Notman Teague, still from a film by Hugo Faraco created for the exhibition ‘From Lawn Road to South Chicago’, at New York gallery R & Company, 2020
Studying design history, Chicago-based designer Norman Teague couldn't find a figure that represented him. ‘Design history needs to reinvent itself in a whole lot of ways,' he says in a new short film by Hugo Faraco. ‘Your world is the history that you read about, and if you’re wrapping your head around the things that really say that you don’t belong here, then we have to create other books, or we have to create another world.'
The film was released on the occasion of New York gallery R & Company's exhibition ‘From Lawn Road to South Chicago: Progressive Plywood in Times of Change', where Teague's work was presented alongside historical plywood design from Gerald Summers and Marcel Breuer.
On display at R & Company, Norman Teague's Sinmi Stools are shown next to Gerald Summers plywood chair, designed by Gerald Summers for Makers of Simple Furniture, England, 1934
The exhibition featured Teague's Africana Chairs as well as his Sinmi Stool, inspired, he explains, by the word ‘chill' and images of people relaxing by leaning on a car or on a sofa's backrest. ‘I settled upon this motion that could intrigue a person to approach it but that was also really inviting to anyone,' he says. Named after the Yoruba word for ‘relax', the Sinmi stool is the result of five years of research into bent plywood, and is produced by Teague in collaboration with a team of young designers and Black artisans from the South Side of Chicago, while leather goods specialist Yohance Lacour collaborated on the leather saddles.
INFORMATION
-
Hella Jongerius named Honorary Royal Designer for Industry 2023The Dutch designer received the Honorary Royal Designer for Industry 2023 accolade alongside creatives from different disciplines
-
London restaurant and tequila bar Ixchel brings Mexico’s timeless flavour to every sip and bite
On London’s King’s Road, Ixchel offers an unmissable fusion of Mexican art, cuisine and atmosphere
-
Matthew M Williams is leaving Givenchy
American designer Matthew M Williams is set to exit his role as creative director of Givenchy after a three-year tenure
-
Brooklyn furniture studio Stillmade unveils its first collaborative design series
Stillmade brings to life the designs of four New Yorkers – Pat Kim, Danny Kaplan, Michele Quan and Mignogna Studio
-
Blue Green Works's lighting champions a new aesthetic in American design
Manhattan-based design studio Blue Green Works fuses sensuality and masculinity to create mellow, mood-enhancing lighting with visual impact
-
Blue Green Works introduces alluring new lighting collection
Inspired by iconography, American design studio Blue Green Works introduces five new lighting ranges
-
Exclusive peek at artfully curated home in Jean Nouvel’s 53 West 53
RR Interiors' latest furnishing project – 61A at 53 West 53 – highlights art, architecture and city views inside Jean Nouvel's monumental New York skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan
-
Sculptural ceramic lamps from Brooklyn’s In Common With and Danny Kaplan
‘Terra’, a new collection of ceramic lamps featuring tactile glazes, puts Brooklyn studio In Common With and ceramicist Danny Kaplan in the spotlight
-
Sight Unseen launches furniture line with Bestcase
Editorial platform Sight Unseen worked with sheet metal specialist Bestcase to launch a collection of 1970s-inspired furniture in collaboration with Home Studios, Studio Anansi and Thévoz-Choquet
-
Roll & Hill and Post Company's lighting designs in Inness are inspired by Georgian bell jars
Brooklyn-based studio Post Company created a new lighting collection for Roll & Hill, inspired by bell jar lanterns and conceived for country refuge Inness
-
Trnk refines its namesake furniture collection to spotlight creatives of colour
The reinvigorated Trnk Collection is curated by founder Tariq Dixon and draws from its creative community, including pieces by Studio Anansi, Michael K Chen and Farrah Sit
