2col china hucker

Thomas Hucker, “Screen #1,” 2006, bronze by Charles Jones, hinges by Chris Dunham; Swiss pearwood, English yew, and bronze. —Dean Powell photo

(note: only one photo)

FOR 6-15

‘INSPIRED BY CHINA’ TO OPEN AT MUSEUM OF ARTS & DESIGN JUNE 18 w/1 cuts

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NEW YORK CITY — The Museum of Arts & Design (MAD) will present “Inspired by China: Contemporary Furnituremakers Explore Chinese Traditions,” which brings together 27 masterpieces of historic Chinese furniture — some from as early as the Sixteenth Century — with 27 pieces of contemporary studio furniture created specifically for the exhibition. The exhibit will run June 28–October 29.

Each of the 22 artists — from the United States, Canada, Japan and China — is recognized for innovations and quality of design.

“These engaging pieces were created by some of the finest studio furniture artists working today,” says Holly Hotchner, director of the Museum of Arts & Design. “We are proud to show these exceptional works, inspired by centuries of innovative Chinese design.”

The exhibition grew out of a three-day workshop at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., in June 2005, when the 22 artists were invited to view and discuss more than 40 pieces representing China’s rich and varied furniture traditions.

The artists then produced new works noted for their range of creative response and materials, including stainless steel, electrical wire, ceramic and twigs. “Inspired by China” was organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, and was on view there in October 2006 through March 4.

A striking chair by the Chinese artist Shao Fan has just been acquired by the Museum of Arts & Design and will be added to the exhibition. A painter, sculptor and designer, Shao Fan was born into a renowned family of artists in 1964, graduated from the Beijing Arts and Crafts College, and works and lives in that city. His chairs combine the aesthetics of the Ming dynasty with modern forms and materials.

With his “restored pieces” such as “King,” he playfully creates a new visual language of past and present, typifying China’s struggle to ascertain its new contemporary identity. Fan is considered among the foremost “crossover artists” in mainland China, blurring the boundaries between the fine and the applied arts, which aligns him closely with the mission of the Museum of Arts & Design.

The aesthetics of Chinese decorative art have been an important source for new directions in European and American furniture. These include the geometric detailing of the Chippendale style of the mid-Eighteenth Century, the use of Oriental figures and Chinese architectural forms in the Aesthetic style of the late Nineteenth Century and the unadorned profile of modernist design in the 1930s and 1940s. In the early 1950s, the noted American designer and writer T.H. Robsjohns-Gibbings extolled the beauty of Chinese furniture — its “self-contained” quality and “tranquil earthbound grace” — and compared it to ancient Greek forms.

For this exhibition, the curators selected Chinese works that represented distinct styles of vernacular furniture, more elaborate Ming furniture and a range of types and materials. “Inspired by China,” drawn from private collections and the museum’s own holdings, offers a rich portrait of China’s furniture traditions.

Studio furniture, a vibrant field in North America since the 1950s, also enjoyed a surge in popularity. Freed from the demands of mass-market furniture production, studio artists produce one-of-a-kind pieces that often require hundreds of hours to create, and are increasingly prized by collectors and museums. The artists draw from multiple traditions, yet few have had prior opportunities to explore the complexity of Chinese forms, materials and techniques.

In China, artists trained in sculpture, design and traditional furnituremaking are now also creating one-of-a-kind pieces of contemporary furniture.

The curators chose a well-known group of studio furnituremakers, opting for mature artists who have long produced consistently strong work, as well as choosing artists who develop objects with cultural meaning.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog.

The museum is at 40 West 53rd Street. For information, www.madmuseum.org or 212-956-3535.