Decorated, and Curated?

Installation by Aakash Nihalani, in a stairwell and hall decorated by Wayne Nathan

Penelope Green has written a short, rather interesting article entitled “Kips Bay Decorated, and Curated” in the Home & Garden section of The New York Times, looking at the The Kips Bay Decorator Show House (through 26 May 2011, Admission, $30, to benefit the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. (718) 893-8600, extension 245, or kipsbay.org) and the integration of art, often contemporary art, including installations, video and sculpture, as well as paintings, prints, and drawings, into the ensemble of furniture, lighting, wall and floor coverings, and other decorative elements, which has been, in a strict sense, the historical domaine of interior decorators, and designers.  The eclectic mix can be quite refreshing, indeed.

The article includes an interesting tour of the house, in the slideshow, here.

image: Trevor Tondro/The New York Times

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Pavilion of Art & Design London 2010 – Seen by Wallpaper* Magazine

 The Moet-Hennessy-PAD London prize-winning ’Fragile Future Concrete’ chandelier by Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta of Drift, for Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery

image: Wallpaper* Magazine

Malaika Byng has written a nice little article entitled “Pavilion of Art & Design London 2010” for the marvelous Wallpaper* Magazine, looking at the ” rich and enjoyable exhibition” of design and art featured at this year’s PAD.  With works dating from 1860 to 2010, there’s no “flood of new products” nor the frenzy of Frieze, but rather a richly satisfying diversity of styles, materials and creative ideas.  Though the prices may be beyond most of our budgets, the beauty of the pieces exhibited is well within our reach.

Very nice slideshow, here.

And a fascinating video of Random International’s sound-reactive ‘Swarm’ light for Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery, here.

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Charlotte Perriand – Wonderful Exhibition of Furniture, Photograpy & Art

Charlotte Perriand, “Fauteuil pivotant” (Pivoting Armchair), original design 1927, © 2010, ProLitteris, Zurich manufacturer: Cassina 1978

image: Nicola Zocchi/Dezeen

The design blog Dezeen has published a very nice post on the exhibition of furniture, photography and artworks by pioneering Modernist designer Charlotte Perriand at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (The Museum for Design) in Zurich, Switzerland. Though one is, of course, already more than familiar with Perriand’s marvelous work, this exhibition offers an even more vibrant homage to this very dynamic, creative designer and artist.  Exhibition through 24 October 2010.

As the Museum for Design puts it:

“Charlotte Perriand (1903–1999), one of the most innovative interior and furniture designers of the 20th century, did not only strive towards a change in forms but also towards an improvement in social conditions. After the tubular steel furniture, which she developed particularly in partnership with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, she preferred the natural material of wood with its free forms. At the same time her photography, which she approached in a radically modern way, became an impulse for her work. There followed grand stagings of magical objects found on beaches or in junkyards. Charlotte Perriand shared this interest for the poetry of “Art Brut” with Pierre Jeanneret and Fernand Léger, with whom she repeatedly worked. The opening of the archive now provides a longoverdue opportunity to rediscover this important pioneer as a furniture designer, as a photographer and—with her reconstructed large-format collages—as a socially committed woman.”

Clearly a must-see.

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