About

'California Design 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way' introduces Australian audiences to a broad spectrum of industrial, architectural, commercial, fashion and craft design from California.

Organised by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and curated by Wendy Kaplan (Curator and Department Head) and Bobbye Tigerman (Associate Curator) from LACMA's Decorative Arts and Design Department, the exhibition presents over 250 objects, including an iconic aluminium 1936 Airstream 'Clipper' trailer.

Pre- and postwar Californian designers introduced numerous innovations to the design process, and exploited the availability of new materials such as moulded and shaped plywood, fibreglass, wire mesh and synthetic resins — materials and techniques, which, in many cases, grew out of the defence and aerospace industries and defined modern American material culture. Objects by the acclaimed designers Charles and Ray Eames, Henry Dreyfuss, Dorothy Wright Liebes and Raymond Loewy all feature, while the household names Levi Strauss and Mattel are profiled through displays of fashion and children's toys.