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Interior Design by Raji RM & Associates
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Check out the very sweet post on Raji's home by Belle Vivir!
Interior Design by Raji RM & Associates
How To Display Art: Part Two /
Design by Raji RM & Associates - A salon style display of art works
In How To Display Art: Part One I discussed the importance of negative space and scale. Today I'd like to focus more on the ways of hanging up your art work.
The Salon Style: It started in early 18th century Paris when the Beaux Arts Academy began exhibiting paintings of recent graduates from the École des Beaux Arts. As these annual exhibitions became popular, exhibiting at the Salon de Paris was one of the greatest honors an artist could have. At the Salon, paintings from various artists were hung from floor to ceiling on every inch of space. The salon was popular even then that artists painted the "salon" as the subject matter, particularly showing how the art was displayed. This style of hanging art is still in vogue, albeit in various simpler incarnations, that you can't read a single shelter publication without encountering a "salon style" art display.
As I mentioned in Part One, much of the appeal has got to do with the mass impact it creates covering large portions of the walls in lieu of using a single, very large painting. The way I like to do a salon style display is not by grouping works together for their likeness of subject matter or type or frame but by grouping those that are seemingly quite disparate yet hung as if they were parts of a larger painting that you are creating. For example, in the photo above there are two large modern art and a few vintage paintings, sketches and prints all grouped symmetrically and centered with a convex mirror. No particular connection to each other but the grouping has a sort of unexpected rhythm to it where the whole I think is more interesting than the parts.
Raji RM & Associates - Collage style display of art works
The Collage Style: Thinking once again along the lines of creating an assemblage using art works as parts of a greater whole, the collage style is nothing but a variation of the salon style. The difference being that you allow no gaps between the works thus leading the eye to the outer perimeter of the whole group which creates a larger whole. The collage style of displaying art works particularly well for a group of modern or contemporary art.
But these are not the only ways to display art. If you think like an artist or a curator, each setting, each art work can have a commanding and deserving presence. Acrylic cased collages made with a series of negatives by the mid-twentieth-century artist, Doug Prince deserved their own custom made steel brackets that protrude more than two feet from the wall. Set at an unobtrusive point on the wall where the light streams through from a nearby window, they beckon us to come close and marvel at the wonderful imagery they create. In the end, to me, it is about how much importance you want to give a piece of art in the grand scheme of things and how typically or atypically you chose to do it.
Art cannot be an after thought neither does it have to be a starting point to design a whole room. Rather they have to be chosen carefully and displayed thoughtfully in a way that enhances the room almost organically - as if it was always meant to be there.
- xo Raji
Raji RM & Associates - A set of collages made with a series of negatives deserved custom made steel brackets protruding 2 - 3 feet from the wall.
Online Press: Thank you Zavvi Rodaine! /
A very sweet post on Raji's work by the inspiring blog - Zavvi Rodaine! Be sure to check out the blog here!
Interior by Raji RM & Associates
Inspired Monday Morning: Joris Laarman /
What makes a furniture or object collectible? For me, it should first be absolutely divine in its creation - that means nothing like you've ever seen before but also something that makes you wonder how in the world they created it. The furniture is usually architectural or sculptural with considerable engineering, artistry and skills behind it. In the vintage collectibles category, so many great vintage designs are being copied easily today but when Jean Prouvé originally made his Compas table in the early 1950s it was no ordinary table for his time and the technology available then. If you could get your hands on an original Jean Prouvé piece, that is a collectible. In contemporary furniture design, there are a handful of product designers today whose works are highly coveted. Their work straddles functional furniture, technology, science, architecture and art. Those of Elizabeth Garouste & Matteo Bonetti, Marc Newson, Ron Arad, Zaha Hadid and Claude & Francois-Xavier Lalanne come to mind. In a way, a collectable also has something to do with demand and supply and unless it's a prototype, vintage or contemporary, mass production is not a collectible. Limited editions can be collectibles. But when a piece is truly extraordinary and innovative it is usually also one that is incredibly difficult to make. They are crafted meticulously with unusual or new materials, using complicated machinery and tools requiring highly skilled labor and in a very controlled environment like a lab. An engineering and technological feat almost every time it is made thus taking a serious amount of time to produce and hence very rarely available. In this sense, these pieces are a rare work of art.
Joris Laarman, a young Dutch designer is one of those contemporaries I very much admire as he defies what functional art is and can be - a true innovator in every sense of the word. Many of his creations are very much a collectible attested by the number of world class museums that have added his work to their permanent collections. Like many of his predecessors who have experimented with new materials and design and where some of their creations were translated from their original designs leading to mass productions (while others, often due to their complexity, remain limited custom creations), Laarman's experiments have led him to fantastical creations while constantly trying new possibilities, most recently, with 3-D printing. The thing to note though is that he is not only innovative in his design and his manufacturing process he is also creating the all important new "digital" material that will work through a 3-D printer to create his furniture. Of course some of his 3-D printed designs will eventually lead to mass production. But I can't help but think that, as we sit in the brink of a new generation of design, Laarman gives new meaning to the term "pushing the envelope". What can I say, Il est tout ma tasse de thé!
- xo Raji
Joris Laarman
Laarman's Bone Table custom created in his lab
Laarman's Gradient Chair created using a 3-D printer and bi-truncated cubic honeycomb shapes.
