Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe - Hardcover

Mateo Kries; Jochen Eisenbrand

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3945852056 ISBN 13: 9783945852057

Publisher: Vitra Design Museum, 2016

Synopsis

Alexander Girard (1907–1993) was one of the most important modern textile artists and interior designers of the twentieth century. He worked closely with designers such as Charles Eames and George Nelson and combined Pop Art and Folk Art influences to create a colourfully opulent aesthetic language, whose impact continues to be felt today. The richly illustrated catalogue draws on the vast holdings in Alexander Girard’s private estate, which were exhaustively investigated for the first time at the Vitra Design Museum. The book presents the entire oeuvre of the multitalented Italian- American designer in all its facets while offering the first scholarly critical examination of his work. Six essays address Girard’s textile creations and graphic design for the furniture manufacturer Herman Miller, important interior design projects such as the Irwin Miller House in Columbus, Indiana (1953) and the restaurant La Fonda del Sol in New York (1960), his activities as a pioneering exhibition organizer and curator, and his passion for folk art, which resulted in a collection of more than 100,000 objects and served as one of the most important sources of inspiration for his own work. In addition to extensive portfolios with never-before-shown archive material, the publication also provides the first comprehensive biography and a complete list of works.

About this title

Review:

Girard's sophisticated sense of color and willingness to create things that were more folksy, even charming, within high Modernism is part of his continued appeal, bringing a warmth and humanity to design in an era of hard-edged, gridded corporate design that could appear cold and forbidding.--Angela Riechers "Eye on Design "

Alexander Girard's collage principle is once again very much in fashion, succeeding as it does in breaking both with the ideology of the 'new' that underpinned Modernism, but also with the indifferent anything goes attitude of Post-Modernism. In Girard's pieces, his own designs enter into a harmonious dialog with the found, the glossy new with the signs of use.--Annette Tietenberg "StylePark "

Girard's work restored what classical modernism had rejected in design: color, ornamentation, and folk motifs. He combined craftsmanship and pop culture with ingenious ease, and anticipated the colorful language of postmodernism.... the first scholarly examination of Girard's oeuvre.--Jana Perkovic "Blouin Artinfo "

A landmark... looks beyond the iconic textiles and patterns to reveal a hitherto unseen side of Girard.--Avinash Rajagopal "Metropolis Magazine "

A rich testament to one of modernism's most prodigious and prolific talents.--Edward M Gómez "Hyperallergic "

The book excels - it is a visual treat. It's hard not to enjoy Alexander Girard's joyful work and you'll spot something aesthetically pleasing every time you open the book. You finish the book with a balanced and rounded impression of the designer who, despite the exuberance of his work, was as disciplined and controlled as his mid-century contemporaries. And it really is something you'll want to pick up and be inspired by again and again. Perhaps most importantly, it's a reminder that we all benefit from some colour in our lives - and, as Alexander Girard so skilfully demonstrated, that pattern and colour can be truly modern.--Mid Century Magazine

This richly illustrated catalogue draws on the vast holdings in Girard's private estate, which were exhaustively investigated for the first time at the Vitra Design Museum. The book presents the oeuvre of the multitalented designer in all its facets, while offering the first scholarly, critical examination of his work.--Grain Edit

A beautiful and comprehensive survey.--Interior Design

About the Author:

Essays by: Susan Brown, Jochen Eisenbrand, Barbara Hauss, Alexandra Lange, Monica Obniski, Jonathan Olivares

About this edition

• Publisher: Vitra Design Museum
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 3945852056
• ISBN 13: 9783945852057
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 512