Garry Knox Bennett: Call Me Chairmaker

June 28, 2008 – September 21, 2008

Garry Knox Bennett is one of the foremost contemporary studio furniture makers in America. The 52 one-of-a-kind sculptural chairs in this exhibition reflect his fascinating imagination and delightful wit. Bennett draws his inspiration from well-known furniture designers and architects such as Gerrit Rietveld and Frank Lloyd Wright, leading to unique creations like Great Granny Rietveld and Wiggle Wright.

“To understand my art, a viewer has to understand jokes,” says Bennett. “Good jokes build piece by piece, the little fact that is dropped into the story line, the accumulation of illogical data that flip-flops logic until the unexpected is understood with a joyful rush of logic and justice.”

Garry Knox Bennett Thonet, 2004 34 ½  x 25 x 17 inches Chair, fiberglass, enamel paint, hand-caned seat Photo Credit: M. Lee Fatherree		Garry Knox Bennett Chinese Platform Chair #5: Late Oaktown Dynasty; 1934-____, 2005 39 x 22 x 26 inches Lacquered wood, PVC, 23K & 24K gold leaf, velvet upholstery Photo Credit: M. Lee Fatherree		Garry Knox Bennett New Ladderback #1, 2003 41 ¾ x 14 5/8 x 22 in. Maple, Douglas Fir, nickel-plated brass, GKB fabricated ladder Photo Credit: M. Lee Fatherree

This exhibition has been organized by Bellevue Arts Museum and has been made possible through the generosity of the Microsoft Corporation.

In Delaware, this exhibition is made possible, in part, by grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the Delaware Art Museum Council.

Exhibition-Related Events
Art All Along: Accepting Contemporary Craft into the Canon
Friday, September 5 | 6:00 p.m. $10 Members (includes Members of the Delaware Art Museum and the DCCA) $15 Non-Members/$5 Students Members Online Registration | Non-Members Registration | Student Online Registration
Using Garry Knox Bennett as a lens, Elisabeth Agro, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Nancy M. McNeil Associate Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Decorative Arts, will explore the issue of “crossover artists,” the myth that has become what we know as craft, and the shape of contemporary craft today. To register, call Cynthia Smith at 302.351.8514, email csmith@delart.org. Garry Knox Bennett Chas Rietveld, 2003 54 ½ x 15 x 17 1/8 inches Enameled wood, paint, nickel-plated brass Photo Credit: M. Lee Fatherree