Museum of Arts and Design Presents Harry Bertoia's Sculpture, a Film by Clifford West

Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York City will present a screening of Harry Bertoia's Sculpture tonight, June 16, 2016. Created by Clifford West in 1965, the film features a soundtrack by Harry Bertoia's famed Sonambient sculptures. 

The museum writes: "With a mesmerizing soundtrack by Harry Bertoia, Clifford West's film creates a setting of motion and progression rare among other educational films of the 1960s and 1970s. An abstract study, it mirrors the abstraction of Bertoia's sculptures themselves. An opening shot of a lunar landscape reveals itself to be one of Bertoia's sculptures, setting the stage for something grand in scope, yet miniature in size."

Harry Bertoia, who designed groundbreaking, sculptural wire furniture for Knoll, was a prolific sculptor and artist whose explorations in one medium frequently influenced his work in another; the iconic Diamond Chair, which Bertoia designed for Knoll, is included in West's film. Knoll celebrated the centennial anniversary of Bertoia's birth throughout 2015 and provided in-kind support to both exhibitions.

The screening is part of MAD's new film series Midcentury Masters, curated by Katerina Llanes. The series celebrates postwar architects and designers who made significant—even revolutionary—contributions to spatial and formal thinking for the collective good.

MAD's film program coincides with two exhibitions—Atmosphere for Enjoyment: Harry Bertoia's Environment for Sound and Bent, Cast & Forged: The Jewelry of Harry Bertoia—which opened at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York City in May of this year. The pair of exhibitions celebrates the prolific thirty-five-year career of Harry Bertoia, the metalworker, sculptor and furniture designer, through his Sonambient sculptures and early jewelry designs. 

View a video of Shelley Selim, Jeanne and Ralph Graham Assistant Curator at Cranbrook Art Museum, presenting Bent, Cast & Forged: The Jewelry of Harry Bertoia in the Knoll New York Showroom in 2015.

Celia Bertoia at 'Atmosphere for Enjoyment: Harry Bertoia's Environment for Sound' Opening on May 2, 2016. Photo by Jenna Bascom © Museum of Arts and Design.

'Atmosphere for Enjoyment: Harry Bertoia's Environment for Sound' Opening on May 2, 2016. Photo by Jenna Bascom © Museum of Arts and Design. Pictured: Bertoia Side Chair, Bertoia Diamond Chair, Bertoia Bench

Visitors rest in Bertoia's seating for Knoll at 'Atmosphere for Enjoyment: Harry Bertoia's Environment for Sound' Opening on May 2, 2016. Photo by Jenna Bascom © Museum of Arts and Design. Pictured: Bertoia Bird Chair, Bertoia Asymmetric Chaise

Installation view of Atmosphere for Enjoyment: Harry Bertoia's Environment for Sound, 2016. Photo by Butcher Walsh. Courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Design. Pictured: Bertoia Bird Chair and Ottoman, Bertoia Asymmetric Chaise, Bertoia Bench

Image Credits

'Atmosphere for Enjoyment: Harry Bertoia's Environment for Sound' and 'Bent, Cast & Forged: The Jewelry of Harry Bertoia' Opening on May 2, 2016.

Photography by Jenna Bascom © Museum of Arts and Design.*

* Exception noted: Photo by Butcher Walsh. Courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Design.

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