R & Company and BassamFellows present the exhibition Modern in Your Life, which explores the work of designers Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows set against the backdrop of a restored modern masterpiece. The programs examine BassamFellows’ ongoing dialogue with the history of Modernist furniture, art, and architecture, offering a rare opportunity to experience their work alongside iconic pieces by Modernist designers.
Shown within the landmark Schlumberger building in Ridgefield, CT, Modern In Your Life creates a dialogue between the studio’s current work, seminal historical designs from R & Company’s collection curated by James Zemaitis, and art masterpieces curated by Erica Barrish. The International Style building was designed by Philip Johnson and is an ideal venue for the exhibition. It was restored by BassamFellows in 2018 to become their HQ and it received a Modernism in America Award in 2019.
The show is inspired, in part, by the Good Design exhibitions at MoMA, curated by Johnson in 1951 and 1955, which showcased works by the likes of Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen, among others. The diversity of MoMA’s program is highlighted in this novel exhibition through a collection of rare textiles on loan from Cora Ginsberg LLC, designed by Joel Robinson, Olga Lee, and the Danish-born Connecticut resident, Jens Risom.
Within the context of one of the most significant Modernist buildings in North America, Modern in Your Life brings together works of art and design that broke new ground at the point of their creation and redefined what it meant to be ‘modern’.
The program in Ridgefield is accompanied by a second exhibition, Carve, Curve, Cane, currently on view at 82 Franklin Street in New York City. This installation assembles some of BassamFellows’ most recent work, with an emphasis on geometry and innovative materials.
Details
Modern in Your Life
36 Old Quarry Rd, Ridgefield, CT
Through September 4, 2021
Fridays and Saturdays, 10 am - 4 pm
Free, reservations required, limited bookings available
Carve, Curve, Cane
82 Franklin Street, New York, NY
Through August 27, 2021
Monday - Friday, 11 am - 6 pm
Free, reservations suggested
