Against Design

February 4 - April 16, 2000


Installation view. Photo: Gregory Benson.
This thematic exhibition brought together an international group of ten younger artists whose work consciously blurs the boundaries between art, architecture and design, autonomous sculpture and functional object, environmental installation and interior décor.

These artists include: Kevin Appel (Los Angeles); Angela Bulloch (Great Britain); Clay Ketter (Sweden); Roy McMakin (Los Angeles); Jorge Pardo (Los Angeles); Tobias Rehberger (Germany); Joe Scanlan (Chicago); Joep van Lieshout (the Netherlands); Pae White (Los Angeles); and Andrea Zittel (New York/Los Angeles).

The exhibition drew upon sources in high art, including Minimalism and formalism, as well as industrial design from the 1930s-1960s, and architecture from the 1920s-1960s. While the "look" of the work may have its initial impetus in the clean-lined rationality of Bauhaus design, it is then injected with unexpected, idiosyncratic, and improvisatory elements.

Against Design was made possible by an Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award. The Exhibition Award program was founded in 1998 to honor Emily Hall Tremaine. It rewards innovation and experimentation among curators by supporting thematic exhibitions that challenge audiences and expand the boundaries of contemporary art.

Additional support was generously provided by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the friends and members of the Institute of Contemporary Art. Catalog.

Curated by: Steven Beyer, Guest Curator


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