The benefit exhibition ‘Our Flag: Design Stands Together,’ opened last week at R & Company, comes to stimulate and present reactions from the design community to the transformation and shock that Americans have experienced since the elections of November 8th. Curator James Zemaitis commissioned a number of contemporary designers to create objects inspired by the American Flag, while all profits will be donated to ACLU, an organization committed to protecting and defending human rights. The point of departure for Zemaitis’ idea, is a series of glass teapots, which Richard Marquis designed in the late 1960s, featuring the American flag, in reaction to the Vietnam War, the protests, and the burning of American flags. In responding to the policies of the Trump administration, street protests and media upheavals are taking place across America, and this little exhibition presents objects that are referencing directly or indirectly to the design or the colors of the American flag.
RICHARD MARQUIS, EXPLODED STARS AND STRIPES TEAPOT, 1997. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST.
