The Czech Center New York presents a selection of artifacts from the Home Art collection in Prague.

Svícen – Klecící žena kov                                                              Tulipány kov

Home Art is a phenomenon that arose in the second half of the 20th century in communist Czechoslovakia. Home Art was made by people with no art education and with ambition not reaching beyond the intent of creating a piece of art simply for their and their family’s joy. These artifacts decorated the interiors of Communist era housing projects, countryside cottages, offices and workrooms, pubs and military dormitories. Artistry, craftsmanship, and a peculiar design inspiration is much in evidence as one tours this collection which serves as a kind of document of the personal and widely felt response to the social and economic constraints of that era.

Dekorace chemlon                                                     Hodiny prekližka, drevo, budík

Home Art, especially at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, complemented the “atomic style”, for which the name “Brussels style“ is used in Czechoslovakia after the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair, where Czech designs won 27 gold medals.

Svícen kov                                                                          Ferda Mravenec kov

While bursts of Czech Home Art activity can be seen in the mid 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, the 1960s was the time when it reached its peak.  By the fall of the communist regime in 1989, this modern folklore has more or less disappeared.

Cert kov                                                                                              Palmy kov

What these Home Art pieces may lack in formal aesthetic, they more than make up for in sheer creativity and whimsy, and it is in this light as artifacts that they are best appreciated as they represent important historical and social evidence belonging to a bygone era.

Pantofle chemlon                                                                Prostírání chemlon

Exhibition
Home Art
At the Czech Center New York
From June 16 to September 15 2011

Designed by Florian Pucher, Land Carpet is is a rug inspired by nature and farmed landscapes.  Based on satellite images, it shows the world from above, as we usually see it only out of the window of a plane.
Land Carpet is hand-tufted from New Zealand wool.

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ModulA.R.T. has launched its new blog: Art-Rethought where Donald Rattner will explore and illustrate how digital innovations in manufacturing are impacting art and design.

“Four Leaf Clover”. Leather carpet formed from clover-shaped modules. Produced by Mia Cullin. Photo by Mathias Nero.

Their first post is about Swedish designer and interior architect Mia Cullin. She designs what might be described as modular textile systems in traditional and modern materials. Her palette includes felt, Tyvek (a modern synthetic often used as a wrap in building construction), leather and wool. Cullin’s modules have the appearance of multi-lobed geometric figures suggesting flowers, snowflakes and other centralized figures drawn from organic nature.

“Flake”. Star-shaped Tyvek modules joined together to form drapery and screens. Produced by Woodnotes. Photos by Sameli Rantanen.

The undercutting of the shapes forming the perimeter allows the textile units to be joined together by folding and interlocking adjacent lobes. Together they weave a tapestry of repetitive forms whose uniformity is relieved by the play of light and shadow among the variously raised pieces of fabric. The natural wave of the assembled pieces, a judicious use of cut-out figures within some of the modular designs, and the natural surface texture of the materials adds to the visual play.

“Lily”. Carpet formed from star-shaped leather modules. Produced by Mia Cullin. Photo by Mathias Nero.

Flor is producing a line of 4 modular carpet tiles based on Alexander Girard's famous graphic designs.
"As a business owner, I'm always on the look out for new opportunities to develop and expand our business and our audience.  When we were approached by maXimo to develop an area rug collection using the iconic designs of the renowned Herman Miller textile designer, Alexander Girard, we viewed it as a perfect fit for our company."

Like all great designers, Alexander Girard never forgot that his work must be ultimately practical - he just made sure to imbue his designs with a whole lot of sophisticated yet fun boldness.

Working smack in the middle of the hey-day of mid-20th century American design was Alexander Girard. Many consider Girard the most influential textile designer of the modern era. But to many more, he remains relatively unknown. To Flor, Girard is everything one could ever hope to aspire to: functionality made better by a blended balance of vibrant color, whimsical design and pure sophistication.
Girard's La Fonda del Sol restaurant project put the emphasis on sol with bold, color-saturated graphics of the sun reviving up the walls, the furniture, the floors, the tableware, the menus, even the matchbooks. Though the restaurant closed in 1971, Girard's work there maintained an iconic status - each piece thoroughly beautiful, all supremely functional. And it's that work that has inspired the Flor Girard line of modular carpet tiles.