Chairs on the Wall
CHARLES EAMES'S molded plywood DCW Side Chair (circa 1946), an anonymous 19th-century American steer-horn and leather chair, and Daniel Mack's 1991 "Rugbeater Chair," an Adirondack-style chair whose back is made from two rugbeaters, are among the 25 chairs and 18 drawings in "Designs for Seating," at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum at 2 East 91st Street in Manhattan. They are on view through Aug. 30.
Most of the chairs are arranged on a floor-to-ceiling "chair wall." The juxtaposition of an 18th-century Swiss folk chair, an 1830's English Gothic Revival design and Robert Venturi's 1984 "Chippendale" chair, all made of pierced or cutout wood, show how designs span centuries and cultures.
A drawing (detail at left) of designs for side chairs, done in 1805, depicts neo-classical motifs; recent drawings by Dakota Jackson, the New York designer, show the evolution of his vik-ter chair.
CURRENTS