws his shoes at George W. Bush's head.

POLTERGEISTS

PERGOLA rises out of the depths of a modernity haunted by everything that it has eradicated. Valentin Carron – himself author of an artwork also entitled Pergola (2001) – creates in Palais de Tokyo's main space a universe evocative of a museum guardian's bad dream. In this space, sculptures summon modern art, but hanging from the glass ceiling, sombre lanterns recall a Swiss tavern. The walls, covered in grey stucco, borrow as many elements from a suburban home as they do from an isolated ghetto.

OVERHEAD KICK

In their afterlives, through upheavals and uprisings, the victims that were once erased from modernity speak out in the form of a giant shoe: a monument created by Laith Al-Amiri in homage to the loafer thrown by the Iraqi journalist at George W. Bush's head. Forgotten forms take shape and materialize in the public spaces and, in doing so, demand equal treatment. In the works of Raphaël Zarka, Renaissance forms fraternize with skateboard ramps or breakwaters. Serge Spitzer's deranged system of pneumatic dispatch challenges all forms of communication. Charlotte Posenenske's artwork is emblematic of the politics of the spectre that lay the foundation for a communism of substances.

CHARLOTTE POSENENSKE

PERGOLA provides an opportunity to experience the first retrospective ever shown in France of the major German artist Charlotte Posenenske, who was a contemporary of the American minimalists. A unique path led her from a modernist practice of abstract painting to a militant approach to three-dimensional space. Her last installations were composed of galvanized steal tubes, which the curator could distribute at will. Between her use of elementary materials and the artwork's price roughly equivalent to the production cost, her approach is clearly political: "I have trouble resigning myself to the idea that art will not contribute to the resolution of current social issues," said Posenenske, who performed by installing her works in public spaces in order to subvert monumentalism as well as to celebrate silent productive forces. Following her own reasoning to its extreme, she left behind all artistic activities in order to dedicate herself to sociology in 1968.

For more information please visit: Palais de Tokyo

Exhibitions Philadelphia. Philagrafika 2010. Various Venues. The Curated Object

2010-02-10T16:00:00-05:00

ARTIST: Pepón Osorio
You’re Never Ready, 2009,
Inkjet print on confetti, MDF support,
Courtesy of the artist
You’re Never Ready is a bed of confetti on which the artist printed an enlarged image of an X-ray of his mother’s head which, ghost-like, seems to glow with an ethereal inner light. Using his own story as a means of acknowledging our inability to be fully prepared for the inevitable loss of loved ones, Osorio fuses a celebration of his mother’s life with a potent reminder of her mortality.
ARTIST: Betsabeé Romero
Always finding another cage, 2010, Carved public transportation tires, prints on wire mesh, Installation view at Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia
Photo: Amanda Mott, Courtesy the artist

