Memphis Milano: The Dennis Zanone Collection

May 5 , , , , , , , , ,

Dennis Zanone’s Malabar Room with Various Memphis Collections

The Memphis group comprised of designers and architects (mainly Italians) who created a series of influential products in the 1980’s. They challenged the idea that products had to follow conventional shapes, colors, textures and patterns. Expensive elements such as granite and marble were paired with materials such as plastics, plywood, laminates and Formica. Often was the case that color and pattern were saturated beyond many observer’s level of comfort. Form followed function – or did it?

The Memphis group was founded in 1981 by Ettore Sottsass who called Memphis design the ‘New International Style’. Among its members were Alessandro Mendini, Martine Bedin, Andrea Branzi, Aldo Cibic, Michele de Lucchi, Nathalie du Pasquier, Michael Graves, Hans Hollein, Arata Isozaki, Shiro Kuramata, Matteo Thun, Javier Mariscal, George Sowden, and Marco Zanini

Certainly ground breaking at the time, the creations – which ranged from small housewares to entire buildings – were a stark contrast to the chrome-laden black and brown leather creations stemming from the much earlier Bauhaus School and mid 20th century modernism. They took this approach to the “redefinition of design” and soon began exhibiting clocks, lighting, furniture and ceramics created by internationally famous architects and designers.

The work of the Memphis Group has been described as vibrant, eccentric and ornamental. Art Deco, Pop Art, and Futurism were some design inspirations although the work coming out of their group were certainly unique creations.

Sottsass dismantled the group in 1988 and although Memphis may no longer exist it has certainly influenced many and designers in all fields to this day.

The Memphis Milano collection of Dennis Zanone

Dennis Zanone is a photographer and avid Memphis Milano collector living in Memphis, Tennessee. With over 20 years of investment it would be harder to believe that any individual (or museum) has a larger and more comprehensive Memphis Milano collection – even though the likes of MOMA and even Karl Lagerfield  have/had also caught the Memphis bug. We are very fortunate that Zanone meticulously documents and shares the pieces on his Memphis Milano Flickr stream and shares the love and knowledge via his Memphis Milano Facebook Page.

Russel Wright - American Modern

Modern American Ceramics

December 12 , , , ,

Editor’s Note: Modern American Ceramics and modernism are two of our favorite subjects. Here are a few of our choice lines from the mid 20th century. We will revisit this subject often.

The term American Modern is a distinct American design aesthetic formed in the period between 1925 and World War II. American Modern was created by a pioneering group of designers, architects and artists, among them were Norman Bel Geddes, Donald Deskey, Henry Dreyfuss, Paul Frankl, William Lescaze, Raymond Loewy, Gilbert Rohde, Eliel Saarinen, Walter Dorwin Teague, Kem Weber and Russel. Their impact on the daily lives of ordinary Americans is exemplified through a wide array of objects including furniture, glassware, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, household appliances, automobiles, airplanes and graphic arts. American Modern is distinguished by the absence of traditional ornament, the use of new technologies and materials, and the adoption of mass-production techniques to create affordable objects for the expanding population.

American Modern dinnerware by Russel Wright 1939 – 1959

American Modern Dinnerware. Colorful and curvaceous dinnerware designed by Russel Wright originally manufactured by Steubenville Pottery in Steubenville, Ohio and currently manufactured by Bauer Pottery Company of Los Angeles. Its unique and immediately recognizable colors of coral, chartreuse, granite grey and seafoam, as well as its distinctive curvilinear decorative shapes, went on to make American Modern dinnerware the most popular and identifiable china pattern/china colors ever sold, with over 250 million pieces sold between 1939 – 1959 alone.

Russel Wright also produced several other lines of pottery for the growing needs of the American middle-class including Iroquois Casual (1946), and Residential Melamine (1953). For all of these series and sets one can easily grasp the idealistic notions Wright was separating himself from and at the same time gain an understanding for those notions of Modernism he was moving towards.

Hall Pottery for Westinghouse and Hotpoint – Universal and Oxfordware Pottery

Hall, Universal and Oxfordware Pottery refridgerator dishes

Hall, Universal and Oxfordware Pottery

Around the same time frame one of the nation’s largest ceramics manufacturers expanded its reach by giving away its wares. Refrigerators — must-haves for homes in the modern age — were being sold almost faster than they could be produced. Companies like General Electric, Hotpoint and Westinghouse kept up with America’s demand while retail outlets made deals with companies like Pyrex, Universal, Hall Pottery and others to make their sales more enticing to consumers.

Hall for Westinghouse Label

Hall for Westinghouse Label

Enter the mass produced refrigerator dishes. With the convenience of preserved food and beverages in the home came the need to stylishly store them. Hall Pottery went one step further by making different lines and sets of refrigerator dishware for different retailers. The more curvaceous and slightly more stately designs were fit for customers buying their appliances at Montgomery Ward & Co. The more utilitarian and boxier of the designs were for those buying their iceboxes through Hotpoint and Westinghouse. Of course, one could purchase pieces separately but the larger retailers would give make deals with ceramics manufacturers to offer them free with their products.

Gonked Glooked Slurped – Two Mega-Collectors

December 12 , , , , ,

Valery and Tony: Two young creatives  presently residing  in Georgia, USA – invite the world along as they collect, curate and explore the many items in which they choose to surround their lives. The newlywed duo continues to build their collections at their mid-century ranch simultaneously tackling the chore of renovation. Together they operate the blog Gonked Glooked Slurped where they share their passions with a wider audience.

Clearly a design conscious couple, there is no element of snobbery and certainly no reductionist  sensibility impeding the never ending assortment. Furniture, records, electronics, ephemera, visual art in all forms and formats  live here. A body of objects seemingly recognizable from our past – yet probably most of us neglected to hold onto – live, play, perhaps go to war when no one is watching (there is a Viking army after all).

Little Miss No Name belongs here (a very sad looking doll with a big plastic tear permanently about to fall from her right eye) as do several high end original furniture pieces. Taking just a glimpse of the couple’s collection one could feel overwhelmed and misunderstand the intimacy going on in just about every square foot of every room. A play of color, light, form,  personality and frivolity culminate into a storyline here. It’s anyone’s guess as to that story’s plot – obviously an intense journey through Indie and Pop culture continues to be written – the sentence about form following function was completely erased and continues down its path of redefinition.