2015 Summer: Goldstein Museum of Design

MUSEUM OF DESIGN

SU M M E R 20 15

SUMMER 2015

E X H I B ITI O N S

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winter happenings: design cycles: a bike show opening: Design Cycles: A Bike Show

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programs: Cycling Museum of MN tour, MN Bicycling panel

student work: A drawing class sketches the exhibition

GOLDSTEIN MUSEUM OF DESIGN

CURRENT

gallery 241

6th annual benefit

hga gallery

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Alexey Brodovitch, Art Director

John H. Howe

May 29 - September 20, 2015

June 4 - September 13, 2015

Design Goes to the Opera July 16, 2015 Mill Ruins Courtyard

FALL 2015

A summer evening exploring how design forms opera’s music, costumes, sets, props, wigs, and makeup with Mill City Summer Opera performers, music, and more. tickets available at goldsteinbrownpapertickets.com

America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains

Hypernatural September 25, 2015 - Jaunary 2016

opens October 2015 Goldstein Museum of Design

IN THE WORKS 2016

GoldsteinMuseum

GALLERY 241 MCNEAL HALL, SAINT PAUL Tuesday–Friday 10:00 am–5:00 pm Weekends 1:30 pm–4:30 pm FREE admission

HGA GALLERY RAPSON HALL, MINNEAPOLIS Monday–Friday 9:00 am–6:00 pm Weekends 1:00 pm–5:00 pm FREE admission

When Places Speak SUMMER 2015

goldstein.design.umn.edu

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John H. Howe From Taliesin Apprentice to Master of Organic Design While incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone, for refusing conscription during WWII, Howe produced a great many wonderful design. This rendering of the interior of a lake cabin for fellow inmate, author Carlos Hudson, shows that despite his physical confinement, his imagination was free to roam.

Architect John Howe (1913-1997) once said, “The best powers of persuasion are beautiful drawings.”

The exhibition also includes projects Howe designed during his thirty-three month incarceration in the Federal Correctional Institution in Sandstone, Minnesota, where Howe let his creative impulses run free while he was confined for refusing induction into the military during World War II because of his pacifist views. He designed numerous imaginative architectural fantasies—some of which were visionary in concept.

A selection of Howe’s architectural drawings, along with contemporary photography of his built work, will be on display in the exhibition, John H. Howe, Architect: From Taliesin Apprentice to Master of Organic Design. Among them are examples of the iconic drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs that he created during the twenty-seven years he was a member of the Taliesin Fellowship. As Wright’s chief draftsman, he was responsible for many of the finest

GUEST CURATORS Jane Hession and Tim Quigley collaborated fifteen years ago producing and directing a Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy annual conference in Minneapolis.

They discovered John Howe’s remarkable houses in planning that effort.

Jane curated a show of Howe’s drawings at the MIA concurrent with the conference. Subsequently, Gabberts sponsored a series of lectures, coordinated

by Tim, further illuminating Howe’s career.

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and most famous renderings ever to emanate from the studio, including those for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, and for the headquarters building and research tower for the S.C. Johnson & Son Company in Racine, Wisconsin.

During his years with Wright, Howe gained a deep understanding of the principles of organic architecture, or most simply stated, designing in harmony with nature. These tenets would serve him well when he established his own independent architectural practice in Minnesota in 1967. Howe, who believed “the land was the beginning” of architecture, did not begin to design a house until he fully understood its site and identified natural features to be preserved. As such, each Howe house is uniquely suited to its site and appears to be as naturally a part of it as the rocks, trees, and contours of the land.

SUMMER 2015

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Inspired by his captivating drawings and organic houses, they decided to write a book on Howe’s architectural career, though it was on the back burner more often than not as life got in the way. Their book, John H. Howe, Architect: From Taliesin Apprentice to Master of Organic Design, to be published in August by the U of MN Press, is the culmination of years of effort. It chronicles Howe’s career from his arrival at Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship in 1932 through his twenty-five years as an architect in Minnesota.

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EXHIBITIONS: HGA Gallery, Rapson Hall, Minneapolis Campus

True to his belief, he was a master at creating stunning presentation perspectives of his designs. Not only did Howe’s exquisite drawings effectively convey his design concepts, they also captured the intimate relationship a building would have with the surrounding landscape. Always structured with perspectival accuracy and handcolored with delicate pencil lines, many of Howe’s drawings are works of art.

