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For NeoCon 2014, Maharam revisits Striated Presentation Striated by New York-based conceptual artist Liam Gillick. First exhibited in 2006, Striated Presentation Striated is both an artwork and product presentation intended to show textiles with timeless minimalist finesse.
Striated Presentation Striated moves textiles away from the wall, calling attention to characteristics that are often lost when textiles are perceived as flat surfaces. Suspended from four ceiling-mounted structures, the textiles assume a monolithic presence, with staggered staging that provokes a dialogue between juxtaposed patterns, textures, colors, and opacities, while emphasizing the depth of the space. A series of white benches at the rear of the showroom topped by slim cushions upholstered in Grid by Scholten & Baijings provide vantage points for observation and contemplation.
Framing Gillick’s presentation are two large-scale wall installations featuring the expansive repeat of Grid by Scholten & Baijings. This monochromatic rendition of the textile, which arranges parallel and perpendicular lines by overlapping transparent layers and densities, allows the viewer to recognize the dynamic totality of Grid’s 27.5’ pattern.
This year, Maharam introduces an array of upcoming products from the Maharam Design Studio, re-editions of Alexander Girard’s midcentury designs, and new collaborative textile projects by Hella Jongerius, Paul Smith, Studio Job, and Scholten & Baijings.
NeoCon also marks the North American launch of Danskina, the Dutch rug company now under the joint leadership of Maharam and Kvadrat and the creative direction of Hella Jongerius. Greeting visitors at the showroom entrance is an installation of two side-by-side stacks featuring Danskina classics plus new designs by Jongerius: Bold, Duotone, Multitone, and Cork & Felt.
Liam Gillick
Liam Gillick (b. 1964) is a conceptual multimedia artist based in New York who examines the ways in which art and architecture affect social interaction. He was nominated for a Turner Prize in 2002 and the Stedelijk Museum's Vincent Award in 2008. Solo exhibitions of his work have been held at the Whitechapel Gallery in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and the Kunsthalle Zürich. A retrospective was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in 2009. That same year, Gillick was selected to represent Germany at the Venice Biennale. His work is in the permanent collections of Tate (London), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Guggenheim Museum (New York), and the Hirshhorn Museum (Washington, D.C.), among others. He's taught at Columbia University since 1997 and the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College since 2008. Gillick’s ongoing collaboration with Maharam—his first with a manufacturer—has produced two other installations, Directed Expansion System (2012) and Rail System (A) (2013); Maharam Digital Projects’ Novce/Ecvon; and most recently, in collaboration with architect Neil Logan, Maharam’s new showroom in Los Angeles’s Pacific Design Center, set to open this summer.