The exhibition was organized for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts by Curator of Textiles Lotus Stack. The exhibition was funded in part by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and the County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program.
This exhibition, taken from the renowned textile designer’s company archive, was composed of more than 100 textiles. Accompanying the exhibition was a brochure, _LARSEN ARCHIVE,_ published by The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the book, INTERPLAY – Perspectives on the Design Legacy of Jack Lenor Larsen, edited by Denise Guerin and Stephanie Watson and published by The Goldstein Museum of Design, the University of Minnesota.
Mr. Larsen attended the opening of the exhibition and presented a profound lecture about his life’s work and his development as an artist craftsman and human being.
Born in Seattle in 1927, Jack Lenor Larsen studied architecture and interior design at the University of Washington. He received an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1951, opened a weaving studio in New York and, two years later, founded his company which became a global organization with production centers in 30 countries and showrooms in major cities around the world. In 1997, the British firm Colefax & Fowler, parent company of Cowtan & Tout, bought the Larsen Company.
Mr. Larsen has been awarded important public commissions in both the United States and Europe, has designed textiles for Frank Lloyd Wright, Pan American and Braniff Airlines, the Phoenix Performing Arts Center and Air Force One. In addition, his work is in the collections of many of the world’s great museums. Larsen is a Fellow and President Emeritus of the American Craft Council and fellow and Honorary Royal Designer for Industry of the Royal Society of Art. He is also a Gold Medallist with the American Institute of Architects.
Gardner, designer, colorist, author Jack Lenor Larsen is also the consummate collector of decorative, primitive, design and folk arts. In 1992, he established LongHouse Reserve at East Hampton, New York, as a showcase for his collection.