Alexey Brodovitch: The radical transformation of magazine design from static illustrations at the beginning of the 20th century to high drama by mid-century can be traced to the innovative ideas of Russian émigré Alexey Brodovitch (1898-1971). Best-known as art director of Harper’s Bazaar, Brodovitch elevated that critical role to guide the visual content of each issue, using graphic design to create a mood and tell a story.

Born into an aristocratic Russian family, Brodovitch fled with them to Paris in 1920, during the Bolshevik Revolution. In Paris, he found himself at the epicenter of an artistic revolution. After World War I, artists had converged on the city, bringing photomontage and typography from Dadaism and Italian Futurism; strict geometries of Russian Constructivism, Le Corbusier’s Purism, and the Bauhaus; and Surrealism from Spain; combined with advertising, street posters, and experimentation.

Spread from Harper's Bazaar, November 1935, photos by Martin Munkacsi.

Brodovitch's use of angles

Brodovitch reveled in these influences and brought this spirit to Philadelphia in 1930, where he worked as a freelance designer and innovative teacher of commercial art (graphic design). He taught throughout his career, referring to himself as a “can opener” that released students’ creativity. “Astonish me!” he admonished them.

and asymmetry create motion and give the viewer the sense of the action. Carmel Snow referred to this spread as one of Brodovitch's greatest, where the photos "dance across the pages."

In 1934, Carmel Snow, former fashion editor of Vogue, hired Brodovitch to revamp Harper’s Bazaar to become a fierce competitor with Vogue.

Brodovitch had a passion for the new that Snow understood - the same passion that drove the fashion world (also centered in Paris). He remained at Bazaar for nearly 25 years, encouraging photographers and illustrators to reinvent themselves and helping to launch careers of artists such as photographer Richard Avedon and illustrator Andy Warhol.

Cover of Harper's Bazaar, June 1951, photo by Richard Avedon.

Brodovitch was known for the ruthless cropping of his photographers’ work.

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GOLDSTEIN MUSEUM OF DESIGN

Art Director

Alexey Brodovitch, Libertad de Palabra (Freedom of Speech), 1942, offset lithograph on paper, 20 x 14 1/4 in. Collection of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University 1968.13.66.

While at Bazaar, Brodovitch also developed the influential journal Portfolio (1950-51). Portfolio afforded Brodovitch an opportunity to push the envelope of visual and editorial experimentation. The short-lived journal is a masterful use of photography, illustration, and imaginative uses of inks and color.

Spread from Harper's Bazaar, April 1941, photomontage by Herbert Matter Brodovitch’s work was influenced by surrealism.

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Alexey Brodovitch: Art Director presents Brodovitch’s career from Paris through the Bazaar. Even after sixty years, this work remains startlingly fresh, thanks to his use of innovative photography and layout. Hundreds of Bazaar spreads and covers will reveal Brodovitch’s enormous impact on contemporary fashion photography and editorial design. Rare examples of his lesser-known work will include issues of Portfolio; the influential books Ballet (1945), Marcel Breuer’s Sun and Shadow (1956), and Richard Avedon’s Observations (1959); commercial advertising; cover designs for pulp mystery novels; and two 1942 World War II posters, created for the Office of Inter-American Affairs.

EXHIBITIONS: Gallery 241, McNeal Hall, St. Paul Campus

of Minnesota.

I approached the drawings wanting to establish textures the viewer would want to touch.

NOTESFROM THE COLLECTION karl engebretson

Both John Owens and Monica Fogg, adjunct professors in the College of Design, have skillfully employed the use of resources from GMD’s collection many times in recent years. This assignment, developed for their GDES 3311/5311 Illustration classes, asked students to study object groupings from GMD’s collection. John Owens worked with GMD staff to assemble groupings that provided both enough diversity and cohesion to be solid subjects for what Owens and Fogg describe as “informative documentation.”

Winter coats, shoes, hats, and Vitra 1/6-scale chairs were used as fodder for the creation of an 11x17 poster that focused in on one object grouping.

The illustrations were to provide a context that was imbued with whimsy and imagination. While the term whimsy may sound charming and quaint, the illustrator’s process to achieving this requires detail and rigor. Each student was initially asked to develop three different directions, employing a variety of mediums and techniques. The great range of final posters revealed objects that were represented with individualism and humor. Garments, hats, and shoes were frequently fetishized, but in strikingly different ways. Five examples are shown here.

