Marcel Wanders: Pinned Up at the Stedelijk
25 years of Design
February 1–June 15, 2014
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Museumplein 10
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam presents Marcel Wanders: Pinned Up at the Stedelijk—25 years of Design. This is the internationally renowned designer’s first European showing since 1999, the first ever retrospective of Wanders’ work, and the first major design exhibition at the Stedelijk since its reopening in 2012.
Born in 1963 in Boxtel, the Netherlands, Wanders is one of the world’s most distinguished designers. Initially associated with the avant-garde, conceptual movement of ‘Dutch Design,’ Wanders soon found his way into the wider design world and made his international breakthrough in 1996 with the Knotted Chair. Since then, his designs have been sold worldwide and he has received international acclaim for his products, furniture, interiors, and original art direction. In addition to his work for global brands and the interior design label Moooi, which he co-founded, he produces more experimental pieces as “Personal Editions.”
Marcel Wanders: Pinned Up at the Stedelijk encompasses Wanders’ entire oeuvre, from the late 1980s to the present day, with more than 400 objects on view in the monumental lower-level, 1,300-square-meter gallery space in the new wing of the Stedelijk. All of Wanders’ iconic works are featured, such as the Set Up Shades lamp (1989), the Knotted Chair (1995–1996), Lace Table (1997), Egg Vase (1997), Airborne Snotty Vases (2001), the New Antiques furniture (2005), and the Skygarden lamp (2007). In addition, Wanders’ Carbon Balloon Chair (2013) makes its European debut. JacobTV, alias Jacob Ter Veldhuis, the Dutch avant-pop composer, created the exhibition’s soundscape.
Conceived in three parts, the presentation contains a White Zone, offering an analysis of Wanders’ work based on ten themes (such as craftsmanship, narratives and dialogues, surface, innovation, archetypes, and scale); a Black Zone, presenting work of a more personal and often experimental nature in a theatrical setting; and a lounge where Wanders’ role as Art Director for Moooi and for publicity photos for many of his clients and projects is explored.
Featured in the Black Zone, the exhibition also includes the public unveiling of Virtual Interiors, an extraordinary series of seven autonomous digital films of fantasy interiors, some containing Wanders’ designs, but all never intended to exist in the real world. These Virtual Interiors reveal a mysterious, darker side of Wanders.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published jointly by Frame Publishers and the Stedelijk, with analytical essays by Marjan Groot, Jennifer Hudson, Penny Sparke, Ingeborg de Roode, and Pietje Tegenbosch. Also featured is an interview with the designer by Robert Thiemann and Alexandra Onderwater, a visual survey of the most important projects, a resume, bibliography, and a complete oeuvre list.
An extensive public program has been created for this show. On Saturday, February 15, different speakers will give a lecture about the designer during a special Stedelijk Forum, which includes an interview with Wanders himself. In March/April, experts from the design world will share their insights on the exhibition during a series of Gallery Talks. The public program concludes with a symposium exploring developments in international design in relation to the visual arts. For more information and dates, please visit www.stedelijk.nl.
Special education programs for all ages have also been designed to accompany the exhibition, including Walk & Talks, join-in guided tours, and interactive guided tours for families.
The exhibition Marcel Wanders: Pinned Up at the Stedelijk—25 years of design is made possible with the generous support of exhibition sponsor Koninklijke Ahold N.V. and additional support from Desso, Bols, Senso, Friedman Benda, Philips and LG Electronics.
Upcoming exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
The Gijs+Emmy Spectacle, Fashion and Jewelry design by Gijs Bakker and Emmy van Leersum 1967–1972 (February 22–August 24)
Jeff Wall: Tableaux Pictures Photographs 1996–2013 (March 1–August 3)
Bad Thoughts – Collection Martijn and Jeannette Sanders (July 19–December 7)
