“What’s the Matter?”

R 20th Century is pleased to announce What’s The Matter?, an exhibition curated by Kulapat Yantrasast, Founding Partner and Creative Director of WHY/HOW, the LA-based international architecture and design firm which originally launched as wHY Architecture in 2004. The exhibition will concentrate on raw materials and illustrate how different generations of designers have used and incorporated these elements into their work. The exhibition will be on view September 17 to November 1, 2013, with an opening reception on Tuesday September 17, from 6 to 8pm.

Kulapat Yantrasast and his dynamic team at WHY/HOW selected unique and iconic objects from R 20th Century’s inventory, which will be combined with contemporary designs by innovative talent. The exhibition investigates the choices a designer makes in the marrying of material and process.

In the same way that a chef selects the best raw ingredients to create a flavorful dish, raw materials – such as glass, metal, wood and stone – will saturate the viewers’ senses as they pass through an environment abundant with colors, smells, textures and sounds, invoking the impulse of cooking. “Like chefs, designers work with materials and processes. Creativity is manifested in the encounter of these two,” says Yantrasast. Clusters of curated objects, presented in a highly unconventional manner, convey the creative energy of the maker.

Exploring both the source material and the process, What’s The Matter? serves as the debut of WHY/HOW’s object-making workshop. Limited edition pieces, designed and fabricated by WHY/HOW, will examine the ideas behind three current construction projects through three materials – glass, metal and concrete – and the processes by which these materials are transformed. These pieces will be on display alongside the select works from R 20th Century’s collection.

“R 20th Century has long been interested in the themes of materiality and craft in decorative arts, art and architecture. I am thrilled to be able to collaborate with Kulapat Yantrasast on this exhibition and to take that passion and interest even deeper through close consideration of the making of objects and into the realms of science, mathematics and even food” states Evan Snyderman, Principal of R 20th Century. “I think Yantrasast is one of the most interesting architects working today and it is fascinating to see how he will transform the physical space of the gallery and work of our designers.”