Joris Laarman's Bone Chair custom created by his lab
All images via JorisLaarman.com and via Flickr
How To Display Art: Part One /
Master Bed Room designed by Raji RM & Associates
It's no secret that I love art. It not only plays a major role in all my work, it in fact inspires me endlessly from a creative point of view. I can honestly say, I spend at least 5 - 10% of my awaken time studying or just looking at art because they really move me. Not every piece of art or every type for that matter. I do have certain types of works, certain artists I love much more than others but that is just my personal taste. At work, I often have projects where the clients already have a small or big collection of art that they love and cherish and it is always a definite influence when I design their homes. Not necessarily as a starting point for the whole design but I like to give a nod here and there. Sometimes, I help clients acquire new works of art. They are not always expensive but something that they will love.
When it comes to how to display your art works beautifully, the first thing I think about is how much negative space a wall and the room needs. This is very important. Not just in the display of the art, but to ensure what ever art you place integrates beautifully with the room's design plan too. This is of course assuming that most people in general want a fairly peaceful and balanced room as opposed to a chaotic or disorganized room. This means when I start designing a room, I'm certainly starting to think about possible best walls/areas/ways to display art. It's something to bear in the back of your mind while planning. In the design process, whether the clients already have art works they want to use or they will be acquiring new ones, installing the art work is almost the very last thing we do and it is only then that a room feels complete and alive.
After considering the negative space, next comes the all important scale. Beautiful art comes in all sizes, shapes and forms and regardless there is a way to display every kind to it's best advantage. Scale is about the relationship a work of art has to a wall and the room. Scale is also about knowing when to go proportionately larger and when to play with scale and do the unexpected. Large blank walls are great but not always needed. Challenges with very little wall space or walls of glass are always fun to deal with. It just means you think differently. Besides every art work is not meant to be on the wall. A wall of glass, for example, is primed to act as a beautiful and reflective backdrop for showcasing a great piece of sculpture. A group of art works displayed together, often referred to as salon style, can provide great scale and coverage to a room as much as a single large painting or a mural can. The effects are different though. An over-scaled painting or a large wall size mural tends to evoke a reaction that's in awe and the visitor is most likely to take a step back to realize the effect that large scale art has in the whole room. On the other hand, smaller works grouped together tend to coax the visitor to get closer and peer in at each little painting. There is a profound effect even in displaying a single and small work in a huge wall where say, 95 - 98% of the wall is empty. That little painting you love just got it's lime light, so make it a good one.
- xo Raji
In - Displaying Art: Part Two - we will discuss different display styles that will not only showcase your art beautifully but also act as a key design feature in a room.
Online Press: Thank you Domaine! /
What's Playing In The Office This Week /
Yep! This is our latest little playlist on Spotify! And yes, we dance to our heart's content! Enjoy and Happy Hump Day!
Online Press: Thank you Houzz! /
“You have to have seating and lighting, so why not make your choices the most interesting possible?” - Raji Radhakrishnan on Houzz
Thanks to Houzz editor Mary Jo Bowling for the terrific story and Houzz Tour featuring Raji's home! Check out the full story here - Houzz
Inspired Monday Morning: Isamu Noguchi /
Noguchi's Akari Light Sculptures in the upper level of the Noguchi Museum
Several years ago during a visit to India I came across a shop in Madras that carried paper lantern shades. On seeing them I turned to my mother who was with me and blurted that it looks somewhat like the Noguchi lights. I actually didn't know much about Noguchi at that time except that I loved his gorgeous lights which I saw in the pages of shelter magazines and I must have caught his name in the captions. I made a note to look up Noguchi once back home and I did. To my surprise, I learned that the Noguchi museum was right here on the east coast in Long Island City, Queens.
Little did I know that my trip then to the Noguchi Museum would be the first of several more visits thereafter. The peace and the quiet of the space and the garden itself are so rewarding and worth the trip every time. Add to that, getting up close and personal with some of Noguchi's greatest creations and it starts to feel giddy just to see the sheer variety of materials and mediums he was fluent in - marble, alabaster, onyx, stone, slate, steel, brass, bronze, aluminum, stainless steel, magnesite, wood, terracotta, plaster of paris and much much more. He was an artist, a sculptor, a furniture and lighting designer who also happened to design architectural spaces including the Noguchi museum and it's garden. And I thought he just made lamps out of rice paper.
I remember thinking how easy and very possible he made it all look and how limitless imagination and creativity can be when coupled with a huge dose of effort and tenacity. It was during one of my early visits to the Noguchi Museum that I first thought about becoming a designer and the kind of designer I wanted to be - one who is hands-on whenever possible and unafraid to try new and different things even if the task at hand feels monumental and the risk quotient seems high. I'm thinking of Noguchi and some of his peers as we continue working on a project I started on nearly seven years ago in Bethesda, MD. This is a project close to my heart as the clients are some of the nicest people I've known for a long time now and their trust has given me the leverage to literally take a paint brush to their home and exercise some of my more daring ideas. It is immensely satisfying when you don't just design and orchestrate a crew of people to bring your vision to life but also have the chance to create something personal and unique with your very own hands.
Here's to being inspired, taking measured risks and trying out new things!
Below are some of my favorite works by Noguchi. Notice how current and in fact cutting edge some of his early works are.
Photos via Noguchi.org and Pinterest.
A photo I took of the Noguchi Museum Garden
Isamu Noguchi
Globular 1928 Polished Brass
Slide Mantra 1966-1985 Carrara Marble
Slide Mantra 1966-1985 Botticino Marble
Another photo I took of the Noguchi garden.
Isamu Noguchi
The Noguchi Museum
Isamu Noguchi
To Bring To Life, 1979, Basalt, Isamu Noguchi
Isamu Noguchi
Shiva Pentagonal, 1981, Basalt, Isamu Noguchi
The Bow, 1970-1973, Yellow Sienna Marble & Black Petit Granit Marble, Isamu Noguchi
In Silence Walking, 1970, Bardiglio Marble, Isamu Noguchi