A Century of Chairs

About

Fresh from a recent exhibition in Korea, Storey Gallery is currently exhibiting over 50 designer chairs, on loan from the Design Museum in London. The chair has a simple function - to elevate and support the sitter whilst they eat or read, work or lounge. A chair usually has a seat, four legs, and a back. A chair without a back is a stool, when raised up this is a bar stool. A chair with arms is an armchair. This seemingly straight forward object has become an icon of design, filling the archives of design museums across the world, demanding more cultural space and higher prices than any other piece of furniture. The current exhibition at Storey Gallery is called a ‘A Century of Chairs', it is an exhibition of over 50 chairs on loan from the Design Museum in London. This exhibition focuses on the different ways we use a chair, along with the technological developments and cultural shifts, that have influenced their design. The scope for creative interpretation has made the chair a very desirable project for designers to undertake. They have transformed the simple chair from a humble resting place into a glamorous, and much sought after, sculptural commodity. A Century of Chairs encourages us to consider the significance of chair design over the past 100 years. It illustrates how designers have responded to shifts in the way we choose to rest our legs, and how they have made use of new materials and technologies to create beautiful, sculptural forms. Exhibition produced for Storey Gallery by Suzy Jones A series of talks and exhibition tours will take place throughout the duration of the exhibition. For more details of these events visit the Storey Gallery website www.storeygallery.org.uk/programme.php