Joe Colombo
Design and the Invention of the Future
June 7 – August 31, 2008
Opening: Friday, June 6, 2008, 7pm
Kunsthaus Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum
Lendkai 1, A–8020 Graz
T +43-316/8017-9200, F -9212
Tue – Sun 10am-6pm
info [at] kunsthausgraz.at
Televisions that retract into the ceiling, pivoting walls with a built-in mini-bar, underground “nuclear cities” – the works of Italian designer Joe Colombo could have emerged directly from the set of a contemporary James Bond film or from the Kunsthaus Graz itself. They exude the spirit of the shrill Sixties yet also impress with their functionality and striking forms.
One of the most successful designers of his time, Colombo produced design classics such as the “Elda” armchair, the “Universale” chair or the lamp “Alogena”. The exhibition Joe Colombo. Design and the Invention of the Future is the first international retrospective dedicated to Colombo’s work. Produced in close cooperation with the estate of Joe Colombo, the exhibition presents an abundance of never-before-shown materials on Joe Colombo’s body of work. These include early original objects and prototypes of Colombo’s most important furniture designs as well as many original rough sketches, architectural models, several films and original photos. Colombo was not only one of the most important designers of his time but also a gifted communicator and self-promoter. Always elegantly dressed and never without a pipe in his mouth, Colombo furnished fitting images to accompany his designs: that of a “designer dandy” who was fascinated by the possibilities of new technologies and the improvement of everyday life.
An exhibition of Vitra Design Museum in cooperation with the Triennale di Milano and the Studio Joe Colombo, Milan, within the program of Intermezzo Italiano at Landesmuseum Joanneum.
More exhibitions in Kunsthaus Graz:
Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, Madrid
arquitectura concreta
Opening: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 6pm
June 26 – August 3, 2008
Kunsthaus Graz, Foyer
For years, the Madrid architects Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano have numbered among the most distinguished representatives of Spain’s contemporary architectural scene. At Kunsthaus Graz they now provide an overview of their projects, all characterized by fascinating spatial configurations and incisive formal idioms. In Graz, whose Old Town has been designated a World Heritage Site, Nieto Sobejano are involved in two projects – the expansion of the Landesmuseum Joanneum and the construction of a new roofscape for the Kastner & Öhler department store.
Although consistently contemporary in design and choice of forms, Nieto Sobejano have nonetheless succeeded in realizing an architectural language that is simultaneously responsive to the surrounding historic buildings yet independent of them. This achievement is also exemplified by their highly acclaimed Madinat al Zahara Archaeological Museum in Córdoba (Spain) and the Extension of the Moritzburg Contemporary Art Museum in Saxony-Anhalt.
The overview of Nieto Sobejano’s current activities at Kunsthaus Graz is embedded in an ambitious exhibition design, one that mirrors the forms of their current projects. Enthralling spatial effects, sophisticated materiality, and sculptural design are united here in conjunction with the featured projects to form an unmistakable architectonic approach.
In cooperation with Kastner & Öhler Warenhaus AG and Graz University of Technology.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
Collection as Aleph
March 6 – October 26, 2008
Kunsthaus Graz, Space02
