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.

Nightgown

< Nightgown refers to Eileen Gray’s Dressing Cabinet of 1925, I have repeated its front elevation on both sides of the structure and have encapsulated the structure with a roof. The structure encloses on both sides, where the mirror would have been, identical paintings of the Farnsworth house.