Objects USA: 2020
In the 1960s, the visionary gallerist Lee Nordness came up with the idea of mounting a survey focused on American craft designers. Titled Objects: USA, the resulting exhibition opened to crowds in 1969 at the National Collection of Fine Art at the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C., before traveling to 33 venues across the country and abroad. Uniting an impressive range of established and emerging artists who invented new approaches to art making with craft media, such as Anni Albers, Wendell Castle, Wharton Esherick, Sheila Hicks, Doyle Lane, George Nakashima, and Art Smith, this revolutionary event altered the course of American art and introduced to the world some of the 20th and 21st centuries鈥� most celebrated artists. It led to an explosion of object makers at a time when the distinctions between fine art and design were not as entrenched as they once were.
In subsequent decades, the worlds of art and design stratified, and the role of the object maker in contemporary culture diminished. It was in the late 鈥�90s that R & Company, a design gallery originally founded in New York City under the name R 20th Century, spearheaded a rediscovery of midcentury design. In the process they not only reintroduced forgotten object makers to collectors and to a new generation of creatives, but they also began helping to dismantle the barrier that distinguished craftspeople from fine artists. Since then, the founders of R & Company have been championing the handmade arts while at the same time promoting and preserving historical legacies.
In the 1960s, the visionary gallerist Lee Nordness came up with the idea of mounting a survey focused on American craft designers. Titled Objects: USA, the resulting exhibition opened to crowds in 1969 at the National Collection of Fine Art at the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C., before traveling to 33 venues across the country and abroad. Uniting an impressive range of established and emerging artists who invented new approaches to art making with craft media, such as Anni Albers, Wendell Castle, Wharton Esherick, Sheila Hicks, Doyle Lane, George Nakashima, and Art Smith, this revolutionary event altered the course of American art and introduced to the world some of the 20th and 21st centuries鈥� most celebrated artists. It led to an explosion of object makers at a time when the distinctions between fine art and design were not as entrenched as they once were.
In subsequent decades, the worlds of art and design stratified, and the role of the object maker in contemporary culture diminished. It was in the late 鈥�90s that R & Company, a design gallery originally founded in New York City under the name R 20th Century, spearheaded a rediscovery of midcentury design. In the process they not only reintroduced forgotten object makers to collectors and to a new generation of creatives, but they also began helping to dismantle the barrier that distinguished craftspeople from fine artists. Since then, the founders of R & Company have been championing the handmade arts while at the same time promoting and preserving historical legacies.
Artists on show
- Adam Silverman
- Adejoke Tugbiyele
- Alison Siegel
- Amber Cowan
- Anders Herwald Ruhwald
- Anna Von Mertens
- Anni Albers
- Arline Fisch
- Art Espenet Carpenter
- Art Smith
- Ashwini Bhat
- Brent Kington
- Charles Loloma
- Christopher Kurtz
- Claude Conover
- Cody Hoyt
- Dana Barnes
- Daniel Arsham
- Daniel Loomis Valenza
- David Wiseman
- Doug Johnston
- Doyle Lane
- Ebitenyefa Baralaye
- Ed Rossbach
- Fritz Dreisbach
- George Nakashima
- Glenn Adamson
- Haas Brothers
- Harvey Littleton
- Hildur Ásgeirsdóttir Jónsson
- Howard Kottler
- J. B. Blunk
- James Frederick Woell
- James Melchert
- Jay Sae Jung Oh
- Jaydan Moore
- Jeff Zimmerman
- Jes Fan
- Jesse Wine
- Jiha Moon
- Jill Platner
- John Mason
- John Paul Miller
- John Souter
- Jovencio de la Paz
- Joyce Lin
- Jun Kaneko
- June Schwarcz
- Ka Kwong Hui
- Katie Stout
- Kay Sekimachi
- Kiva Motnyk
- Lee Rohde
- Lenore Tawney
- Liz Collins
- Luam Melake
- Maija Grotell
- Marguerite Wildenhain
- Marie Herwald Hermann
- Marilyn Pappas
- Marvin Lipofsky
- Michele Oka Doner
- Misha Kahn
- Monique Péan
- Nancy Lorenz
- Nicole Cherubini
- Otto & Gertrud Natzler
- Pamela Sabroso
- Peter Voulkos
- Richard Blake Shaw
- Richard Marquis
- Robert Carston Arneson
- Robert Turner
- Roberto Lugo
- Rogan Gregory
- Ron Nagle
- Rowland Ricketts
- Rudolf Staffel
- Ruth Duckworth
- Sam Maloof
- Sarah Perkins
- Serban Ionescu
- Sharif Bey
- Sheila Hicks
- Shin Okuda
- Steven Young Lee
- Svetozar and Ruth Clark Radakovich
- Thaddeus Wolfe
- Thomas Barger
- Thomas Stearns
- Tiff Massey
- Tommy Simpson
- Toshiko Takaezu
- Trude Guermonprez
- Wendell Castle
- Wharton Harris Esherick
- William J. O鈥橞rien
- Woody de Othello
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