A retrospective celebrating the centenary of pioneering textile designer Tibor Reich
Small but sweet exhibition of Reich’s work at the Whitworth in Machester. I hadn’t heard of him before but really enjoyed the playfulness and freshness of the work. His intriguing, colourful, and lively textiles made it into Downing Street, the first Concorde and millions of British post-war homes which had previously been veiled in browns and greys.
Reich was inspired by the vivid, traditional colours of his Hungarian background, and his patterns were heavily influence by the natural world. He poineered ‘deep texture’ textiles were not only the print but also the weaving style created the patterns.
Keeping an eye out for the Tibor Reich company relaunched by Reich’s grandson this spring who says that “Tibor believed that colour was an energy, that it was optimistic and something more people should incorporate into their houses. It was a reflection of his personality – that things should be exciting rather than drab, boring and austere. There were several designers at the time championing colour in interior design, but Tibor was certainly the most shocking.” (Via The Guardian)
Images via:
Deep textures
Whitworth Exhibition
Aluminium Story 1953
Reich at Stratford-upon-Avon
lisakowalewski.com 
