Winter 1998

Designers with a life to match

David Heathcote

The Work of Charles and Ray Eames

Design Museum, London<br>18 September 1998-4 January 1999

Speed

Whitechapel and Photographers’ Gallery, London<br>11 September-22 November 1998

Balla and Futurist Italy

Estorick Gallery, London<br>9 September-13 December 1998

I was cautious about the Eames show at the Design Museum – it seemed to have the ‘toys for boys’ potential that can plague this institution. But the show, a travelling exhibition organised by the Library of Congress and Vitra Design Museum, was excellent, though surprisingly short on furniture. The show is a timely reminder of what design can offer life when it is approached with openess and enthusiasm without crippling strictures of irony…

First published in Eye no. 30 vol 8, 1998

Eye is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published quarterly for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It is available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop, where you can buy subscriptions and single issues.

EYE30