During the early Twentieth Century, the use of ornament in industrial design received hostile response from avant-garde designers who increasingly favored the clean, austere lines of Modernism. Suppressed, but not completely eradicated by economic swings and personal taste, ornament quietly persevered until designers’ moods once again began to incorporate pattern into production.
An exhibition on view through September in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Perelman Building celebrates the reemergence of ornament. “Visual Delight: Ornament and Pattern in Modern and Contemporary Design” encompasses more than 30 works from the collection, starting with the late 1960s, when ornament began to reenter into the critical discourse of the time.
“Visual Delight” encompasses a wide range of mediums, featuring furniture, lamps, hanging screens, textiles and smaller decorative objects, including a series of eight enameled-steel panels by Philadelphia-based architect Robert Venturi.
The panels are just a fraction of the decoration that once adorned the façade of the Best Products Showroom in Langhorne, Penn. The use of large, bright flowers on the exterior of a building was revolutionary at the time, and represents one of the most iconic examples of Venturi’s concept of the “decorated shed.”
Other works, such as “Antibodi Chaise,” 2006, by Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola emphasize the chaise’s decorative rather than functional aspect. Other pieces equally highlight their ornamental character, such as the “Corallo Armchair,” 2004, by Fernando and Humberto Campana, constructed of epoxy-coated steel, welded together to form a tangled mass of wires, or Joris Laarman’s “Heatwave” radiator, 2003, its function virtually disguised by its beautiful scrolling shape.
“Visual Delight” also highlights the way technologies have influenced designers’ use of ornament. While laser cutting, injection molding and digital printing have made it possible to mass-produce intricate patterns and three-dimensional shapes, designers continue to incorporate handcrafting, as exemplified by Hella Jongerius’s “Layers Park Double” textile, 2004, for American manufacturer Maharam. Though the botanical designs are machine-embroidered on large industrial machines, the top layer of this textile is hand cut to reveal the felt layer beneath.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street. For more information, www.philamuseum.org or 215-763-8100.
