FORM to focus arts attention on Cincinnati, CAC

This spring and summer, the works of world-renowned contemporary architects and a live auction by Christie's will focus the attention of the arts world on Cincinnati and the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC).

FORM: Contemporary Architects at Play will feature the work of ten architects constructed entirely of material provided by Cincinnati-based Formica Corporation, with one simple challenge - to design an object that people could "sit upon, lie upon, lean upon, play upon".

The result is a mixture of domestic pieces and contemporary sculpture, all with an element of delight.

"This collection truly offers a broad range in the architectural design spectrum from museum-worthy forms to domestic-scale showpieces," says Max Protetch, a premier New York gallery owner who has featured architectural designs from contemporary masters such as Hadid, Graves and Eisenman.

The designs will be available for viewing from May 3 through August 31, part of the celebration of CAC's fifth year in the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art.

The live auction will be held May 10 during the CAC's Silk & Spice Gala.

Proceeds from the live auction will benefit CAC exhibitions and educational programming.

In conjunction with the exhibit, the CAC is presenting Inside the Design Studio, a series of one-on-one interviews and in-depth profiles of the participating architects that will be available through the CAC website.

Participating architects include Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid, Thom Mayne, Bill Pedersen, Laurinda Spear, Bernard Tschumi, Jaime Valez, Massimo Vignelli and Buzz Yudell.

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Stacey Czar, public relations director, CAC; Media release