The Female Voice in Modern Design, 1950-2000

“Needlework is the natural work of women; it should be the only work for women, it is work that does not take her away from the home and does not distance her from the cradle and the hearth.”

Gio Ponti, Domus, 1939

Part I of a two-part exhibition, ‘The Female Voice in Modern & Contemporary Design, 1950-2023,’ —celebrating women’s contributions to the world of collectible design—opened this week at Carpenters Workshop Gallery. I was honored to be asked to curate this important and didactic show, in the Gallery’s breathtaking space, which traces the achievements of women designers. CWG aims to present and advance excellence and education in contemporary design; and here, inspired by the creative milieu of the gallery, I sought to illuminate the highlights of modern design as created by women. This exhibition comes our way to remind us that where is a will, dreams come true.

Throughout the second half of the 20^th century, women were the minority in the profession of design, struggling to express their creative voice within a male-dominated territory, even when making revolutionary contributions, and when standing at the forefront of experimentation and innovation. Engaged mainly in skills traditionally considered ‘feminine’ – pottery, silversmithing, textiles – only a small percentage of furniture and lighting which came to challenge boundaries and to open the path of modern design was done by professional women designers. Furthermore, much of their work was attributed to male designers. Yet, despite the significant gender imbalance and struggle for freedom, the triumph of the significant minority, which produced provocative objects that resonate with design history, has shined throughout that era.  

This exhibition comes to celebrate the superb achievements, skills, and contributions of European female designers throughout five formative decades that came to shape modern design; from the postwar years, through the beginning of the women’s liberation movement, Postmodernism, Minimalism, and to the closing years of the century. It poses the question: why have women been excluded from design and architecture, and to illuminate the fact that women were presented in all the shining moments in the story of modern design. The exhibition focuses on individual professional talents, their considerable and victorious accomplishments, and their lasting impact on the story of modern design. The pieces presented in this exhibition represent the very small percentage of furniture and lightings by women, who created daring and cutting-edge objects, achieving excellence and quality in a gender-discrimination time. These objects by a small group of passionate women tell the story of society, reform, and identity.

The aim of this exhibition is twofold: first to outline the contribution of female designers to avant-garde design, and second, to examine their place in the larger context of design and history. The exhibition will gather works by 50 creators of furniture and lighting, and it will take over the gallery’s two floors, opening on April 20^th, 2022. It will present an unprecedented mix of works, divided into five decades, each presents the best design created by European professional designers or those trained in Europe’s centers of the Modern Movement. Those objects will be analyzed in broad contexts of the period, including the state of the design world, the taste of the time, exploration of themes such as feminism, oppression, technological innovations, the ‘contemporary,’ and the increasing place of women in the world of design. It is open until July 3rd at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in New York.