Alexander Girard / Exhibition

Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe

This exhibition, organized by Vitra Design Museum, was on display at the Palm Springs Art Museum during Modernism Week. It included more than 400 pieces and was so rich and deep. I feel bad for anyone who wasn't able to see it so I'm going to post a ton of images.

When Girard was about 10 years old he created The Republic of Fife, which was part of a larger empire called Celestia. It included urban design layout, maps, flags, costumes, documents and even currency. This imaginary country was created when he was at boarding school in England.

One of the documents he created for Celestia.

In addition to how incredible this project was, the fact that it still exists is remarkable. Girard was obviously a collector, but he kept everything!

Terrazzo planters he designed in the 1930s.

1940s furniture and mobile

He designed the chair in 1944

Detrola radio, collage and sculpture. He did it all and it was all good.

Shop sign from 1950

Figures from 1943

And his drawings.

Concept theories Girard used as curator for the 1949 An Exhibition For Modern Living at the Detroit Institute of Art. A lot of gems in this.

There was a slideshow of images from the exhibition and this one caught my eye. Maurice Martiné is listed in the catalog but I never knew what chair it was. We did already know that Girard was a Martiné fan. He had a chair in his house and carried it in his design studio/shop.