WEST BEND — The Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA), 205 Veterans Ave., will present “Frank Lloyd Wright: Modern Chair Design,” an exhibition that highlights Wright’s groundbreaking approach to furniture design, from Oct. 4 through Jan. 25.
“Framing his furniture within a broader context of design history and American modernism, this exhibition highlights Wright’s visionary belief that chairs must be understood as living designs in addition to being extensions of the built environments for which they were created,” said a release from MOWA. “Presenting over forty of Wright’s most significant domestic furniture pieces — many on view for the first time — as well as working sketches, archival photographs and animated renderings shed new light on Wright’s holistic approach to design.”
The exhibition is is based on the research of architectural historian Eric Vogel, scholar-in-residence at the Taliesin Institute, whose work challenges the perception that Wright’s furniture was secondary to his architectural work.
“When Wright rebuilt Taliesin after two major fires, he paired the new architecture with significant new and unprecedented furniture forms that were rejected by his clients at the time for their unconventionality,” Vogel said in the release. “MOWA has recreated several of these lost or never-produced works, offering the viewer a unique opportunity to experience these bold forms in person.”
Through “Frank Lloyd Wright: Modern Chair Design,” viewers will be able to take part in an experiential tour through Wright’s furniture experiments and learn how he fundamentally shaped furniture design while working inside the inspired spaces of his home and studio, according to the release.
“By viewing Wright’s furniture, specifically his chair designs, through the lens of Taliesin as a creative incubator, this exhibition reveals the experimental nature of his process and offers a fresh perspective on his architectural vision,” MOWA Associate Curator of Architecture and Design Thomas Szolwinski said in the release. “In the wider history of exhibitions dedicated to Wright, this show marks an important moment of reexamination and rediscovery.”
The “Frank Lloyd Wright: Modern Chair Design” will trace five distinct design periods between 1911 and 1959 to highlight innovative designs created at both Taliesin East in Wisconsin and Taliesin West in Arizona, and it will feature re-creations of lost or unbuilt original designs using the original drawings and archival materials. The re-creations were made in collaboration with three renowned woodworkers, including Wright’s great-grandson S. Lloyd Natof.
“The Museum of Wisconsin Art is delighted to contribute new research and conversations about this iconic figure in American architecture,” Laurie Winters, MOWA’s James and Karen Hyde executive director, said in the release.
Ahead of the exhibition’s premiere at MOWA, the museum will announce a series activities, lectures and tours related to “Frank Lloyd Wright: Modern Chair Design,” which will debut Oct. 4.
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