Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'The World of Charles + Ray Eames'

THE WORLD OF CHARLES + RAY EAMES

On show at Barbican Art Gallery, London until 14 February 2016

Charles and Ray Eames are among the most influential designers of the 20th century. Enthusiastic and tireless experimenters, this husband and wife duo moved fluidly between the fields of photography, film, architecture, exhibition-making, and furniture and product design.

The Eames Office was a hub of activity where the Eameses and their collaborators produced an array of pioneering designs, communicating their ideas with a boundless creativity that defined their careers. The Eameses embraced the joy of trial and error and approached design as a way of life.

From personal letters, photographs, drawings and artwork, to their products, models, multi-media installations and furniture, 'The World of Charles + Ray' includes not only the designs for which they are best known, but provides an insight into the lives of the Eameses, the Eames Office and the breadth of their pioneering work, bringing their ideas and playful spirit to life.

Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'RUSKIN / ROCKS'

Ruskin/Rocks: Architecture and the Geology of Morals
Professor Andrew Ballantyne, University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Benzie 403
Manchester School of Art
5.30pm 20 October 2015

Drawing on his new book on JOHN RUSKIN Professor Ballantyne examines a crucial aspect of Ruskin’s thinking: the notion that art and architecture have moral value. Telling the story of Ruskin’s childhood and enduring devotion to his parents—who fostered his career as a writer on art and architecture—he explores the circumstances that led to Ruskin’s greatest works, such as 'Modern Painters', 'The Seven Lamps of Architecture', 'The Stones of Venice', and 'Unto This Last'. He follows Ruskin through his altruistic ventures with the urban poor, to whom he taught drawing, motivated by a profound conviction that art held the key to living a worthwhile life. Ultimately, Ballantyne weaves Ruskin’s story into a larger one about Victorian society, a time when the first great industrial cities took shape and when art could finally reach beyond the wealthy elite and touch the lives of everyday people.

Where are they now? Seen in 'New Light'!

2015 MA A+U graduate David Chandler has been shortlisted to exhibit his close reading of the urban structure of Stockport 'LITTLE UNDERBANK' in the forthcoming 'New Light: Real Northern Art' exhibition which is on show at The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle 17 October 2015 - 7 February 2016. The acrylic on canvas painting (127 x 305 cm) records the view from David's window in the Manchester School of Art Marketplace Studios in Stockport, and represented his research process for his Master's thesis, uncovering hidden aspects of the town, a theme which chimes with the intention of the exhibition. As one of its judges, Laura Gascoigne, commented: “True to its name, New Light is a revelation. None of the open exhibitions I’ve judged in the past has tapped into such a pool of undiscovered talent. There are always a few established artists whose work one recognises, but nearly all the artists here were new to me and there were several I was astonished – and rather ashamed – not to have come across. I hope this exposure will make them more visible in future. The sheer variety of work, at all levels, was heartening – it bolstered my faith in the vigour of British painting.”

Following its run at the Bowes Museum, the exhibition tours to the Mercer Gallery in Harrogate, and finally the Panter and Hall Fine Art Gallery, London.

The exhibition website is http://newlight-art.org.uk/