Histrionic RestorationA Site Specific Installation by Laura Davis

September 13, 2014 - January 11, 2015

Mies van der Rohe’s McCormick HouseElmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois

Continuing Elmhurst Art Museum’s lively exploration of the Mies van der Rohe-designed McCormick House from 1952, the new exhibition series “In the House” premiered with Chicago-based artist Laura Davis’ site-specific installation Histrionic Restoration. On a regular basis, contemporary artists, designers and architects will be invited to respond to the modernist structure by producing new work that takes into consideration the house’s unique space and history. These dynamic presentations encourage conversations between past and present and provide a rare opportunity for artists to work directly with and in this exceptional example of Mies’ residential design.

Laura Davis approached the McCormick House with a passion for the modernist style (minimal form, clean lines, industrial materials) but also an awareness that in order for “less to be more,” certain exclusions were made. Her installation Histrionic Restoration reinserts these omissions into the modernist context, from the drama and stuff of everyday life to the value of things past to the female presence in society and art. Davis alters and combines after-market finds (from jewelry to tchotchkes to mid-century modern furniture), appreciating the narrative and layered history of these used items. When juxtaposed in her sculptures and groupings, they also complicate notions of value.

Davis was particularly drawn to the McCormick House as a home, sheltering and witnessing the family activities of the McCormicks, the Ficks and others. Using gold mylar to cover Mies’ famous windows, Davis directs the focus to the interior where she places domestic and decorative objects from different postwar decades. A sparkly wrap on the back of a pink MR 10 chair frame, an old exercise bike, design and LIFE magazines, ashtrays, a cigar, a rotary phone, a dog and a special aquarium find their way into the house, alluding to real and imagined former residents and challenging viewers to put the pieces together.

-Staci Boris

Chief Curator, Elmhurst Art Museum

Materials List

George Nelson Mobil Table Model 5152. Cement, steel, saltshaker. Design for You book cover, plywood. Danish wood plate, spoon, wire, fake pearl, paint color samples (Release the Hounds and Deep Sea Dive.) Protecta rat trap, mannequin hand, Sharper Image Sound Soother set to “Summer Night.”

On brick wall: Bronze frame, grasscloth, Well of the Sea menu collage.

Metallic Swiss rug, June 1972 LIFE Magazine, Fatal Flaws laser cut acrylic sign, Fantoni bowl, plaster snake, resin, plastic beads, paint, Mies van der Rohe Barcelona table, cement, wood, brass, silver, paper, paper pulp, ashtray, aluminum, paint, sequin.

On and above wood shelf: Copper tray, air drying clay, porcupine quills, paint, copper wire. Polystyrene foam, contact paper, wood, plaster, paint. Copper, earring, patina. The Small Heavy laser cut acrylic sign. Frame, used suede, bracelet, wire, spoon, air drying clay, paint. Cement, air drying clay, wire, necklace, keys, marble wine cooler, seaweed, steel, plaster, paint. Isamu Noguchi lamp base, vellum, India ink, collage, glass, stone plate.

Poul Kjaerholm PK71 nesting tables, glass gazing ball, fake eggplant, ceramic dish, copper dish, anodized aluminum dish, foam wreath form, paint, wood, wax, wire. Sentiment (over) Tragedy laser cut acrylic sign, porcelain, plaster, paint, steel, brass, paint, bracelet, glass, microbeads, paint, copper, Formica table top.

Paper mache on wire German Shepherd. Found cement swan with wire, cement, paint, plastic and steel.

Two Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Chairs, dress, We Ping History laser cut acrylic sign.

Steel and brass mobile.

Mies van der Rohe MR table, various drinking glasses, hand mirror, scorpion paperweight, necklaces, copper, aluminum, cement, resin, lapis lazuli, steel, bronze, collage element of Egyptian cat mummy, paper pulp, marbles, glass beads, moss, bracelet, sponge, wine, Legacies of Normalness laser cut acrylic sign, plastic.