ARTIST: Francesc Ruiz
Installation view of Francesc Ruiz, “Newsstand,” 2010,
Wooden structure, printed magazines and newspapers,
Installation view at Temple Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Temple University as a part of Philagrafika 2010; Philadelphia, PA
Photo: Image courtesy of the artist.
ARTIST: Óscar Muñoz
Installation shot of Narcisos (Narcissi) , by Óscar Muñoz (Colombian, born 1951)
1999. Suite of nine works; charcoal powder on Plexiglas,
Courtesy of the artist and Sicardi Gallery,
Photo by Constance Mensh, Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philagrafika 2010
January 29 through April 11, 2010
Showcasing 300 international artists at some 80 venues, Philagrafika 2010 — the first of what's hoped to be a new triennial in Philadelphia — bills itself as the largest art festival in the United States, and the largest in the world devoted to graphic arts. Conceived by Colombian artist Jose Roca, who lived in Philadelphia a few years ago while on fellowship at the Institute of Contemporary Art, the event is devoted to exploring the dynamic, and often unexpected, role of printmaking in contemporary art. Virtually every conceivable use of print shows up: from illustration to bookmaking, from woodcut to video, from sculptor to fabric.
The 100 works featured in "Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations [Of A Crazy World]" are some of the more traditional. Washed in lemon yellows and hyacinth lavenders, these gouaches and colored pencil drawings depict a cozy world of dogs and books, a place where the pleasures of writing, thinking, and observing are keenly felt and the pace is never rushed. Culled from a 30-year-ouevre of work for The New Yorker and from her book illustrations, once seen, they become instantly identifiable. There are Thurbersque self-portraits and Hockney-like interiors. There's a Matissean love of color and pattern, and a fondness for vignettes. Kalman's feminine vision of domesticity is further heightened here by the presence of quirky personal objects — old ironing boards, ladders, and ephemera — from her studio and home.
At the nearby Arthur Ross Gallery, also part of the University of Pennsylvania, sculptor Miler Lagos and a cadre of assistants pasted two tons of old newspapers end-to-end, before hand-rolling the resulting carpet into a cylinder that's seven-feet in diameter. Lagos gently singed the paper, then turned the cylinder on its side and viola — the whole thing looks like a cross-section of a felled tree. The work is, he says, "about reversing the printing process, and turning the paper back into a 'tree'."
These two, very diverse, exhibits are part of Philagrafika's largest segment, "Independent Projects." The core exhibition, "The Graphic Unconsciousness" features work by 35 artists from 18 countries at Moore College of Art & Design; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Print Center; and Temple Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Temple University. "Out of Print" asks five artists to create site-specific works inspired by the five historic Philadelphia institutions —the American Philosophical Society (APS) Museum; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the Independence Seaport Museum; the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the Rosenbach Museum & Library — with which they are matched. — JoAnn Greco
For more information, please visit philagrafika2010.org

Exhibitions St. Louis. Kuna Mola: Maintaining Tradition Amid Change. The Sheldon Art Museum. The Curated Object

2010-02-10T15:00:00-05:00

Woman Sewing a Mola, 1990s, Artist Unknown, 12.5 x 17 inches, cotton; 3 layers (maroon, orange, black); reverse and direct appliqué, embroidery, collection of Joyce Cheney.
RCA Dog, 1970s, Artist Unknown, 13.5 x 17 inches, cotton; 3 layers (black, orange, maroon); reverse and direct appliqué, embroidery, collection of Joyce Cheney. “Perro (dog) Musica” is the famous RCA advertisement of a dog listening for its master’s voice.
Basketball (Child-Sized Panel), 1980s, Artist Unknown, 9.75 x 13 inches, cotton; 3 layers (black, orange, maroon); reverse and direct appliqué, embroidery, collection of Joyce Cheney. Basketball is very popular among Kuna men.

“How-To” Mola, 1980s, Artist Unknown, 12.75 x 17 inches, cotton; 3 layers (maroon, yellow-orange, orange); reverse appliqué, collection of Joyce Cheney. Molas are made through reverse appliqué. The seamstress stacks 1-5 layers of cloth and pencils a rough design on the top piece. She then bastes the layers together with large stitches (@ 1/2” ea.) and proceeds layer-by-layer top to bottom, cutting through one layer, folding the edges under and hemming them, then, repeating the cuts, folds and hemming on the layer below. She may vary background layers by inserting patches of cloth in specific areas. She may also fill spaces with one or more layers of direct appliqué, in which she adds specially-cut patches of cloth to the top. When appliqué is complete, she may add embroidery as well. After she has sewn the entire panel by hand, she uses a machine to assemble the blouse.
Manatees (sea cows) and Stingray, 1980s, Artist Unknown, 13 x 15.5 inches, cotton; 3 layers (orange, maroon, green); reverse and direct appliqué, embroidery, collection of Joyce Cheney.
Tree of Life #1, 1980s, Artist Unknown, 14.25 x 18 inches, cotton; 3 layers (maroon, orange, black); reverse and direct appliqué, embroidery, collection of Joyce Cheney.
Hanger “Grandmother Mola,” 1970s, Artist Unknown, 15 x 17.5 inches, cotton; 2 layers (black, white); reverse appliqué. This pattern is based on wooden tree-fork hangers tied to walls or rafters and used to hold clothes or household tools. Black and white molas were popular in the 1960s and 70s, Collection of Joyce Cheney.

