January 23 – April 5, 2015
“Beautility” celebrates otherwise ordinary objects—such as buckets, bicycles, boats, and brooms—that achieve beauty through fitness to purpose and conscientious construction. Some, such as the hand-tied brooms of Appalachian artist Brenda Harman, are beautiful in their authenticity and simplicity. Others, such as Max Gunawan’s “Lumio” multifunctional LED lamp, employ the latest technologies to push the boundaries of innovation and design.
Guest curator Judy Bonzi says, “In researching the show I was excited to discover a natural juxtaposition between gorgeous traditional objects that arrived at their design essence through centuries of anonymous refinement, and contemporary products that have been brilliantly conceived and executed for purposes that were previously unknown.”
Companies represented in “Beautility” include: Analog Watch Co. (Philadelphia, PA), Baldwin Apple Ladders (Brooks, ME), Böwer Company (Neuenkirchen, Germany), Forge and Brooms (Hilsboro, WV), Cottrell Boatbuilders (Searsport, ME), David Rasmussen Design (Carbondale, CO), David Trubridge (Aotearoa, New Zealand), Erba Cycles (Boston, MA), Grain Surfboards (York, ME), Hakuhodo (Hiroshima, Japan), Herrlicht (Erfurt, Germany), JD Wagner, Rodmaker (Parma Heights, OH), Leon Dutch Design (Apeldoorn, The Netherlands), Ligneah (Rome, Italy), Lumio (San Francisco, CA), Orée Artisans (Castelnaudary, France), Pine Buckets Cooperage (Tucson, AZ), Tahir Mahmood Designs (Toronto, Canada), Thank Nature (Santa Rosa, CA), Theriault’s Snowshoes (Fort Kent Mills, ME), Valencia Designs (Brooklyn, NY) and Warehouse (Ottawa, Canada).
