Studio furniture exhibit at Pritam & Eames

By Mary Cummings

For anyone leaving busy Race Lane behind and entering the hushed interior of Pritam & Eames in East Hampton, there is bound to be a brief moment of disorientation. Inside the showcase for works by what co-owner Bebe Pritam Johnson considers “the most original voices in furniture,” the artist-craftsmen who have created the tables and benches, wall cabinets, chairs and other functional art works speak powerfully, but soundlessly through their work.

It is a quiet, softly lit world where strong personalities, nevertheless, have their say.

Indeed, says Ms. Johnson, ever since she and her husband, Warren Eames Johnson, first began exhibiting and selling the original furniture designs of creative craftsmen in 1981, that has been “the central idea” of their enterprise.

“Furniture can have a personality as original as its maker,” she said during a recent interview and tour of the gallery’s Early Winter Show, which features small-scale work by Duncan Gowdy, David Ebner, Hank Gilpin and Andy Buck. “Each piece reflects the personality of the maker, and that,” she noted, “is the trademark of the American studio furniture movement.”

At the heart of that movement, she said, is a question: “How do you make this your own?”

It is, after all, what distinguishes furniture that is both made and conceived by its creator from furniture that is manufactured. Using a mirror by Duncan Gowdy as an example, Ms. Johnson gave a verbal sketch of his background and linked the silhouettes of bare-branched trees that he has carved and stained on the frame to Gowdy’s Yankee heritage.

“He lives on his brother’s farm in New Hampshire,” she said “The austere beauty of his work reflects the New England winter landscape. Nobody else would have made that piece.”

A “wine table” speaks of another, more mischievous, side of the New Englander’s personality. Its pedestal, carved to look like a wine bottle has the sheen of glass and has been painted inside to look “either half-empty or half-full,” said Ms. Johnson. “He is very clever.”

Each of the artist-craftsmen in this Early Winter Show speaks with a strong, recognizable voice. Each is distinctive, yet a provocative—sometimes humorous, sometimes edgy—streak runs through much of their work. Even the younger ones “have been fueled by the ’60s generation,” said Ms. Johnson. “They may be younger than us but they can sense the genuine thing.”

She suggested that one reason studio furniture artists are generally free of the self-importance and cynicism so often found in the art world today is because they are obliged to think of others when they create. With furniture, she said, “you have to do things like accommodating a person in some way.” A chair has to be comfortable to sit in. It should not be too fragile, too delicately balanced or too easily scratched or gouged.

Another reason for the shared sensibility came to light as Ms. Johnson hit the highlights among the pieces on display not just those being featured in the show on view through January 6 but those by artisans on her regular roster. Wendy Maruyama, whose series of chairs with glass bottoms shocked back in the early ’80s, when she first showed her work at Pritam & Eames, is now a highly respected leader in the world of original furniture. She continues to show and sell her work at the gallery and, as a teacher, to influence the next generation, including Duncan Gowdy.

“She is fabulous, very provocative,” said Ms. Johnson “She introduced us to Duncan about ten years ago and we have had his work ever since.

Lines of descent in this movement, which puts a premium on originality combined with functionality, are easily traced. It is necessarily a limited circle, restricted to the generously gifted who possess the patience and dedication for an artistic pursuit too time-consuming and cumbersome to promise fame and fortune. In this small world it was Ms. Maruyama who inspired Mr. Gowdy with her spontaneous, experimental approach, an approach that she developed at Boston University, where Jere Osgood and Alphonse Mattia—both of whom have pieces on view at Pritam & Eames—were co-directors of a storied program in artisanry from 1976-1986, which influenced “a constellation of furniture-making talent,” according to Ms. Johnson.

While there is probably no one more appreciative of the sheer beauty of their work, Ms. Johnson has no patience for those who believe it belongs in a museum.

“To me that is the death knell,” she said. “It is furniture and it is meant to be used.” Judy McKie’s limestone Ram Bench may be a bit unforgiving on the sitting spot but it can certainly serve. Likewise her charming Bird Settee. Wall cabinets are for treasures or pills—whatever needs some tucking away—and chairs, of course must be sat in. And that includes Ms. McKie’s “Wagging Tail Dog Chair.”

Taken from http://www.27east.com/