Difficult

Curated by Jim Walrod for R & Company, “Difficult” explores some of the less-than-laudatory initial responses to works that have since become icons of 20th century design.

According to mid-century lore, Verner Panton’s Cone chair had to be removed from a New York shop window when it débuted because its form was so shockingly futuristic and gravity-defying that it caused traffic accidents from rubber-necking passersby.

Ed Frank, one of the owners of the Frank Bros. store in Los Angeles where chairs by Charles and Ray Eames first appeared on the retail market (hung from the ceiling no less) recounts that, “My brother and I used to go by the store at night just to watch people’s reaction. Most were incredulous, some amused and some people were just laughing. But, also, there were architects and particularly professionals who were very happy about the fact that they could buy the kind of furniture they only saw in magazines. And that was all in 1947.”

Robert Venturi, Queen Anne (1979) and Frank Gehry, Big Beaver (1987)

As early as 1944, T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings’ book Goodbye, Mr. Chippendale offered a mocking view of modern furniture and, as the modernist movement gained momentum and influence throughout the next few decades, a secondary narrative was built alongside it, reflecting the reactions of those who found it overly uptight, futuristic, strange, uncomfortable and downright difficult.

With a balance of humor and gravitas, and the benefit of hindsight, “Difficult” explores these reactions through text, video clips, archival images and advertisements and, of course, the works themselves. The exhibition also explores the idea of “trends,” and how they affect the market and the access new collectors have to iconic works. Statements about the theme, appearing in the exhibition as wall text, are contributed by Peter Halley, Beatrice Galilee, Will Cotton, Leo Fitzpatrick, and Omar Sosa, among others.