Radical: Italian Design 1965–1985, The Dennis Freedman Collection

February 14 - September 06,2020

In February 2020, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will examine Italy’s postwar explosion of disruptive design in the exhibition Radical: Italian Design 1965–1985, The Dennis Freedman Collection. Nearly 50 years after MoMA’s defining 1972 survey, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, this is the first major U.S. museum exhibition to assess this now-iconic movement from a historical perspective. The exhibition presents nearly 70 pieces of furniture, lighting design, architectural models, paintings, and objects; of these, about half are gifts of Dennis Freedman and half are acquisitions from his collection; in addition, Freedman has lent more than a dozen objects to the exhibition. Together, the gifts and acquisitions establish a foundational collection for the Museum. Rare prototypes, one-of-a-kind, and limited edition works by architects, designers, and collectives such as Archizoom Associati, Lapo Binazzi, Ugo La Pietra, Alessandro Mendini, Gianni Pettena, Ettore Sottsass, Studio Alchimia, Superstudio and others will be on view. In the words of critic Germano Celant—a contributor to the exhibition catalogue—these designers aimed to “disrupt the significance of thing’s use” and create “practically perverse and senseless” objects in pursuit of a new language and new role for modern design. Register for the virtual chat here.

On View: February 14, 2020 | 10-5 pm

Lecture: April 29, 2020 | 1-2 pm
Italian Radical Design and the Dennis Freedman Collection. See the calendar listing for Zoom registration online.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston - MFAH 1001 Bissonnet Street
Houston, TX 77005
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