Suitcase, socks.

George Nelson Comprehensive Shelving System Desk: Metal shell ashtray, fake cigars, paper pulp, paper, Design markers pre 1997, newspaper clipping, WBEZ mug, sponge, reproduction of cost estimate for McCormick House, Letraset instant lettering “curved corners,” circle templates, Chicago by Bill Harris, April 1972 LIFE magazine, Architecture in Context by Brent C. Brolin, emergency candle, The Villa of the Tugendhats by the Institute for the Protection of Monuments in Brno, plastic comb, mouse trap, The Family Fallout Shelter by the Office of Civil and

Defense Mobilization 1959, collage, resin, cardboard, felt Detroit banner, Keith Haring plastic angel magnet, Pantone color paper 229U. Jules Wabbes desk chair, part of a National Geographic children’s book on snakes, plastic, wire, paint, box.

George Nelson Comprehensive Shelving System. Frame, Detroit Institute of Arts Faberge Show poster, collage elements, brass Carl Aubock egg paperweight, stone from the Elmhurst Art Museum ladies’ room, lion figurine, paint, shell, glue, necklace, stone base. Rotary phone, earring, collage image, Listening More laser cut acrylic sign, First National Bank of Chicago (now Chase) bank, collage, “Thinking of You” postcard.

1980’s educational flashcard (bass), paint color sample (Mandolin), Tomorrow’s House by George Nelson and Russell Wright, book cover (The Visual Dialogue), cork, 1980’s educational flashcard (books), paint color sample (Indigo Flame), National Geographic image on mat board, two IBM promotional photo cube inserts, mirror, glass, The Life of the Forest by Jack McCormick, Hiding in Plain Sight laser cut acrylic sign, White Owl cigar box, fake artichokes, Christmas ornaments, paper mache on wire, paint color sample (Eagles Mark), mirror, paint, triangle, steel, bronze, 1980’s educational flashcard (starfish), The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, The Design Continuum by Stewart Kranz and Robert Fisher, paint color sample (Beach Breeze), Good Design (1953) by The Museum of Modern Art (Price List), Art Has Many Faces by Katherine Kuh.

Fish cut from Aquarium Fishes of the World by Dr. Herbert Axelrod, wire, tape, foam, mother of pearl, plastic, frame, page from a Sotheby’s catalogue, page from National Geographic, Krenit enamel bowl, laser cut acrylic image from Big Fish Eat Little Fish by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1557), India ink, plaster, paint, copper, It Is (Under) The Abyss laser cut acrylic sign.

Striped upholstered ottoman, Designing with Natural Forms by Natalie D’Arbeloff, salad bowl, bobby pins, altered votive candle holder, tape, plastic rivet, plastic aquarium plant.

Custom powder coated and geared Schwinn Air-Dyne exercise bike, rhinestone, silk rug, wood, motor, hardware.

Charles Schultz Snoopy and Woodstock plaque from Hallmark, paint color sample (Blue Energy.)

Mies van der Rohe leather MR chair, May 1972 LIFE Magazine, reproduction of historic McCormick house image, glasses, ladies jacket, custom powder coated Mies van der Rohe MR Lounge chair, Introduction to Twentieth Century Design from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art 1959 by Arthur Drexler and Greta Daniel.

Gold mylar, magnets, wood, glue, tape.

THE SMALL HEAVY

FATAL FLAWS

SENTIMENT

TRAGEDY

WE PING HISTORY

LEGACIES OF NORMAL NESS

LISTENING MORE

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

THE ABYSSIT IS

Laura Davis (b. 1971, Holland, Michigan) is a Chicago based artist working in sculpture, drawing and installation. She received her MFA from the University of Chicago in 2004, her BFA from The Cleveland Institute of Art in 1996 and teaches in the department of Contemporary Practices at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

www.lauraanndavis.com

Photography by Clare Britt