Cruise Ship Trade Mola by Renelio Robles, 1998, 12.5 x 17 inches, cotton, synthetics; direct applique, embroidery, collection of Joyce Cheney. This mola is different from most traditional molas in several ways:
•it was sewn as a single panel for sale to tourists,
•colors were chosen to appeal to tourist tastes,
•it uses only direct appliqué,
•it includes solid areas,
•it was made by a gay man, and
•the subject matter is new.
“Zormay” is probably the name of a ship that cruised the islands in a previous season. The “x” marks the ship’s door which lowers into a ramp, allowing passengers to disembark. This mola, which is well-designed and well-made, is a fitting one with which to end, as it is a multifaceted example of the Kuna’s mola tradition continuing amid change.

Funeral Trade Mola, by Marvel Misselis, 1999, 12.5 x 15.5 inches, cotton; 2 layers (maroon, red); reverse and direct appliqué, embroidery, collection of Joyce Cheney. The deceased is in a hammock which is connected by a thread to a small, carved canoe. The deceased’s spirit travels on the thread to the canoe and then floats to the spirit world. Mourners sit on low wooden stools. Cocoa bean incense burns in a sianala (brown clay brazier). Plants and birds, which have spiritual powers, are nearby.

Kuna Mola: Maintaining Tradition Amid Change
February 19 – May 8, 2010
This exhibition, from the collection of Joyce Cheney, features over 60 exquisite examples ofmolas made by Kuna women in Panama in the latter part of the 20th century. Mola is the word for both the traditional decorated panels and the blouses into which they are incorporated. Mola designs evolved from Kuna body painting. By the late 19th century, Kuna women began to wear cotton chemises and painted their undergarments instead of their bodies. As imported cloth became available in the early 20th century, women began sewing the designs onto blouses. Early blouses were loose, with short close-fitting cap sleeves, while today’s styles dictate snug bodices and puffed sleeves. Pre-1920s mola panels were large, with rough designs and stitching and little embroidery. Geometric patterns and one-color designs were common then, and are now referred to as “grandmother” molas. Post-1920s mola designs are more complex and varied.
This exhibition features a range of pieces made between the 1920s and the 1990s, including mola panels, full costumes, jewelry, a spectacular , large quilt made from mola panels, and photographs of Kuna villagers in traditional costume. A wide range of imagery can be found incorporated into the mola designs, from traditional abstract motifs and local plants and animals, to images from recent history, such as cartoon characters, WWII planes over Panama or the RCA Victor dog, and today’s popular culture: cruise ships and cartoon caracters. Joyce Cheney has been a cultural worker for decades. Originally a storyteller, folk musician and community organizer, she has transitioned backstage to non-fiction writing and museum exhibit development.
For more information please visit: The Sheldon

Books. Saxon Henry's *Four Florida Moderns* Illustrates Why Modernism is Not So Unhappy. The Curated Object

2010-02-10T11:30:00-05:00

HOW TO READ THESE CAPTIONS: Because the delightful and divine design journalist/editor Saxon Henry, author of Four Florida Moderns, is also versed in the art of poetry and prose--- we've asked her to take an experimental approach to illustrating each image: The Curated Object asked her to pen a poetic response to each image-object so that we can hear (through her stunning words) what it has to say.....

Rene Gonzalez: Karla
So, you think you have me figured out: all delicious glow and disdainful shimmer? Look closer. No, closer. Yes, you see it now, don’t you? I am the elemental that comes before and after the most fundamental of all. Who else could make the tree dance, its arms entwined toward heaven? Its reach is love’s heartbeat for itself-- Saxon Henry

Albert Alfonso: Lake House 2
What frolics below the surface of my heart is pure poetry. Serene I am in my confidence that I share the earth’s breath with no one. There’s little room for diffidence in a world that builds walls instead of avenues. My crown is not the most eloquent of my attributes: it’s the tangle of my voice as it whispers, “move” -- Saxon Henry

