Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe
This exhibition, organized by Vitra Design Museum, was on display at the Palm Springs Art Museum during Modernism Week. It included more than 400 pieces and was so rich and deep. I feel bad for anyone who wasn't able to see it so I'm going to post a ton of images.
When Girard was about 10 years old he created The Republic of Fife, which was part of a larger empire called Celestia. It included urban design layout, maps, flags, costumes, documents and even currency. This imaginary country was created when he was at boarding school in England.
One of the documents he created for Celestia.
In addition to how incredible this project was, the fact that it still exists is remarkable. Girard was obviously a collector, but he kept everything!
Terrazzo planters he designed in the 1930s.
1940s furniture and mobile
He designed the chair in 1944
Detrola radio, collage and sculpture. He did it all and it was all good.
Shop sign from 1950
Figures from 1943
And his drawings.
Concept theories Girard used as curator for the 1949 An Exhibition For Modern Living at the Detroit Institute of Art. A lot of gems in this.
There was a slideshow of images from the exhibition and this one caught my eye. Maurice Martiné is listed in the catalog but I never knew what chair it was. We did already know that Girard was a Martiné fan. He had a chair in his house and carried it in his design studio/shop.
Of course his textiles and furniture was well represented in the exhibition.
Textiles & Objects shop ephemera. I would really like to get my hands on a T&O bag.
The Girard folk art collection. More on that here.
Yes, there was a replica of the iconic conversation pit from the Miller House.
I told you the exhibition was deep. The hand carved models for the 1967 Girard Group for Herman Miller can be seen back there.
More on his Table Settings here
Scoren House enamel door design, 1977
Braniff Airlines corporate identity, 1965
Speaking of airlines, the next stop for the exhibition is supposed to be the Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City. It was scheduled to open June 17th and run until October 11 2020. Let's hope this mess is over by then. I'm itching to get back down there.