Eames Words
The A+D Museum on L.A.’s Museum Row has just opened "Eames Words," named for its highly conceptual, and lexical, approach to the Eames legacy. “The whole idea is based on an aspect on Charles and Ray’s lives that is somewhat underexposed to the world,” says curator Deborah Sussman (of the design firm Sussman/Prejza), who worked closely with the couple at the Eames Office in Venice, California, for ten years in the 1950s and ’60s. Central to the exhibition—which runs through January 16—are quotes by Charles and Ray Eames, many previously published and better known, and some told directly to Sussman (such as Ray’s assessment that the Jeep is “an automobile that America can be proud of,” accompanied by a Army-green Willys Jeep). Each quote has received a specialized treatment and sizing by type designer Andrew Byrom; the words meander through the modest space as a narrative that allows the world a glimpse into the philosophies behind the Eameses’ work—and way of living.