Guy Peterson: The Theisen House
As the light wanes toward an inky sky, the spaces within spaces tell their own stories: I’m passing through time, invisibly bold; I’m anchored on a threshold of light; I’m married to the moon. Each precious pinprick of illumination declares, “I was born to shine.” Each fissure in the surface of my unblinking eye makes me a witness to all eternity-- Saxon Henry

Chad Oppenheim: Villa Alegra
Ah, I adore how the water needs me. Without me, its surface would be flat and empty like a page untouched by alliteration. Look at my lines, so strong in the captivity of the liquid’s sheen. The wonderment of discovery is mine because lady luck set me like a gem next to a pool with a face like a dream-- Saxon Henry
In "Four Florida Moderns" (W.W. Norton), Miami-based design writer Saxon Henry profiles four contemporary architects who are infusing modernist traditions with their own flair. The Curated Object's senior editor, JoAnn Greco and Saxon Henry sat down for a chat.
Your new book delves a little into the history of Florida Modern, touching upon the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright and Paul Rudolph, for example. Why is this aspect of Floridian architecture so little-known, compared to Art Deco?
The most surprising and least-covered of all the styles is what would be considered a tropical modernism. In Miami, the attention has largely gone to Art Deco and Morris Lapidus’ take on International Style. On the west coast, there is the Sarasota School, in which modernism had some of its finest Florida moments, but the vernacular has evolved beyond that era into a thriving modernist language. The hybrid Mediterranean architecture that is also widely publicized likely received so much attention because it had its start in enclaves like Palm Beach, where some of the most influential people in the world vacationed during the winter months. It’s time for Florida modernism to have its day and that makes me thrilled that W.W. Norton & Company trusted me to put together such a delicious book.
What led you to look for a continuation of this legacy in the first place?
The project came to me already formed, the architects had the idea themselves because they had studied under some of the New York Five like Charles Gwathmey and Richard Meier, and they felt like no one was really talking about the modernism that's here now in Tampa, Sarasota and Miami. It's here, it's very obvious, and they wanted to find a way to talk about this modern vernacular and bring the subject to the public.
Had you written about any of the architects?
Yes, I had written about both Rene Gonzalez and Chad Oppenheim in the Miami Herald. I didn't know about Guy Peterson's and Alberto Alfonso's work.
While you didn't curate the grouping of architects, then, there must have been a lot of other curatorial elements to assembling the book?
There was this whole notion of how to organize the book. The introduction sets the scene with each architect’s story. Following this, each of the Moderns chose a practicing architect they greatly admired to write an essay about their work. I then added a process essay delving into inspirations and how they create. And deciding how to feature each project: we went with chronological order so we could see the arc of the work through the years.
What were you trying to learn in these interviews?
I'm really interested in the notion of process, as a writer. To talk with them about what inspires them, how they travel, and that sort of thing, really illuminates the work.
What about culling through all of the images?
There was an incredible volume of photographs, and it was a real challenge deciding what to include, what to leave out, and how to achieve the proper mix of sweeping shots, and small photos that show some details. All of the architects are very good about extensively documenting their projects, after all, these are men who are very used to entering AIA competitions. So they had the right mix of interiors and exteriors, the detail shots of the architecture. Guy and Alberto have ongoing relationships with specific photographers, so I think their sections seem particularly seamless. In the end, it really worked well because visual artist Alejandro Vigilante assisted me in doing the photo editing.
There's a good mix, too, of public and residential spaces. What are the differences in the approaches of these architects when working in different realms?
Yes, I like that —I think it shows the range of their talent, especially since every one of them has both public and private projects. I think their sensibilities pretty much inform all of their work, so it's more that the scale changes than anything else. Across the board, they approach the larger and smaller projects in similar ways. And I think that says a lot about their abilities to refine a specific style.

