A Rendezvous with Shlomo Harush at Industry Gallery

There's a new gallery in Washington, D.C., and the programming has gotten off to a terrific start with an inaugural exhibition by Shlomo Harush titled "Round the Corner." Chair Chick asked the Jerusalem-born artist, who will be showing at Industry Gallery through March 6, about his inspiration: "For me, creative activity is not something I can force: it’s a necessity," he says. "When I did the car in 2006 it wasn’t because I wanted to make an aluminum car, per se, it’s because I wanted to make mobile sculpture. I also wanted to integrate that sculpture into real life by driving it on the road, which helped re-contextualize this ordinary form of transportation. I cannot name specific people or things that directly inspire me, but I can say things I encounter in my daily life informs what I create as an artist. I like to take very obvious and daily objects, such as the basic chair that has been around for thousands of years, and redefine them: this recreates their context and changes the way people experience and understand them.”

"Round the Corner" features 20 unique hand-crafted stainless steel and aluminum works that examine different sculptural aspects of conventional seating units. Harush has arranged the work in an urban tableau within the gallery's 4,300-square-foot industrial space. The exhibition includes "Rendez-vous," which is shown. It has me dreaming of my trip to Paris in a few weeks. I'll be searching for lots of amazing chairs while I'm there and will bring you the full report shortly after. Au revoir!

That's My Kind of Chair!

Mark Sexton's and Ron Krueck's Chicago Chair from untitled No. 1, will be on view at Sebastian + Barquet beginning this Thursday, January 21st (2010), when the opening reception for "Precious Metals" will take place from 6pm to 8pm. The mirror-polished stainless steel, brass, and upholstery stunner was designed by the architectural duo in 1987.

Krueck visited art museums when he was young and was encouraged to draw. He went on to study architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology, receiving a B.A. in 1970. Sexton is also an IIT graduate. He worked for the Chicago firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill before founding Krueck + Sexton with Krueck in 1991. The pair counts Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as a major influence and each brings a particular talent to the table in terms of their designs: for Krueck, it's a knowledge of twentieth-century art, which complements Sexton's thorough understanding of technology and complex engineering.

If the Chicago Chair is representative of the quality that will be on view, the exhibition should be riveting!

What's Up, Buttercup?

Just when you think you have Kenneth Cobonpue figured out, he goes and does something completely different. The designer's Bloom Collection includes this lounge chair, which is made of microfibre stretched over resin on a steel base. The flower-like profile is "sculpted" by hundreds of running stitches radiating from the center of the seat. The line also includes a club chair. Both the club and lounge chairs are available in Moss Green, Light Green, Yellow (shown) and Red. See the club chair on DesignCommotion.

Take a Seat: it's Art Basel Miami Beach

One of the craziest weeks of the year is when Art Basel Miami Beach and Design Miami/ hit town. The crush of events starts tomorrow evening, November 30th, and doesn't let up until after the fairs close on December 6. In honor of all those buoyed collectors who ride into town on their private planes and NetJets, I thought I'd feature one of my favorite art/poem combinations in which a chair plays a prominent role. The art is Edward Hopper's "Eleven A.M.," which he painted in 1926. The poem is "Impediment" by Stephen Dunn. The two appeared in tandem in Gail Levin's book "The Poetry of Solitude: A Tribute to Edward Hopper."

Impediment
by Stephen Dunn

"The loneliness thing is overdone."
-Edward Hopper, about responses to his work.

Except for shoes
the young woman is naked,
in a chair, looking out
a fully opened window,
her face obscured
by dark brown hair.
Apartment? Hotel?
Outside, the obdurate gloom
of city buildings.

It's 11 a.m.,
Hopper's title says,
time for her to have dressed
a hundred times.
It's the shoes which hint
of her desire to dress,
and of some great impediment.

Elbows on knees. Hands clasped.
The window she's leaning toward
is curtainless.
There's no sense she cares
she might be seen, or
that she wishes to show herself.

Other ABMB-related posts this week include a romp through the knotty subject of hanging art on my Miami Interior Decorating Examiner page and a treatise on the i-Art Movement by Alejandro Vigilante on my International Design Examiner page. I'll be tweeting and posting on my Facebook fan pages throughout the week as well as guest posting for a variety of blogs. Will keep you posted! Ahhhh: how great thou art!

When Paunch Has Panache

When Eileen Gray saw Michelin Tire’s buxom inflatable mascot, called Bibendum, she decided she had to design a chair worthy of his ample rolls. It has become one of her most appreciated designs. Attributed to the work that Gray did in Paris for Suzanne Talbot's Rue de Lota project, the Bibendum chair epitomizes her lush take on modernism. Though before her death, at nearly 100, Gray was virtually unrecognized, she is now regarded as one of the most influential 20th-century designers and architects.

“When she was born, Queen Victoria was still on the throne,” writes her biographer Peter Adam in his book Eileen Gray: Architect/Designer; “and when she died…men had flown to the moon.” I believe this breadth of history can be seen in her aesthetics. Not only are some of her designs queenly in their proportions, like Bibendum; others are as sleek and space-aged as they come, like the E.1027 table, which I’ve featured this week on my International Design Examiner page.

The Bibendum is upholstery over a chrome tubular frame. The hardwood structure is stuffed with polyurethane foam and the base is chrome-plated tubular steel. It can be ordered fabric or leather.

The Revisionist Redux

Given his place in history as a revisionist, Proust would likely have heartily applauded Alessandro Mendini's creative reinterpretation of a classic Louis XV-style armchair, the final flourish of which was to stamp it with the French novelist's name. The Proust armchair has a hand-carved and hand-painted wooden frame, and is upholstered with a multicolored fabric that seamlessly matches the carved structure, which is no small feat, I might add. There are several different versions in the Cappellini line, this PR/1 a bit more geometric than other versions I've seen. The most whimsical incarnation of the armchair I've spied to date was on view during the debut of the new Cappellini flagship showroom in Miami last month. Believe it or not, its colliding shapes of fantastical colors makes it the wicked stepsister to this blatantly braggadocio version (see the bright beauty, whose name is Geometrica, in the slideshow on my Examiner page). Miami is holding its collective breath to see what the visionary behind the Cappellini brand, Giulio, will do during his Design Miami/ debut. Stay tuned, chair connoisseurs: we'll make sure you have a front row seat!

Trick? No Treat!

When is a sample sale not merely a sample sale? When it's at Ligne Roset. The incredible quality and high style of the company's furnishings reflect the family's commitment to collaborating with design visionaries and a belief that design married with investment and technical innovation is a win/win for everyone. We thought we'd honor all those jack-o-lanterns festooning public and private spaces since last weekend with Pierre Paulin's irresistible Pumpkin. The line is a first edition from the private collection of former French president Georges Pompidou in the Elysée Palace. As suggested by its name, Pumpkin has soft, organic, round shapes and firm seating. It is available as an armchair with or without a headrest, a loveseat or a sofa. An ottoman completes the collection. The sample sale runs through next week in the Miami Design District showroom at 160 NE 40th Street.