‘Bruno Munari: The Child Within’ Opening Lecture by Curator Steven Guarnaccia
October 07, 2022, 18:00 PM - 19:00 PM
General admission: $15. Members and Students: Free
Join us for the first curator talk to explore the work of the protean multidisciplinary Italian 20th century designer Bruno Munari through the lens of his innovative books for children.
Many of the experiments that Munari conducted with light, transparency, pierced surfaces and paper mechanics, that eventually resulted in some of his most iconic design objects, were first explored in the commercial and experimental books that he made for children. Munari was also an indefatigable teacher, in books, essays, workshops and lectures, and many of his children’s books may be seen as giving corporeal form to his lessons.
In this talk, Bruno Munari: The Child Within‘s curator Steven Guarnaccia will create a dialogue between the various areas of Munari’s creative practice and draw links among diverse areas of activity, including lighting and furniture design, collage, sculpture and various print technologies, including photography, xerography and book making, examples of which are at the center of the show.
Steven Guarnaccia will be in conversation with James Bradburne, Director of the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, and Pietro Corraini of Corraini Edizioni.
The event will be held in person at CIMA. Limited in-person seating available due to COVID-19 safety protocols.
About the curator: Steven Guarnaccia is an author and illustrator and Professor Emeritus of Parsons School of Design. He was formerly Op-Ed art director of the New York Times. His work has appeared in major magazines and newspapers including the New York Times and Rolling Stone and he has been a regular visual commentator for design publications including Abitare, Domus and Metropolitan Home. He has created murals for Disney and exhibition drawings for Achille Castiglioni: Design! at the Museum of Modern Art. He is the author of books on popular culture and design for Chronicle Books, including Black and White and A Stiff Drink and a Close Shave. He has designed watches for Swatch and greeting cards for the Museum of Modern Art, won awards from the AIGA, the Art Directors Club, and the Bologna Book Fair and has had one-man shows internationally. His children’s books include his fairy tales about design, Goldilocks and the Three Bears: A Tale Moderne, The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale and Cinderella: A Fashionable Tale, all published by Corraini and Abrams. His latest book is Butterflies, Snails and Little Worms, about pasta names, published by RaumItalic. His exhibition, Fatherland, was shown at the Hamelin Gallery and has traveled to the East London Comic Arts Festival, the Barcelona FLIC festival, the Ministerium fuer Illustration/ Berlin, the Tabook Festival in the Czech Republic and to Yui Gallery, NY.
Public Programming at CIMA is made possible with the generous support of Tiro a Segno Foundation.