As of late, there have been some unflattering depictions of modernism as it is perceived to be interpreted in magazines such as Dwell, how might your volume challenge these misconceptions and perceptions?
For those who believe modernism to be soulless and barren, nothing could be further from the truth if the architecture adheres to the precepts of European’s modernists—Corb, Mies and Gropius, for instance—to which the architects in Four Florida Moderns subscribe. Stepping into one of Guy Peterson’s interiors, for example, is like walking into a temple of light. He consciously designs buildings to offer experiential epiphanies as someone progresses through his spaces. Alberto Alfonso usually begins his architecture by creating paintings of his ideas, which is how he develops such rich, fluid spaces. Chad Oppenheim will do things like tear paper to express his ideas as to how a building can spring to life, and introduces sensual elements, such as the sound of water within his architecture. Rene Gonzalez searches for materials that offer the paradoxical feelings of surprise and serenity simultaneously. In my preface, I quote Corb, who wrote, “Passion can create drama out of inert stone.” I think this sums up what loyal modernists are continually striving to do.
Like you, I’ve noticed how the Unhappy Hipsters has gained a great deal of attention—I see it come through my twitter stream and I must admit I do take a moment to look when I have the time because it’s so cleverly done from a writer’s perspective. I think one of the most important things to remember about the blog is that the posts are more a statement about the editorial leanings of Dwell than about modernism, per se. The blog’s creators have been able to tap into Dwell’s stylistic tendencies and use them to their benefit (we’re talking about them, aren’t we?) because the magazine tends to shy away from feigned happiness, which so often is the result of posed photography of people in their homes. I’d love to see them pull off the great snarkiness they’ve achieved with Dwell by delving into the archives of a publication like Town & Country. I can just see Ivana Trump surrounded by ormolu and gilded wood, musing about her regret over being surrounded by so much shiny gold!
To order go directly to: Four Florida Moderns and for more information about the writer please visit her website and to see Alejandro Vigilate please visit his website.



Exhibitions Leeds. Wonderwall: 300 Years of Wallpaper. The Temple Newsam House. The Curated Object

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

Special commission from artist Catherine Bertola, Photography by J Hardman-Jones

Special commission from artist Catherine Bertola, Photography by J Hardman-Jones

An Embossed Paper 1880s,  images copyright of Temple Newsam House, Leeds Museums and Galleries

Japan printed by Jeffrey & Co 1914, images copyright of Temple Newsam House, Leeds Museums and Galleries

Arbutus by George Heywood Sumner 1897, images are copyright of Temple Newsam House, Leeds Museums and Galleries

Woodnotes by Walter crane 1886, images are copyright of  Temple Newsam House, Leeds Museums and Galleries

