The Michigan Origins of Modern Design

 

Who knew that Michigan – West Michigan! – played a revolutionary role in the modern design movement?

On June 19, when the Michigan Modern Symposium (http://www.michiganmodern.org) comes to KCAD, it will be enhanced by two new exhibitions in The Fed Galleries at Kendall College of Art and Design, Ferris State University's (KCAD) Woodbridge N. Ferris building: Michigan Modern: Killing It and Shifting Landscapes: Selected Works by Michael Pfleghaar.

Michigan Modern: Killing It
In the wake of World War II, West Michigan companies like Herman Miller and Upjohn were giving designers the freedom to produce work that was way ahead of the curve – work which still influences today's designers. Co-curated by Michele Bosak, Barbara Loveland and Linda Powell.

Shifting Landscapes: Selected Works by Michael Pfleghaar
Key works from the last five years of Pfleghaar’s abstract development alongside two works he personally selected from KCAD's expansive Gordon Collection. Featuring two-dimensional mixed-media paintings and “constructs” – reinterpretations of a utilitarian three-dimensional form into a painting that constitutes a new physical object.

Please see release below for more information. The release and related images can be downloaded here: http://cl.ly/0k3C142O2j3n

Media tours of the exhibition are welcome. Please contact:  Elena Tislerics, Chief Communications Officer, Kendall College of Art and Design, 616 451-2787 x1190

To register for the Michigan Modern: Design that Shaped American symposium, visit michiganmodern.org, or click the button below:

 

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Michigan State Historic Preservation Officer Brian Conway recently discussed the Michigan Modern symposium and exhibition with Damian Farrell on the Lucy Ann Lance Show on 1290 WLBY in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  You can watch a video of Damian's chat with Brian on the Damian Farrell Design YouTube page.