Donald Judd
A Good Chair is a Good Chair
15 Jul - 15 Sep 2011
A joint exhibition by the Neue Sammlung - The International Design Museum Munich and the Sammlung Moderne Kunst.
"If a chair or a building is not functional - it is ridiculous."
(Donald Judd)
American Donald Judd (1928-1994) is widely considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century world-wide. In the 1960s he came to fame as one of the champions of Minimal, and expanded his creative reach to include the fields of architecture and design. Few have known to date, however, that Donald Judd has also concerned himself closely with furniture design. This aspect of crossover between design and the visual arts has prompted a collaboration between two institutions that live under the roof of Pinakothek der Moderne, namely Neue Sammlung - The International Design Museum Munich - and the Sammlung Moderne Kunst (Collection of Modern Art).
The exhibition, which is being organized jointly with the IKON Gallery in Birmingham, presents a concentrated selection of the furniture Judd has designed. It also includes prototypes and early items that Judd built himself and were destined for his own use - and have to date , rarely been on show outside Judd's home towns of New York and Marfa, Texas.
Thanks to the Neue Sammlung's profound design collection it is now for the first time possible to place the selection in the context of designers who Judd rated highly. Moreover, installations by Judd and his contemporaries Dan Flavin and Fred Sandback are always on display in the Sammlung Moderne Kunst. Hence, this is the realization of a project in which visitors can specifically view and study crossovers, differences and the interrelationships between art and design. It is truly fortuitous that the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (State Collection of Graphic Arts) in Munich is simultaneously highlighting US Minimal Art at Pinakothek der Moderne - in the form of an exhibition on "The Space of the Line".
"If a chair or a building is not functional - it is ridiculous."
(Donald Judd)
American Donald Judd (1928-1994) is widely considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century world-wide. In the 1960s he came to fame as one of the champions of Minimal, and expanded his creative reach to include the fields of architecture and design. Few have known to date, however, that Donald Judd has also concerned himself closely with furniture design. This aspect of crossover between design and the visual arts has prompted a collaboration between two institutions that live under the roof of Pinakothek der Moderne, namely Neue Sammlung - The International Design Museum Munich - and the Sammlung Moderne Kunst (Collection of Modern Art).
The exhibition, which is being organized jointly with the IKON Gallery in Birmingham, presents a concentrated selection of the furniture Judd has designed. It also includes prototypes and early items that Judd built himself and were destined for his own use - and have to date , rarely been on show outside Judd's home towns of New York and Marfa, Texas.
Thanks to the Neue Sammlung's profound design collection it is now for the first time possible to place the selection in the context of designers who Judd rated highly. Moreover, installations by Judd and his contemporaries Dan Flavin and Fred Sandback are always on display in the Sammlung Moderne Kunst. Hence, this is the realization of a project in which visitors can specifically view and study crossovers, differences and the interrelationships between art and design. It is truly fortuitous that the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (State Collection of Graphic Arts) in Munich is simultaneously highlighting US Minimal Art at Pinakothek der Moderne - in the form of an exhibition on "The Space of the Line".