Exhibition photo, Photography by J Hardman-Jones

Exhibition photo, Photography by J Hardman-Jones


Wonderwall: 300 Years of Wallpaper
December 2-May 9, 2010
Wallpapers are an often neglected area of the decorative arts because they were often intended as backdrops to the paintings and furniture that make up an interior.
However, Roger Warner with his unfailing eye for the unusual, recognised their elegance and historic importance. Sadly, Roger Warner passed away in 2008. This exhibition is a chance to remember a man who loved things that many found undesirable. This display shows, for the first time, his collection of wallpapers which are perhaps the most ephemeral of the decorative arts.
A commission by Catherine Bertola accompanies the exhibition. Her interests lie in hidden histories. She has used archival information about the hangings in Miss Scot’s room to create a new work remembering something almost forgotten.
The history of wallpaper is not a familiar story, it was last told at Temple Newsam twenty five years ago. This exhibition and booklet hopes to introduce the viewer to wallpaper. It asks the same question first uttered in 1900 by the great designer Lewis. F Day. Can you find poetry in a carpet or joy in a wallpaper?
Roger Warner
Roger Warner is known to museums and collectors alike for his exceptional eye for the unusual and his interest in areas neglected by other antique dealers.
Warner would always be on the hunt for ‘those exceptions that spark interest and remark.” He purchased a dilapidated Elizabethan property in Burford in Oxfordshire, transforming it into his shop in 1936. On the first night at the premises he recalls that “wallpaper seemed to be hanging in shreds from the wall. I can remember tearing off an armful, putting it in the grate, setting fire to it...”. despite this and unlike many of his contemporaries, Warner bothered to keep fragments, admiring them for their historic interest.
Warner’s enthusiasm for the decorative arts and his belief in the benefit of public collections has meant that museums have benefited from his generosity. Temple Newsam was given extraordinary gifts of furniture and textiles. The wallpapers that Warner gave to the collection are an eclectic mix of salvaged relics and items from his grandfather Metford, and uncle Horace Warner’s careers at Jeffrey and Co. Thanks to his view that the “interest of an article was of more value than its worth” the wallpaper collection spans and demonstrates the development of English wallpaper from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries.
Early English Printed Papers 1650-1800
From the late 1400s, printed images made from carved wooden blocks spread rapidly and were used widely across Europe because they were relatively cheap and fast to make.
Woodblock prints were used on walls and ceilings from at least the 1500s. Printed in black and white, such papers were often used in the 1600s to line boxes. The patterns were restricted by the size of the paper available. However, in the 1600s the simple innovation of pasting sheets of paper together allowed for larger patterns suitable for covering entire walls. This allowed English manufacturers to produce cheaper (but not necessarily cheap) imitations of the imported cotton, velvets and silks which were considered both fashionable and desirable for wall-coverings.
The invention of flocked papers in the late 1600s allowed for cheaper, more durable imitations of silks and velvets. This type of paper is made by shaking finely chopped and dyed wool over a pattern printed in sticky varnish. The excess is removed leaving a raised pattern.
As the manufacture of wallpaper developed, the designs became more complex. From the middle of the 1700s English manufacturers could make large scale printed wallpapers of gothic pillars, idyllic scenery or both. The essential technique of creating pattern from carved blocks did not vary much until the 1820s with early machine printing. Notwithstanding such innovations, the low technology method of pressing wood to paper by hand is still considered to produce higher quality papers than its machine printed counterparts.
The Nineteenth Century
The 1800s saw technological advances in English wallpaper manufacture. In 1798, the Frenchman Louis Robert found a way of producing continuous sheets of strong paper capable of being printed on. By the end of 1830s the first successful printing machine was invented. In the 1850s eight colour printing machines were used and in the 1870s twenty coloured printing machines were not uncommon. The increase in production was dramatic, growing from just over 1 million rolls of paper in 1834 to 32 million in 1874. Overall, this meant that cheap wallpaper was available to more households.
Despite the improvements in technique, critics worried about wallpaper design. International exhibitions and fairs showed English designs to be lacking in comparison with their French competitors. Paid designers were unusual. The norm was for block cutters to produce designs or to copy existing French ones. The designs were considered to be so poor that reformers such as George Lock Eastlake accused manufacturers of encouraging the public to, “prefer the vulgar, the gaudy, the ugly even, to the beautiful and perfect”.
The lack of designers in all industries prompted the founding of the Government Schools of Design in 1837. They had the specific aim of training designers for manufactured goods. Writers and reformers such as Henry Cole and Richard Redgrave sought to establish certain standards or principles for design across all industries. Owen Jones, would write, ‘All ornament should be based in geometrical construction’. The Design Reform Movement promoted the notion that ornament should be suitable for its specific purposes. Because they felt that wallpaper essentially forms a background, wallpapers were produced with small patterns of neatly arranged motifs. By the beginning of the 1860s standards had improved to the extent that during the 1862 International Exhibition in Paris the majority of prizes were awarded to English firms.
