Saturday, December 26, 2009

GAMES


Stumbled across this exhibition a few days ago in the new Art College Gallery on Thomas Street. Is this the best kept secret... or did I just not hear about it?
Abram Games (1914-96) was one of the twentieth century's most innovative and important graphic designers. In his 60 year career he produced some of the best poster designs, graphics, stamps and book jackets of the last century, including the design for the Festival of Britain (1951) and BBC Television (1953). Probably his most sought after work is his series of travel posters for B.O.A.C. including this one which I am lucky enough to own, and the beautifully graphic Red G poster for Guinness (1956). He designed some remarkably striking public information posters during the war including "Use Spades, Not Ships" and "Please Knit Now - our jungle fighters need socks". One of my favourites is the "Ireland for your holidays" (1957) which is still possible to find - a friend of mine bagged a pristine copy from John in Gallery 29, Molesworth Street, other travel ones do turn up occasionally, but are getting harder to find. The exhibition features a short documentary made for the UK Arts Council and there is a very comprehensive book by Naomi Games still available which includes his working sketches and a good reference section.

Well worth a look.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!


well it's going to be a whiter than white Christmas at kirkmodern thanks to the generosity of our friend AndrewJM who donated a fantastic original vintage Tide washing powder pack to our display last weekend. Happy Christmas to everyone.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Christmas Flea


The Dublin Flea is happening early this month.
This Sunday 20th, Newmarket Square, 11-5 as usual.
Lots of new retro pieces for Christmas as well as great cafe, great music and unique presents.
Check www.dublinflea.blogspot.com for details.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

New Find


just got a great Danish teak side table which has everything going for it...
great 50s amoeba shape, crossed drumstick tripod legs and great patina.
Designed by Hovmand Olsen for Jutex, Denmark in 1959
and sold through Heals, London. A stylish replacement for the nest of
Ercol Pebble tables that recently sold, and a useful addition to the room
as we once again have something to keep a large glass of wine at the optimum height!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Tray Chic


anyone looking for that elusive Christmas gift for the design conscious person in their life should look at the new range of Classic Trays reproduced by Vitra Design Museum. They have 6 in the series by Charles & Ray Eames, Alexander Girard and this one (above left) by George Nelson. One of the great influential American designers, Nelson had a remarkable range of design talents including product design, graphic artist, architect, exhibition designer and writer. I was immediately drawn to this tray in "China Shop" design because it reminded me of my favourite fabric design Pottery by Stig Lindberg (above right)....how could I resist?

Friday, December 11, 2009

London Calling


Just back from short trip to London, and interesting to see Mid Century design moving up a gear and making appearances in top designer stores as signature pieces. I checked out the Paul Smith Vintage shop which is fantastic, some amazing pieces PS uses for inspiration including this Italian 1950s sputnik ceiling cluster at £1450. He also has a nice selection of Stig Lindberg Karneval ceramics - they are certainly getting harder to source as the Japanese (and PS) love the quirky, bright coloured illustrations and clean lines. The other great place to spot hand picked statement pieces is the Margaret Howell shop. Beautiful clothes and accessories complimented by some cool clean pieces of Poole Freeform & Midwinter one-off collector ceramics, vintage fabric, Ercol Furniture and nice selection of reference books. Worth checking out the next time you are in London with a few thousand to spare!

Stig Lindberg

...should have mentioned the illustration is from a new piece of Stig
Lindberg, Karneval that I picked up recently. It has just made it's first
appearance on the website along with 3 other new pieces.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

A new dawn for old things!!


Hi, and thanks for checking out my new blog. Due to time (and money) updating the website every few weeks, I have decided to keep everyone up to date by using the kirkmodern blog to let people know about new finds, trends, shows and generally stuff that just moves too quickly to get onto the website!!! But don't panic - the website will still be updated on a regular basis and will be the best place to get detailed information on what's available at kirkmodern.