Creative Woodworks & crafts 2001-10, страница 59

special tactile beauty of its finely worked surfaces. Again, it is a rare experience for muscumgoers lo run their fingers over objects in exhibits. Since Maloof's hardwood furniture is intended to be touched—the silken surfaces with their soft forms and raised ridges or "hard lines'" are irresistible the wall-mounted rocker will allow the public an intimate access they arc denied elsewhere in the show.

Within the exhibition will be a video monitor which will show a seven minute film made especially for the exhibit. The video will reveal aspccts of the craftsman's daily working lite, the unique home he designed and built over forty years (now on the National Register of Historic Places), and the artistic philosophy that has guided his work over a lifetime. On camera, the curator will also discuss with Maloof what steps lie himself took to study and to understand fifty years worth of design and workmanship and what he hoped to convey to the visitor through the exhibition. The collaborative working relationship the curator enjoys with the craftsman is evident in the film, fiirther personalizing the visitor's experience of viewing the show as a carefully conceived entity.

The Renwick Gallery of ihe Smithsonian American Art Museum is dedicated to exhibiting American crafts from the 19th to the 21st century. The Renwick is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street, N.W.. near the Farragut North (Red line) and Farragut West (Blue and Orange lines) Metrorail stations. Museum hours are from 10 a.m. to 5:30p.m. daily. Admission is free. Public information: (202) 357-2700; (202) 786-2393 (TTY); (202) 633-9126 (Spanish). Please visit the museum's award-winning website at AmericanArt.si.edu. Cf

Low-back chair with curved arms—viewed from above, 1987, walnut.

........ „ ____Four-sided game table, 1965, walnut.

Prototype dining chair for Henry Preyfuss, 1952,

maple, walnut and leather. Photos by Jonathan Pelack

12 • Creative Woodworks & Crafts October- 2001