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"Current" Chair

Decorative Arts and Design

On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
The dynamic, curvilinear design of the “Current” Chair seems to defy the strength and hardness of the steel from which it is made. Historically, few women have worked in metal other than to fashion jewelry, and fewer still have made metal furniture. About her innovative design Beer remarked: “I wanted this chair to seem as if it had been cut and crushed out of a single sheet of metal. At the same time I wanted it to feel as fast and clean as water in its silhouette…. The Balance and the trickery are important.” The chair’s title suggests that the artist’s choice of blue alludes to swiftly moving water.
MEDIUM Formed and fabricated steel and automotive paint
DATES designed 2004, manufactured 2008
DIMENSIONS 32 1/8 x 16 x 22 in. (81.6 x 40.6 x 55.9 cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS No marks found (chair too heavy to move).
ACCESSION NUMBER 2012.54
CREDIT LINE Gift of Mrs. J. Fuller Feder, Marcus S. Friedlander, and Mrs. Clifford D. Mallory in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Rogers Mallory, by exchange
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
CAPTION Vivian Beer (American, born 1977). "Current" Chair, designed 2004, manufactured 2008. Formed and fabricated steel and automotive paint, 32 1/8 x 16 x 22 in. (81.6 x 40.6 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. J. Fuller Feder, Marcus S. Friedlander, and Mrs. Clifford D. Mallory in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Rogers Mallory, by exchange, 2012.54. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image courtesy of Vivian Beer Studio Works, CUR.2012.54_artist_photo.jpg)
IMAGE overall, CUR.2012.54_artist_photo.jpg. Image courtesy of Vivian Beer Studio Works
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