Pat Kirkham | |
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| Occupation | Author, Professor |
Pat Kirkham is an author, professor, and design historian. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of London and is considered a foremost expert on the history of design, film, gender, and class. [1] She is perhaps best known as the author (with Jennifer Bass) of the first major book about designer Saul Bass, the monograph Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design.
Pat Kirkham attended the University of Leeds, where she studied history and achieved a B.A. with first class honors, and the University of London, where she wrote a dissertation about the history of furniture making in London from 1700 to 1870 and earned a Ph.D. [2]
She began her academic career in 1970 at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK, where she held the successive positions of lecturer, professor, and provost. [3] From 1970 to 1978, she was a lecturer and senior lecturer, teaching the history of architecture and design. From 1978 to 1993, she held the role of principal lecturer, teaching history of art, design, and film. From 1993 to 1996, she was a professor of design history as well as the Personal Chair and Provost for the School of Humanities. [4]
From 1996 to 2000, Kirkham was a visiting professor at the Southampton Institute in Southampton, England.
She is author of several books including You Tarzan: Masculinity, Movies, and Men (1993) (with Janet Thumim), Me Jane: Masculinity, Movies, and Women (1995) (with Janet Thumim), The Gendered Object (1996), Charles and Ray Eames: Designers of the Twentieth Century (1998), Women Designers in the USA, 1900–2000: Diversity and Difference (2000), The Beauty of Life: William Morris & the Art of Design (2003) (with Diane Waggoner), Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design (2011) (with Jennifer Bass), History of Design: Decorative Arts and Material Culture, 1400-2000 (2013).
Her book Charles and Ray Eames: Designers of the Twentieth Century (1998) laid the groundwork for the documentary Eames: The Architect & the Painter [5] (2011) which appeared on Swedish television. [6]
The 2003 book The Beauty of Life: William Morris & the Art of Design is a collection of essays on British textile designer William Morris and his work within furnishings company Morris & Co. Published by Thames and Hudson, it features essays by Pat Kirkham as well as Gillian Naylor, Edward R. Bosley, and Diane Waggoner. [7]
After spending more than eighteen years studying the life and work of designer Saul Bass, [8] Kirkham wrote and edited the 428-page monograph Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design (2011), with Jennifer Bass, Saul's daughter. [9] It was designed by Jennifer Bass and features a foreword by film director Martin Scorsese as well as more than 1,400 illustrations by Bass, many never before published, that explore his legacy and offer an in-depth look at the creative process behind his celebrated posters, title sequences, and logo designs. [10] The Wall Street Journal called the book "a superb guide" [11] and Steven Heller, in his review for the New York Times, called the collection "gratifyingly complete." Heller also wrote, "Kirkham’s narrative and the informative comments by Saul Bass and his colleagues provide an essential portrait of a designer who successfully balanced art and commerce, and who remains an influence on contemporary graphic and motion design." [12]
A review of the book in graphic design journal Eye in 2012 called it a "rich biography", "an impressive narrative and archive" and "a very personal story. The intimacy often missing from monographs on designers is palpably present here." It also said: "The design world has waited a long time for a substantial monograph on this influential twentieth-century Renaissance figure. The wait is over.″ [13] Maria Popova of website BrainPickings.org called it "undoubtedly one of the most beautiful, inspirational, and important design books you’ll ever lay eyes and hands on." [14]
Pat Kirkham was the project director for the exhibition Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000: Diversity and Difference at Bard Graduate Center in New York from November 15, 2000 – April 8, 2001. [15] Accompanying the exhibition was a catalogue edited by Kirkham and published by Yale University Press in association with Bard Graduate Center. The book celebrates the contributions of women designers to American culture of the 20th century. Examples of work range from textiles and ceramics to furniture and fashion, featuring the achievements of women of various ethnic and cultural groups from well-known designers such as Ray Eames, Donna Karan, and Florence Knoll to less well-known compatriots. [16]
The design for the catalogue also aimed to reflect the values of the exhibition and highlight the contributions of women. The book is set in a typeface designed by typography designer Zuzana Licko, bears a cover designed by book designer Carol Devine Carson, and features an interior timeline created by Deborah Sussman, Jennifer Stoller, and Ana Llorente-Thurik of Sussman/Prezja. The book was designed by Ellen Lupton and Patrick Seymour. [17]
Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and corporate logos.
Ruth E. Carter is an American costume designer for film and television, with over 40 films to her credit, who has mastered the look of multiple periods and genres in envisioning the clothing and overall appearance of a character or performer. During her nearly-30-year film career, Carter has been nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, for her work on Spike Lee's biographical film Malcolm X (1992), Steven Spielberg's historical drama film Amistad (1997), and her most recent work on Ryan Coogler's Marvel superhero film Black Panther (2018), for which she won the award and became the first African-American to win an Academy Award in that category.
