Releases | New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

MOIFA Presents “Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe,” a Virtual Exhibition

June 10th, 2020

The Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) is excited to present the online exhibition “Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe,” available for viewing until December 31, 2021.

With this virtual exhibition, visitors can open the door to Girard’s creative universe from home. Featured are Girard’s designs in textiles, furniture, and sculpture, as well as his interior architecture projects for residences, restaurants, and retail spaces.

Girard was also a pivotal figure in the history of MOIFA. He and his wife, Susan, donated their vast folk art and toy collection of more than 100,000 objects to the museum. In 1982, the museum opened its beloved long-term exhibition “Multiple Visions,” which Girard curated and designed from his collection. Girard’s playful designs attest to his passion for color, ornamentation, and inspiration from folk art.

“A Designer’s Universe was the ideal candidate for our first virtual exhibition," said Laura Addison, MOIFA’s Curator of North American Collections. "Because Girard’s textiles designs are colorful and graphically bold, it is a show that makes for a great fly-through experience online.”

This is MOIFA’s first virtual exhibition, making use of 360-degree camera technology and software that allows visitors to navigate and select tour stops that provide text panels, videos, articles, and links to more information about Girard and his legacy.

"The digital life of exhibitions used to be secondary to the development of the in-person museum visit experience," said Addison. "The intention has always been there to have exhibitions live on in other ways once a show is over, and to reach an audience is unable to visit the show in person, but it wasn’t always the priority.

“Now the virtual experience is foremost on museum professionals’ minds. These can’t replace the experience of seeing artworks in person — the scale, the skilled hand of the artist, the materiality. But museums are now adapting to this new reality with creativity and resourcefulness, by sharing ideas and tapping into technical know-how on staff or in the community." 

Organized by Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, this is the first major retrospective on Girard’s work.

To experience the virtual exhibition “Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe,” visit https://fivedmedia.com/3d-model/alexander-girard-a-designers-universe/skinned/

 

About the Museum of International Folk Art
The Museum of International Folk Art is a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, under the leadership of the Board of Regents for the Museum of New Mexico. Programs and exhibits are generously supported by the International Folk Art Foundation and Museum of New Mexico Foundation.

The mission of The Museum of International Folk Art is to shape a humane world by connecting people through creative expression and artistic traditions. The museum holds the largest collection of international folk art in the world, numbering more than 130,000 objects from more than 100 countries.


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Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe

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