Eames 100: This is the Trick
Emmanuel Gallery, Auraria Higher Education Center
August 9th – Sept. 7th, 2007Charles Eames is arguably the most important American furniture designer of the 20th century, and his eclectic frame and bent plywood chairs have become cultural icons. The Emmanuel Gallery on the Auraria campus is host to what would be a 100th birthday bash for Eames this summer with a very special selection of furniture and other objects including short films (Charles and wife Ray were filmmakers), private letters and
photographs.
If you are even a casual fan of furniture design, you simply must get down to the gallery and stand face to face with these classic pieces of history including wire mesh chairs, lounge chairs, a graceful chaise lounge, love seats as well as fabrics and various books and ephemera from the exceptional collection of Carla Hartman, educator for the Eames Foundation, resident educator for the Denver Art Museum and granddaughter of Charles Eames. As part of the show, Carla will be giving a gallery talk on Friday August 24th at 3:00 PM in the gallery.
There will also be a lecture titled "Working for Ray and Charles - the Beauty Meaning Connection" at 5:00 PM on Thursday September 6th at the North Building 1130 (directly east of the gallery), followed by a closing reception. - KLH
Opening reception Thursday August 9th, 4:00 to 7:00 PM. Click here for pictures from the opening...
Photos by Ken Hamel/DenverArts.org
From the press release...
Emmanuel Gallery is pleased announce their second show for the summer
season. “Eames 100: This is the Trick” will feature
the work of Charles and Ray Eames, arguably the most important American
designers of the 20th Century. This exhibition, which will open
on August 9, 2007, taps into the worldwide celebration of what would
have been Charles Eames 100th birthday on June 17. Featuring key
designs from the private collection of Mrs. Carla Hartman, granddaughter
of Charles Eames, Educator for the Eames Foundation, and Resident Educator
for the Denver Art Museum, this exhibition will give the Denver Community
a rare opportunity to view a vast selection of objects, telling and celebrating
the life story of the Eameses.
Charles and Ray met at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan in 1940. Ray
assisted Charles who, with Eero Saarinen, was preparing designs for the
Museum of Modern Art’s “Organic Design in Home Furnishings” competition. Charles
and Eero won two prizes for their complex-curved chairs and case goods
made from molded plywood. In 1941, Charles and Ray moved to California
where they continued their work on molded-plywood furniture designs for
some 15 years. As Charles summarized, “We wanted to make the best
for the most for the least.” Charles and Ray continued to
design through the 1970s. They practiced design in a very broad
and virtuous manner: their furniture, buildings, films, exhibitions,
toys and books all aimed to improve society – not only functionally
but culturally and intellectually as well.
Included in “Eames 100: This is the Trick” exhibition will
be a Cherry wood Lounge Chair and Ottoman, a LCW Anniversary Chair, La
Chaise, a Molded Plywood Folding Screen, and examples from the Wire Chair
series. Also featured will be many WWII Splints, Walnut Stools, LTR Tables,
and different sizes of the House of Cards toy. Although the Eameses are
best known for being furniture designers, they were also passionate photographers
and filmmakers. Of the 125 short films they produced in 28 years, the
exhibition will include a number of them along with private letters and
photographs, adding intimate insight into these incredibly prolific designers
process.
Charles, born in 1907 died on August 21, 1978, Ray died ten years later
to the day. The Eames House in Pacific Palisades, CA (1949), part of
the Case Study Program, will be dedicated as a National Historical Landmark
on June 17 to the public, launching this centenary celebration. The opening
reception at Emmanuel will be on August 9 from 4:00-7:00pm. The
exhibition will run through September 7. Gallery hours are Tuesday
- Friday from 10:00am - 6:00pm and Saturday from 11:00am – 5:00pm. The
gallery is free and open to the public. Track additional programming
throughout the run of the exhibition by visiting our website at www.emmanuelgallery.org.
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