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The poster was completed using Copic markers with final touchup in Photoshop.

graduate student, graphic design

There were many iterations from initial observational sketches to the final stylized output, and that is documented in the poster itself with the two approaches shown in the image.

The dip pen’s irregularity of line paired with the tight hatching established an unreal but tactile quality to the objects, while still preserving the details that make them unique. I used colored pencil to give volume to the shoes and instill a splash of warmth to the otherwise harsh line drawings of the pen. The lettering was made with a wide flatnibbed pen and loosely aheres to a Rustic Roman calligraphy style.

Many iterations resulted in the ideal pair of words that implied desire and formality at the same time.

drew blom graduate student, graphic design

GOLDSTEIN MUSEUM OF DESIGN

For at least a few frigid months of the year, Minnesotans must make practical choices about their clothing or suffer the consequences.

While the hats and shoes of these illustrations were beautifully crafted, I focused on their impracticality as winter accessories.

I used the natural irregularity of watercolor, with hand-drawn and painted lettering, to add humor and looseness to an otherwise tightlycomposed layout.

While drawing each piece, I became very interested in the forms and shapes that made up each object.

I drew all of the line work with pen and then scanned those line drawings in to be colored in photoshop. I used watercolor to color the images and the circles in the background. I then scanned the watercolor pieces and placed them behind the line drawings.

alicia weller thompson, graduate student, graphic design

I decided to focus on these forms and shapes, and ultimately created these color blocked, screenprint-type shapes, which I altered and filled with paint in photoshop.

jennifer yelk junior, graphic design

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mass Communication minor

ericka wallis junoior, graphic design

I was able to move all of these scanned elements around until I had a layout I was happy with.

To finalize the piece I printed the poster on an off-white colored, textured paper.

Learn more about the GMD collection on our BLOG: goldstein.umn.edu SUMMER 2015

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I've always been amazed by Da Vinci, because he worked out science on his own. He would work by drawing things and writing down his ideas.

- Bill Gates (inventor, born 1955) I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies.

- Le Corbusier (architect, 1887-1965) Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic.

- Keith Haring (artist, born 1958)

GMD STAFF What we admire in good design varies from the sleek minimalism of an iPhone to the soaring heights of an urban office tower or from the intricacies of a wedding dress to the interactive experience of a website. While the final form of these designs varies widely, the designers involved in their ideation and development may have begun each by visualizing through drawing.

Drawing is one of the oldest forms of expression used as a tool to visually communicate thoughts over time. For designers, this means that ideas take form in drawings that can be returned to for reference and refinement. In fact, you could argue that drawing is essential to design and to visually working out ideas. Drawing and sketching is often the first step in observing, problem-solving, and exploring ideas that may lead to prototypes and, eventually, to a final product or construction.

Articles in this issue reflect the value of drawing as a fundamental skill for designers. As designers embrace technological advances in developing new work – computer-assisted-design, 3D printing, and laser cutting – we also recognize the importance of learning the basic skill of drawing. Many of the objects in GMD’s collection and exhibitions started out with drawings. These objects are now the focus of students learning to draw or the inspiration for students and designers working out new ideas. Come draw!

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Yours in design,

Autumn Beckman Gallery Staff

GMD STAFF Elizabeth Bischoff

Gallery Staff Jeffrey Arcand Gallery Staff Campbell Kathleen Special Projects Autumn Beckman Gallery Staff Chaney Mary Alice Exhibitions ElizabethCoordinator Bischoff Gallery Staff Alex Christl Gallery Staff Campbell Kathleen Special KarenProjects Froistad Gallery Staff Chaney Mary Alice Exhibitions Aly GatesCoordinator GalleryChristl Staff Alex Gallery Staff Laureen Gibson

Waller Collection Laureen Gibson Assistant Waller Collection Assistant Haugen Eunice

Registrar Eunice Haugen Registrar Betsy Intharath Gallery Staff Abbey Kleinert

Waller AbbeyCommunications Kleinert Assistant Waller Communications Assistant Lutz Barbara Administrative Assistant Barbara Lutz Administrative Assistant Jean McElvain Assistant Curator Jean McElvain Assistant Curator Kendall Moon Gallery Staff Kendall Moon Gallery Staff Lin Nelson-Mayson Director Lin Nelson-Mayson Director Rebekah Njaa Preparator Rebekah Njaa PreparatorSchacht Jeanne Graphic JeanneDesigner Schacht Graphic Designer Matthew Shea Gallery Staff Shea Matthew Gallery Skoro Staff Ellen Photographer Ellen Skoro Photographer Natasha Thoreson Lila Bath Collection Natasha Thoreson Assistant Lila Bath Collection Assistant Linda Webster Grant LindaWriter Webster Grant Writer

