past exhibitions : maine contemporary furniture

MAINE CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE

November 10 - December 16, 2001
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 15, 2001, 5 - 7 pm

Maine Contemporary Furniture celebrates the legacy of finely crafted woodwork that has been prevalent throughout Maine's history, and examines woodcraft today. The exhibition covers furniture of all kinds, including the clean and simple designs borrowed from Shaker tradition, forms that incorporate Asian and Scandinavian innovations, and modern designs rooted in the German Bauhaus movement. These influences create a storyboard that unites these artworks in a stunning exhibition that represents Maine furniture today.
The exhibition began as a general look at what the Maine contemporary furniture makers were creating. Curator Gregory J. Williams, assistant director of the Colby College Museum of Art, wanted to take a visual inventory of Maine furniture today. As he gathered more research and images Williams realized that Maine furniture design had become experimental and collaborative, uniting many styles and techniques, while interpreting the past to create the contemporary. Maine Contemporary Furniture, materialzed not as one specific Maine style but as an amalgamation of global and stylistic inspirations.

Artists include:
Christian Becksvoort
Brian Burwell
James Carpenter
Gerald Curry
Joshua Eckels
Greg Frangoulis
Heidi Prior Gerquest
Sherwood Hamill
Skona Hem Furniture
Joe Hemes
David Margonelli
Mark Martelon
Duane Paluska
Michael Randazzo
Jack Soley
Roy Allan Slamm
Peter Spadone
Peter Turner
Liza Wheeler

Maine Contemporary Furniture, was organized by the Colby College Museum of Art and shown from April 22 through June 10, 2001.
More Information and images from the exhibition are located in the Press Releases section of the website.