Metford Warner and Jeffrey and Co.
The firm of Jeffrey & Co were established in 1824. By 1862 they had established a reputation for fine hand block printing 1862 winning a commission to print papers designed by Owen Jones for the Viceroy’s palace in Cairo.
When William Morris formed Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (later known as Morris and Co.) in 1861 its aim was to produce hand crafted items for the home. He insisted that all his works were produced by hand. However, Morris could not master wallpaper printing. Therefore, from 1864 he entrusted the production to Jeffrey and Co.
Metford Warner joined the firm in 1866 and was committed to fine production and good design. His approach to wallpaper manufacture was pioneering. He felt that the problems within the industry did not “lay so much with the manufacturer as with the artist who would not come down from his high pedestal as to design a wall paper”. When he became sole partner of the firm in 1872 he commissioned leading architects and designers, including illustrious figures such as Charles Eastlake, Lewis F. Day and Bruce Talbert to produce papers with ‘artistic feeling’. The new ‘Artistic Papers’ were met with critical acclaim. He took the policy to another level by employing Walter Crane whose lavish papers provoked mixed responses. Such was the skill of Jeffrey and Co.’s workforce that the designs could be adapted either for block printing or to be roller or machine printed. Metford himself would advise on colour ways. Metford continued the policy of using artists as designers. He would later employ (amongst others) both Sydney Vacher and George Heywood Sumner both of whom had exhibited at the Royal Academy. These collaborations were so successful that other firms such as Woolams and Co. and Essex and Co. began to commission artist designed wallpapers.
Metford Warner had huge sympathies with artists, giving them a remarkably free hand. He also sympathised with Morris and his followers’ pursuit of the hand made. However, he was above all a businessman and would always look for the most cost effective ways of producing the papers. He would say at the end of his career, “I think
my career has been a most uneventful one; it has after all merely been sticking to business…If it has done any good in the world it has elevated wallpapers, if it has been helpful in anyway, as a form of decoration [and] that is a great gratification to me.”
Walter Crane
Walter Crane (1845-1915) achieved prominence as an artist and book illustrator before producing designs for Jeffrey and Co. in 1875. Although his designs were considered striking and attractive they provoked controversy.
Crane believed that there was no reason why the decorative arts could not be used to rouse thought. In contrast with many of his contemporaries, Crane believed that narratives, human forms and shapes could be used for wallpapers believing that they allowed the expression of “symbolic meaning.. fanciful allegory and playful ideas”. The designer, Lewis F. Day found such notions abhorrent, “Who wants poetry in carpet or ‘Joy’ in a wallpaper?” feeling that pattern should not intrude upon a room. Crane, however, was adamant that, “In mural decoration of any kind, one should never forget the wall”. Despite such criticisms at home, designs such as La Margrete, (1876) and Peacocks and Amorini, (1878) won Jeffrey & Co. awards in exhibitions in cities such as Philadelphia and Paris.
Many of the designs he drew for Jeffrey & Co. were so complex and colourful that they were costly to make and therefore unaffordable for all but the very wealthy. Metford Warner was sympathetic to the artistic ideals of Crane, allowing him to produce flamboyant designs which could require anything up to 30 blocks to print. However, by 1894, Warner asked Crane “to adopt a broader effect and severer methods”. This sort of compromise was never something that Crane was truly comfortable with believing that the designer should “try to please himself”. Despite this, in successful cooperation with Jeffrey & Co., Crane produced simpler patterns requiring fewer blocks and patterns adaptable for machine printing that were still, according to Metford Warner, “So distinctly of his [Crane’s] own creation.”
Horace Warner and Twentieth Century Wallpaper
Both of Metford’s sons, Albert and Horace, worked as designers for Jeffrey & Co., becoming co-owners in 1898. By this time, other leading manufacturers were following the example set by Metford, by continuing to commission artists to design wallpaper. The company continued to produce wallpapers until 1936 when it was taken over by Arthur Sanderson and Sons. Roger Warner was left a series of designs by Horace Warner which were completed shortly before the takeover.
They differ from the designs by architects and artists because they clearly show an innate understanding of wallpaper manufacture. Indeed the designs are made by only using one colour at a time, building up this design in layers which clearly reflects the printing process.
They also give an insight into wallpaper fashion between the wars. In Britain there were just a few years when such brightly coloured and dense patterns were fashionable. Soon fashionable interiors would have a ‘Modern’ look of plain walls and clean lines.
For the rest of the twentieth century to the present day ‘to wallpaper or not to wallpaper’ has been a major question of interior design.
Curated & written by Polly Putnam, Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts
For more information about the exhibition and surrounding programming please visit: The Temple Newsam House