FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Name of Event:	"Function & Fantasy: The Design Show"
Date:	Opening Reception - Sunday, October 20, 2002. 1-5 PM
Place:	Rockland Center for the Arts27 South Greenbush RoadWest Nyack, NY 10994
Contact:	Lynn Stein (845) 358-0877    e-mail: Lynn Stein@aol.com
Leading Contemporary Designers Exhibit Objects of Function & Vision On Sunday, October 20, 2002 at a public reception from 1:00 to 5:00 pm, the Rockland Center for the Arts opens its fall season with "Function & Fantasy: The Design Show." The exhibit will continues through December 15, 2002.
The exhibition, which originated at Pratt Institute and was curated by David and Joanne Weinrib, features fourteen of the world's leading contemporary designers which includes 3 Rocklanders. Their innovative work blurs the line separating the utilitarian products we use in our daily lives with pure sculpture. The unifying theme throughout the show is the interplay between the down-to-earth functional and leaps of fantasy. It's an anything goes appeal to the senses through the use of tactile surfaces, vivid colors and translucent materials. Furniture, fabric, clothing, costume, lighting and tableware are among the objects visitors will be able to experience and touch. Among the featured designers is Eva Zeisel, of New City, NY, who is considered one of the most accomplished ceramicists of the 20th century and who, at 95, is still creating new, challenging designs for industry. Within weeks of her arrival in America in 1939 she began teaching at Pratt Institute influencing a new generation of American designers. The recognition of her talent for bridging the museum and marketplace began with a MOMA exhibition in 1946 of tableware designs that reflected her ability for fusing European sensibility and American technology. She moved to New City in 1952 where she still creates the art that has made her an international legend. This exhibition pays homage to Ms. Zeisel and her legacy. Karim Rashid whose work is characterized by sensuality and simplicity, has always created a large range of design products from lamps and carpets to manhole covers and multi-faceted seating islands that often extend to whole environments.
Ayala S. Serfaty, is inspired by natural sea forms, and her beautiful, large translucent lamps that will be on display, are a lyrical use of wire and cloth expressed in amorphous forms. One of her more ambitious projects, the world's only undersea restaurant in Israel, brings together her fantastical furniture designs with a complete innovative environment. Natalie Candrian, Adidas sneaker designer, has designed one of the newest and most innovative sneakers for basketball star Tracy McGrady. The designs on view will show how the Adidas sneaker has evolved from a mere functional object to a status symbol as well as an art form. Among other designs on view is the work of Pierre Bouguennec, who has utilized the transparency of plastic, vibrant color and a sense of humor to create unconventional inflated chairs, pillows, lounges and wall units. Forrest Myers, originally a sculptor, is known for his signature line of furniture and lighting made from clustered, interwoven anodized wire seating. Alan Siegel's inventive chair designs in simple utilitarian forms are crafted from aluminum, stainless steel, copper, and laminated and carved wood. Morag Benepe is a fabric and ceramic designer whose work ranges from the hand painted to the commercially printed. Her floral textile designs are often applied to pottery for Dansk and other companies. Alan Wexler, a sculptor and industrial designer, has applied his unique vision to making traditionally single-purpose objects such as a picnic table, surprisingly multifunctional - one converts to a tool shed. Two other designers in the exhibition are residents of Rockland County. They are Eric Laxman, a sculptor and designer of metal furniture and commercial and residential interior decorative details; and costume designer, Kathy Ford, whose inventive masks and costume designs have brought a touch of fantasy and whimsy to many a Broadway theatrical production. Gallery Information The Emerson Gallery is open Monday-Friday, 10:00am to 4:00pm and weekends from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Closed holidays. Admission is by suggested donation of $2.00. The Art Center's facilities are wheelchair accessible. The Rockland Center for the Arts is conveniently located near Exit 12 off the NY State Thruway. For information, call Rockland Center for the Arts at (845) 358-0877. Also visit our website at www.RocklandArtCenter.org.
Editor's Note: Additional reproductions are available upon request (permission has been granted for use of reproductions). To coordinate interviews with the individual artists and/or curators please contact: Lynn Stein (845) 358-0877 ext. 15