Renee Van Halm

Pieces of domestic furniture, usually modernist, are copied and reconsidered in these works and their function altered to provide frameworks for smaller discreet objects or paintings. This group of works includes Architect’s Cabinet, Privacy Screen, Nightgown, Implication and Two Vanities.

The works Architect’s Cabinet, Privacy Screen and Nightgown, all in some way refer to the infamous conflict between the architect Mies van der Rohe and his client Edith Farnsworth in the design and construction of her house. Her need for privacy was undermined by the transparency of this modernist project - inevitable conflicts arose from this need and the architect’s unwillingness to compromise his design. Images of the iconic Farnsworth house are framed in representations of equally iconic pieces of modernist furniture, all but one designed by women.

Privacy Screen

< Privacy Screen is based on an Art Deco bureau designed by Serge Chermayeff. The height of my work brings it up to the hotly contested height (5’) of the privacy screen in the Farnsworth house. At this height it does not truly provide the requisite privacy nor does it entirely block the view, a compromise. The horizontal panel surmounting the cabinet depicts an extracted exterior view of the Farnsworth house. This piece is free-standing, the front exterior painted black; the interior back, deep red.