Filed under: Shopping, Design, etc, News & Trends
Artist Aakash Nihalani's tape-and-paint creation and Elbow-Toe's On the Wings of Desire. Photos: Billi Kid
If Charles and Ray Eames recreated their molded plywood chair would it look like one of these graffiti-inspired works? We're not sure, but we know they'd love seeing their famous chairs put to use for a good cause. The mid-century masterpiece has been re-imagined in 20 different ways for the "Eames Inspiration" project, a fundraising effort for Operation Design, a non-profit art and design group who helps brighten work spaces in New York City schools.
Twenty prominent street and graffiti artists were tapped for the project, which is being curated by the Public Works Department, and charged with recreating one Eames seat each. Their inspired works are now up for grabs to the highest bidder on eBay and displayed in the window at Barneys New York for the duration of the online auction. (Bidding ends on June 1st ).
This good deed (and the chance to own a piece of design history) doesn't come cheap, with bids starting at $1,000 per chair. These three are on my eBay watch list nonetheless. Here's a sneak peek of the work:
Above: Artist Aakash Nihalani adorned his chair with tape and paint. While Brooklyn-based artist Elbow-Toe, whose mythical art is typically done in woodcut, stencil, and large-scale charcoal drawings, created this piece called "On the Wings of Desire" using silkscreen, acrylic paint and paper.
Photos: Billi Kid
Eames's ergonomic intent is spelled out on this piece by twin brothers Ad and Droo Deville of Skewville (left). They used a walnut wood stain, acrylic paint, and spray paint effects for their design called "Today's Special".
Creative duo, UR, designed this homage to New York City and named it "NYC Layers" (right). It's made using burned newspaper clippings and a polyurethane coating.