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Post modern Memphis style artistic writing desk and chair, Germany 1980s

About the Item

Unique artistic writing desk and chair. The frame is made from steel and wrought iron in different shapes and sizes. Painted in several different colors. The glass top rest on 4 wooden globes. The chairs frame is also made from steel and bent metal rods. The seat is made from bent plywood. One of a kind set hand made in Germany in the 1980s. Designed in the manner of Gaetano Pesce and Ettore Sottsass of the Memphis group, Italy. The Memphis Group, also known as Memphis Milano, was an Italian design and architecture group founded by Ettore Sottsass. It was active from 1980 to 1987. The group designed postmodern furniture, lighting, fabrics, carpets, ceramics, glass and metal objects. The Memphis group's work often incorporated plastic laminate and terrazzo materials and was characterized by ephemeral design featuring colorful and abstract decoration as well as asymmetrical shapes, sometimes arbitrarily alluding to exotic or earlier styles and designs. Memphis was born on the evening of December 11, 1980, when Sottsass invited a group of young designers and architects to discuss the future of design. Together, they wanted to change the concept of what design had been focused on, which had been Modernism and aimed to do so by creating and forming a new design collective. After their initial meeting, the group went away to brainstorm different ideas and concepts, and three months later, came back together ready to share over a hundred drawings they had produced during that time. The inspiration behind naming themselves "Memphis" came about during their first meeting when Bob Dylan's record "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" had been playing repeatedly in the background. For Sottsass, the name "Memphis" represented two things: a city in Tennessee, and ancient Egypt's capital city. The group of designers then went ahead and used the ambiguity behind the name "Memphis" to represent and symbolise their ambiguous design philosophies of furniture, objects and textiles. In Sottsass' case specifically, he showed great interest in the middle-class taste, the traditions of the Third World and the East, and unspoiled nature. Sottsass left the group in 1985 to focus on his design and architecture firm, Sottsass Associati. The group disbanded in 1987 because its members found it difficult to sustain their commercial success after the hype of their new movement had faded.
  • Similar to:
    Memphis Group (Manufacturer)Gaetano Pesce (Artist)Ettore Sottsass (Artist)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 29.53 in (75 cm)Width: 50.01 in (127 cm)Depth: 29.93 in (76 cm)
  • Sold As:
    Set of 2
  • Style:
    Post-Modern (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1980-1990
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use. Age and use consistent signs of wear. No damage, chips or structural instability.
  • Seller Location:
    ECHT, NL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU9426238031572

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