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Czech Design '99
NEW YORK, January 27, 1999 - Totem Design Group, New York's leader
in showcasing contemporary furniture and design talent is proud
to announce the opening reception for a groundbreaking new show, Czech
Design '99, on May 16. A group exhibition spearheaded by Olgoj
Chorchoj, the cutting edge Prague based design studio, and including
such standouts as Jiri Pelcl, Ivan Kroupa, Barbora Skorpilova and
Jan Nedved, Czech Design '99 promises to be an eye opening experience
for the New York design world. Totem, teaming up for the first
time with New York's Czech Center, is excited to be the first major
venue in this country to exhibit the work of the new generation
of Czech designers.
Olgoj Chorchoj was founded in 1990 by Jan Nemecek and Michal Fronek, who had
studied design together at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague. They quickly
rose to prominence as that city's hottest designers, winning such commissions
as the Prague headquarters of global powerhouses Sony Music and Rubicam. Nemecek
and Fronek's work stresses simplicity and timelessness of form, combined with
state of the art materials and manufacturing techniques. From cold casting
glass for table tops, to laser-cutting aircraft alloy for bracelets, Olgoj
Chorchoj utilizes the resources of the modern industrial world to create objects
that find a harmonious balance between form and function.
Also featured in the Czech Design '99 Exhibition is Jiri Pelcl, a designer,
architect and, since 1997, the head of the School of Architecture and Design
at the Academy of Applied Art in Prague. His work has been exhibited in galleries
across Europe and Pelcl has lectured both in this country and abroad. The work
of Pelcl is more playful than that of his contemporaries, but maintains the
aesthetic stamp the Czech design movement that he helped shape.
Though they have been featured in such publications as W and I.D., as well
as a multitude of European magazines, the Czech designers' work has never been
brought to this country for a show of this magnitude and importance. It is
indicative of Totem's commitment to new designers that they would be the ones
to bring Olgoj Chorchoj and others to New York and promote their work
on these shores. Says David Shearer, owner and president of Totem, "We
are very fortunate to have the opportunity to bring well designed Czech products
to America. We have a very strong common thread, the desire to educate consumers
and make products more accessible."
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