Bonnie Cashin was an American fashion designer. Considered a pioneer in the design of American sportswear, she created innovative, uncomplicated clothing that catered to the modern, independent woman beginning in the post-war era through to her retirement from the fashion world in 1985.
Ray-Bernice Alexandra Kaiser Eames was an American artist and designer who worked in a variety of media.
Charles Ormond Eames, Jr. (1907–1978) and Bernice Alexandra "Ray" Kaiser Eames (1912–1988) were an American married couple of industrial designers who made significant historical contributions to the development of modern architecture and furniture through the work of the Eames Office. They also worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art, and film. Charles was the public face of the Eames Office, but Ray and Charles worked together as creative partners and employed a diverse creative staff. Among their most recognized designs is the Eames Lounge Chair and the Eames Dining Chair.
Katherine McCoy is an American graphic designer and educator, best known for her work as the co-chair of the graduate Design program for Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Louise Fili is an American graphic designer recognized for her use of typography and quality in design. Her work often draws on inspiration from her love of Italy, Modernism, and European Art Deco styles. Considered a leader in the postmodern return to historical styles in book jacket design, Fili explores historic typography combined with modern colors and compositions.
Frances Adler Elkins, was one of the twentieth century's most prominent interior designers. According to one magazine editor, she was "the first great California decorator". According to The New York Times, Elkins "pioneered vibrant interiors, in which solid historical references met effervescent modernist fantasy." She was the sister of the architect David Adler.
Eames: The Architect and the Painter is a 2011 documentary film about American designers Charles and Ray Eames and the Eames Office. It was produced and written by Jason Cohn, and co-produced by Bill Jersey.
Cipe Pineles was an Austrian-born graphic designer and art director who made her career in New York at such magazines as Seventeen, Charm, Glamour, House & Garden, Vanity Fair and Vogue. She was known for her trailblazing as the first female art director of many major magazines, as well as being credited as the first person to bring fine art into mainstream mass-produced media. She married two prominent designers, twice widowed, and had two children and two grandchildren.
Maria Popova is a Bulgarian-born, American-based writer of literary and arts commentary and cultural criticism that has found wide appeal both for her writing and for the visual stylistics that accompany it. She is most widely known for her blog, Brain Pickings, an online publication that she has fought to maintain advertisement-free, which features her writing on books, and ideas from the arts, philosophy, culture, and other subjects. In addition to her writing and related speaking engagements, she has served as an MIT Futures of Entertainment Fellow, as the editorial director at the higher education social network Lore, and has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Wired UK, and other publications. Since 2010, she has resided in Brooklyn, New York. She is the creator of "The Universe in Verse", a large-scale annual celebration of science and the natural world through poetry.
Carolyn L. Mazloomi is an American author, curator and quilter. She is a strong advocate for presenting and documenting African-American-made quilts. Her own quilts tell complex stories around African American heritage and contemporary experiences.
Elaine Lustig Cohen was an American graphic designer, artist and archivist. She is best known for her work as a graphic designer during the 1950s and 60s, having created over 150 designs for book covers and museum catalogs. Her work has played a significant role in the evolution of American modernist graphic design, integrating European avant-garde with experimentation to create a distinct visual vocabulary. Cohen later continued her career as a fine artist working in a variety of media. In 2011, she was named an AIGA Medalist for her achievements in graphic design.
Deborah Sussman was an American designer and a pioneer in the field of environmental graphic design. Her work incorporated graphic design into architectural and public spaces.
Yvonne Porcella was an American art quilter.
Elaine Bass is an American title designer and filmmaker.
Lisa Congdon is an American fine artist, author and illustrator.
Marguerita Mergentime (1894–1941) was an American textile designer best known for printed fabrics, making her mark in the 1930s with table linens in bold colors and innovative patterns created to enliven American households. Mergentime also designed sheets, towels, and tableware. In New York City in the 1930s, Mergentime worked with some of the best-known designers of the day, including Donald Deskey, Russel Wright, and Frederick Kiesler. Her work was featured in The New Yorker, House & Garden, House Beautiful, and Vogue.
Judy Kensley McKie is an American artist, furniture designer, and furniture maker. She has been making her signature style of furniture with carved and embellished animal and plant motifs since 1977. She is based in Boston, Massachusetts.
Eva-Lisa "Pipsan" Saarinen Swanson (March 31, 1905 - October 23, 1979) was a Finnish-American industrial, interior, and textile designer based in Michigan. She was known for her contemporary furniture, textile, and product designs.
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