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GOLDSTEIN MUSEUM OF DESIGN

NEW AND RENEWING MEMBERS Barbara Taylor Anderson & Richard Cooper Rachel Anthony Catherine Cerny

IN MEMORY Doris Bonde,

By Dr. John Bonde William J. Saul,

By Shirley Barber Vandora Linck

GMD ADVISORY BOARD 2014-2015 OFFICERS PRESIDENT Tim Quigley, Quigley Architects PRESIDENT-ELECT Kent Hensley, Hensley Creative/ The Bernard Group

Heidi Libera

Margot Siegel,

By Joanne B. Eicher, Fashion Group of Minneapolis/ St. Paul, Betty Hammel, Barbara Heinemann, Lisa Koven, Sue Sorensen Lee, Molly Maloney, Jane Pejsa, Thomas & Zaiga Schleisman, Lisa Schreifels, Mark Schultz

Linda Makinen

TO HONOR

Christine Hartman, Holly Hunt

Lois Simeral

Dr. Gertrude Esteros,

By D. Jack & Gail C. Davis

Matthew Hatch, RR Donnelley

Susan Elsner Kathryn Glessing Mary Ellen Haggerty Linda Hersom Marit Lee Kucera

Christopher Spong Karen Owen Tuzcu & Ertugrul Tuzcu COLLECTION DIGITIZATION Lorene Holl Finette & Richard Magnuson DIRECTOR’S FUND Sue J. Bartolutti Sandy & Bob Morris Norman Steere

GENERAL SUPPORT/ ANNUAL APPEAL Catherine Cerny Chin-Man Chen Mary Ellen Haggerty Carol Jackson Marjorie Larson Gloria Williams Dorothy Ziebell MATCHING FOUNDATION Margaret A. Cargill Foundation

SECRETARY Cheryl Watson, Graphiculture BOARD MEMBERS Bradley Agee, Department of Landscape Architecture, U of M

Debra Herdman, debra herdman design Kimberly Hogan, Community Volunteer Heidi Libera, Streeter & Associates Shanthini Logendran, Holly Hunt Todd Nelson, Restoration Hardware John Ollmann, Signals Julia Robinson, School of Architecture, U of M Christopher Spong, Mithun Stephanie Zollinger, Department of Design, Housing and Apparel, U of M EX-OFFICIO Dean Tom Fisher, College of Design Renee Cheng, Associate Dean of Research

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At GMD’s 6th annual benefit Design Goes to the Opera you can become a donor to the GMD collection fund by adopting an object. Not only will you help preserve GMD’s renowned collection, you will also receive a keepsake sticker with an image of your object as a thank you. Attend the event to adopt and find out more!

If you can’t attend the benefit, you can donate online at goldstein.design.umn.edu/support/sponsor/

SUMMER 2015

All GMD programming is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support Grant, thanks to legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Funding for the collection photography project was made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

Printed on recycled and recyclable paper with at least 10 percent post-consumer material.

To request disability accommodations or to receive this publication/material in alternative formats please contact: Goldstein Museum of Design, 364 McNeal Hall, 612.624.7434.

GMD DONORS: Winter 2015

Go

Lin Nelson-Mayson, Director

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Ad

a n O bj e opt ct

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage

GALLERY 241 MCNEAL HALL, SAINT PAUL Tuesday–Friday 10:00 am–5:00 pm Weekends 1:30 pm–4:30 pm FREE admission

HGA GALLERY RAPSON HALL, MINNEAPOLIS

PAID

Twin Cities, MN Permit No. 90155

364 McNeal Hall 1985 Buford Avenue St. Paul, MN 55108

Monday–Friday 9:00 am–6:00 pm Weekends 1:00 pm–5:00 pm FREE admission

gmd@umn.edu 612.624.7434 goldstein.design.umn.edu Goldstein Museum of Design GoldsteinMuseum

Cloth Fragment, 1930-1939

Cloth Fragment, c. 1970

Westernized Javanese pattern with overlapping repeats

Eleanor Kluck and Henry Kluck, Elenhank Designers Inc.

Gift of the Harriet and Vetta Goldstein Estate

Screenprint on cotton

Gift of Dorothy E. A. Ramsland