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.

Two Vanities

< Two Vanities consists of two identical reconstructions of an Art Deco vanity; one bears a monogram that spells out the word ‘fear’, the other ‘envy’. As objects the vanities are mute and inert, the drawers do not open. Nor do the mirrors reflect; they have been replaced by six black and white paintings of hair, close-ups taken from fashion magazines. The work collapses notions of adornment and pleasure as they are played out in the domestic realm.