THE FEMALE VOICE IN MODERN DESIGN
20th April 2022
CARPENTERS WORKSHOP GALLERY
693 Fifth Avenue, 10022
New York, USA
Curated by Daniella Ohad
Featuring:
TORSION TABLE LAMP, 1996 by Paloma Garrido
LIMITED EDITION OF 8
24-karat yellow gold, anthracite nickel-plated metal. 16 1/2 X 8 1/4 IN (42 X 21 CM)
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PRESS RELEASE
Part I of a two-part exhibition, The Female Voice in Modern & Contemporary Design, 1950-2023, celebrates women’s contributions to the world of collectible design. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, women were the minority in the pro- fession of design, struggling to express their creative voice within a male-dominated territory, even when making revolutionary contributions, and when standing at the fo- refront of experimentation and innovation. Engaged mainly in skills traditionally consi- dered ‘feminine’ – pottery, silversmithing, textiles – only a small percentage of furniture and lighting which came to challenge boundaries and to open the path of modern de- sign was done by professional women designers. Furthermore, much of their work was attributed to male designers. Yet, despite the significant gender imbalance and struggle for freedom, the triumph of the significant minority, which produced provoca- tive objects that resonate with design history, has shined throughout that era.
This exhibition comes to celebrate the superb achievements, skills, and contributions of European female designers throughout five formative decades that came to shape modern design; from the postwar years, through the beginning of the women’s liberation movement, Postmodernism, Minimalism, and to the closing years of the century. The exhibition focuses on individual professional talents, their conside- rable and victorious accomplishments, and their lasting impact on the story of modern design. The pieces presented in this exhibition represent the very small percentage
of furniture and lightings by women, who created daring and cutting-edge objects, achieving excellence and quality in a gender-discrimination time. These objects by
a small group of passionate women tell the story of society, reform, and identity.
The aim of this exhibition is twofold: first to outline the contribution of fe- male designers to avant-garde design, and second, to examine their place in the lar- ger context of design and history. The exhibition will gather works by 50 creators offurniture and lighting, and it will take over the gallery’s two floors, opening on April 20th, 2022. It will present an unprecedented mix of works, divided into five decades, each presents the best design created by European professional designers or those trained in Europe’s centers of the Modern Movement. Those objects will be analyzed in broad contexts of the period, including the state of the design world, the taste of the time, exploration of themes such as feminism, oppression, technological innova- tions, the ‘contemporary,’ and the increasing place of women in the world of design.