Landmark Exhibition of Designer Jack Lenor Larsen at SVMA

Written by Russell Seng Monday, 30 May 2011 21:27

Sonoma, CA - A landmark exhibition exploring Jack Lenor Larsen’s full range of creativity as both a world-renowned textile designer and a craft and textile collector will appear at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art (SVMA) from June 24, August 20.

Co-organized by the Museum of Arts & Design in New York and the Stewart Program for Modern Design in Montreal, “Jack Lenor Larsen: Creator and Collector” features more than 40 of Larsen’s most important textile designs and more than 60 glass, ceramic, wood, fiber, and metal objects from around the world that he has collected during the past half-century. Many of these works have been donated to LongHouse Reserve, Larsen’s East Hampton home and gardens, now a foundation and museum.

Widely considered the dean of 20th century textile design, Larsen also has collected the crafts of world cultures and related contemporary art for the past 50 years.  “Jack Lenor Larsen: Creator and Collector” represents artifacts of four continents, as well as the work of major contemporary artists. Many of these works were acquired by Larsen when the artists were beginning their careers. The exhibition celebrates Larsen’s eye for art by such well-known figures as Dale Chihuly, Dame Lucie Rie, and Wharton Esherick, among others, as well as gifted artists from Japan, Korea, Colombia, Africa, and India.

The exhibition content is grouped into five categories, developed on the basis of visual qualities and design elements: Light and Transparency, Surface and Texture, Pattern and Color, Form and Structure, and Context and Commissions. The last theme explores Larsen’s work for major architects, beginning with his landmark textiles created in 1952 for the Lever House in New York City, America’s first major post-war high-rise tower. Within each theme, textiles and objects are juxtaposed to illustrate the cross-fertilization of Larsen’s collecting and designing.

“Jack Lenor Larsen’s role as an innovator in fabric design, and as a mentor to young and emerging artists, and his passionate interest in superb craftsmanship from all around the globe, make this exhibition particularly memorable,” said David R. McFadden.

“There is an integrated duality in the life and work of the artist Jack Lenor Larsen,” said Constantine. “He is a weaver, a textile designer, a restless creator of works with emphatic bright and deeply saturated colors, of surprising and seductive patterns. He is also a landscape artist. He has been an ardent collector of art and craft from his early days and his enduring bonds with contemporary artists make him unique in this field."

Born in 1927 in Seattle, Wash., Larsen first studied architecture and furniture design, and then focused on weaving, receiving his master of fine arts degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1951. Soon after, he won his first major commission, draperies for the Lever House lobby, and established the company that bears his name. Over the past five decades, the company has grown steadily to become a dominant resource for signature fabrics for the international design trade.

The “Larsen Look” began with Larsen’s own award-winning hand-woven fabrics of varied, natural yarns in random repeats, and has evolved to become synonymous with modern design at its pinnacle of style and sophistication. He and his company designed fabrics for some of the most elegant houses, public buildings, and corporate offices of the 20th century, working with Frank Lloyd Wright, I. M. Pei, Pan American and Braniff Airlines, the Phoenix Performing Arts Center, Air Force One, and many others.

Larsen’s design achievements include the first fabric for jet airliners, the first printed velvet upholstery fabrics, and the first stretch upholstery. He was an innovator in the development of fabrics that interact with light, creating new textile technologies for window treatments and other applications. He has won many awards and his is one of only two design houses ever to be honored with an exhibition at the Palais du Louvre. His designs appear in the permanent collections of numerous museums worldwide, including The Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Visit the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art at : www.svma.org