Feature: Exhibition - 21st Century Furniture II. The Arts and Crafts Legacy: A Selling Exhibition of Today’s Designer Makers. The Millinery Works Gallery
Published: 8 April 2010
by DAN CARRIER
THE Arts and Crafts Movement was born in the crucible of the industrial urban sprawl that sprang from the Victorian period. Today, while high specification design often springs from computer-managed factories, the movement is alive and well.
As mass production became the norm in the 1800s, many felt the cottage crafts had been consumed by the steam-driven factory, cheap labour and production lines: and the effect industrialisation had was directly linked to the terrible conditions in city life. The Arts and Crafts Movement offered a political and aesthetic revolt against it, and was led by proto-socialists William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones.
Now, a new show at Islington’s Millinery Works picks out the arts and crafts legacy, giving a platform to small studio designers who produce beautiful – and practical – works, drawing on the wealth of craftsmanship the likes of Morris held to be so important.
Devon-based designer David Savage has a waxed sycamore chair in the exhibition: it is one of a pair based on the Greek mythological figures Perseus and Andromeda.
“All the makers will have had to become expert at providing an exceptional customer service,” he says. “They listen carefully to their clients and respond with a sensitive and creative interpretation. We are inspired by the materials we use,” he says. “I know the man who cut down the sycamore I used, and where it grew.”|
• 21st Century Furniture II. The Arts and Crafts Legacy: A Selling Exhibition of Today’s Designer Makers. The Millinery Works Gallery, 85-87 Southgate Road, N1, 020 7359 2019. www. millineryworks.co.uk