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Design for LifeGrant and Mary Featherston

Grant Featherston (designer and maker), R152 Contour chair (1950) designed, hardwood, plywood, linen, (other materials), purchased 1955, © Grant Featherston/Licensed by VISCOPY, Australia

“Spectacular” – The Age

This exhibition explores the career of Grant Featherston, arguably Australia’s most significant modernist designer, and his partnership with Mary Featherston, who is renowned for her design for children. Beginning with the question of what stimulated a country boy to become a designer in the late 1930s, it charts Featherston’s rise to celebrity status in the 1950s and how his work captured the imagination of ordinary Australians in their quest to be modern. Tracing his explorations of new materials and technologies and production of innovative furniture throughout the 1960s and 70s, the exhibition and accompanying publication highlight the holistic nature of his practice, which included interiors, exhibitions, photography, glass, sculpture and promotional design.

An unapologetic idealist, Grant Featherston believed design should benefit all and campaigned for professional, aesthetic and environmental standards. He shared this vision of design for life and social responsibility with his partner Mary, with whom he established Featherston Design in 1965. Beginning with the Montreal 1967 Expo Chair they focused on culturally and socially significant projects, and experimented with the potential of plastics to produce beautiful, affordable design for all.

When
30 June – 7 October 2018
Location
Heide Main Galleries
Curator/s
Kirsty Grant and Denise Whitehouse

Installation view, Design for Life: Grant and Mary Featherston, photograph: Caitlin Mills for The Design Files

Installation view, Design for Life: Grant and Mary Featherston, photograph: Caitlin Mills for The Design Files

Mark Strizic, Grant Featherston & Mary Featherston in the National Gallery of Victoria’s Oriental Gallery
1968, gelatin silver photograph, © Estate of Mark Strizic

Mark Strizic, Grant Featherston & Mary Featherston in the National Gallery of Victoria’s Oriental Gallery
1968, gelatin silver photograph, © Estate of Mark Strizic

Installation view, Design for Life: Grant and Mary Featherston, photograph: Caitlin Mills for The Design Files

Installation view, Design for Life: Grant and Mary Featherston, photograph: Caitlin Mills for The Design Files

Grant and Mary Featherston (designers), Numero IV chairs and ottomans 1973-4, polyurethane foam, ABS plastic, wool
purchased 2012, © Grant Featherston/Licensed by VISCOPY, Australia 2018

Grant and Mary Featherston (designers), Numero IV chairs and ottomans 1973-4, polyurethane foam, ABS plastic, wool
purchased 2012, © Grant Featherston/Licensed by VISCOPY, Australia 2018

Installation view, Design for Life: Grant and Mary Featherston, photograph: Caitlin Mills for The Design Files

Installation view, Design for Life: Grant and Mary Featherston, photograph: Caitlin Mills for The Design Files

As part of the exhibition Swinburne University hosted, Beyond Nostalgia: Designing for Change, a panel of design experts who explored key social issues in contemporary design practice before taking questions from the audience. Presented at Swinburne University on Saturday 8 September 2018.

Listen back to our recorded art talks with artists, curators and guest speakers and read the exhibitions press features below.

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