NGV Announces Simone LeAmon as the 2009 Cicely & Colin Rigg Award recipient

• 12 March–30 August 2009
• Free Entry
• The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

Simone LeAmon
born Australia 1971
Lepidoptera, chair 2008
stainless steel, polyurethane, polyester
110.0 x 85.0 x 70.0 cm
Collection of the artist, Melbourne
© Simone LeAmon

The National Gallery of Victoria today announced that the recipient of the 2009 Cicely & Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award is Simone LeAmon.

The prize of $30,000 was awarded to Ms LeAmon for her chair titled Lepidoptera.  The multi-disciplinary designer said: “I am thrilled to accept this award and to be a part of this exhibition which draws attention to the work of outstanding Victorian designers. I can think of less than a handful of cities in the world where an exhibition of this standard could take place.”

A generous legacy of the late Colin Rigg (1895–1982), a former Secretary of the Felton Bequests’ Committee for the NGV, the award focuses on contemporary design practice in Victoria. This year it is dedicated to contemporary seat furniture design.

Dr Gerard Vaughan, Director, NGV said: “In 2009 this award brings together works by fourteen designers of contemporary seat furniture, and reflects the NGV’s continuing support for, and commitment to, contemporary design. We warmly congratulate Simone on this outstanding achievement.”

These innovative and diverse contemporary seat furniture designs from Victoria were judged by Dr Kees Dorst, Professor of Design at the faculty of Design, Architecture and Building of the University of Technology, Sydney and senior researcher at the department of Industrial Design of Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.

“This exhibition is very diverse with a range of qualities and themes. Simone’s chair combines sustainability with new and intriguing aesthetics making it a courageous and exciting design. The idea of using textile scraps from the automotive industry in a chair gives the work style and attitude. This design has a great future on an international podium,” said Professor Dorst.

The other participating artists are Adam Cornish, Lambie Chan, Lucas Chirnside, Matthew Harding, Cathy Jankowsky, Joseph Keenan, Jacqueline Ying Jun Lin, Chris Connell, Stuart McFarlane, Ross McLeod, Drew Martin & Dale Rock (Rock Martin), Oliver Field, and Helen Kontouris.

Matthew Martin and Amy Barclay, Coordinating Curators of the exhibition, said that the designers in this year’s exhibition are informed by a broad spectrum of social, environmental, material and aesthetic concerns with every work having the potential to become a ‘design classic’ of the future.

Unrestricted by any predetermined theme, the resulting works are stylistically and conceptually disparate, using a variety of materials and techniques.

The award and exhibition are supported by the Cicely & Colin Rigg Bequest, managed by ANZ Trustees.

2009 Cicely & Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award is on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Federation Square from Thursday 12 March to Sunday 30 August. The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia is open 10am–5pm, closed Mondays.  Admission to this exhibition is free.

For further information visit ngv.vic.gov.au

Principal Sponsor: Myer

-ends-

Media enquiries:
Alison Murray, Media & Public Affairs Officer
0439 348 357 / 03 8620 2347
alison.murray@ngv.vic.gov.au

10 May – 29 June 2008
Triennale di Milano

Freestyle brings together the work and stories of 40 outstanding Australian designers including Simone LeAmon, Nick Rennie, Susan Cohn and Brian Steendyk. Designers from the fields of furniture, lighting, textiles, homewares, fashion, jewellery and accessories exhibit handmade one-off and limited edition design objects alongside industrially manufactured items and prototypes . Curated by Object galleries’ Associate Director Brian Parkes. www.freestyledesign.info/index.html

Simone LeAmon is appointed Oluce Design Ambassador for Australasia.

Established in 1945 by Giuseppe Ostuni Oluce is an historic name in Italian lighting design. Working with the most celebrated names in product design from the 1950’s to present day the Oluce Company is renowned for their collaborations with esteemed designers such as Joe Colombo, Vico Magistretti, Marco Romanelli, Sebastian Bergne Francesco Rota and Nendo.

www.oluce.com

28 November 2007 – 31 January 2008
Planex . Richmond, Victoria

For the first time in Australia Planex presents the design and artwork of Kjell Grant. Celebrated in a survey exhibition curated by Planex creative director Simone LeAmon the Planex showroom plays host to furniture, ceramics, textiles and painting, spanning a career of 50-years.

An industrial designer and architect Kjell Grant commenced his career in 1947 studying under the notable sculptors Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth at the RCA in London and Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology. With an illustrious career in product design Kjell Grant has developed products for Cartier, Orrefors, Knoll, Rosenthal and Raymond Loewy N.Y, most notable are his furniture commissions for renowned Australian architects Robyn Boyd, Sir Roy Grounds and Harry Seidler. In 1967 Kjell Grant designed the furniture for the Australian Pavilion at the Montreal Exposition in Canada. The Montreal Chairs resulting from this project are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Kjell Grant is a dedicated teacher and design educator having mentored and inspired hundreds of young Australian designers through the ‘Melbourne Movement’ initiative. Kjell Grant is currently Adjunct Professor in the School of Architecture and Design at RMIT University.

Simone LeAmon has been announced as one of 10 finalists in the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award 2007.

Presented at Object Gallery, Sydney the Design Discovery Award Exhibition opens on September 11 and tours nationally through to October 2008.

The Bulletin, Special 2007 Edition, June 26, ACP Magazines Australia

A finalist in the Design category of the Bulletin magazines Smart 100 Simone LeAmon is one of ten Australians nominated for her contributions to the Australian design sector. Alongside architect Cassandra Fahey (2007 winner), Chris Bosse, Zahava Elenberg, Adam Goodrum, Alexander Lotersztain, Marc Schamburg, Michael Alvisse, Denise Sprynskyj and Peter Boyd, Simone LeAmon is applauded for her innovative approach to the market combining the fields of contemporary art with product design.

Featured in the Good Weekend Design and Technology issue Simone LeAmon is profiled in Dani Valent’s article Ready Set Go in the company of Adam Goodrum, Alexander Lotersztain, Steven Blaess, Steven Mieszelewicz and Nimrod Weis. Singled out as one of Australia’s leading emerging designers, Simone LeAmon offers an entertaining account of pursuing the design road.

Simone LeAmon is featured in the bold new survey of the world’s most exciting up-and-coming designers by leading publishing house Phaidon Press. 100 designers from 24 countries were selected by 10 international curators; from Seoul to Paris, Melbourne to New York, Lisbon to London, the designers featured in &Fork challenge the status quo and present fresh, dynamic ideas at the forefront of design.

Australian manufacturer Planex has appointed celebrated artist and designer Simone LeAmon to the position of Creative Director. The appointment marks an exciting time at Planex and promises an inspired approach to design programming. With degrees in the fine arts and industrial design Simone has conducted a freelance career in Australia and abroad for the past 12 years. She currently heads her own interdisciplinary studio O.S initiative based in Melbourne.

Appearing on the front cover of Australia’s foremost industrial design magazine the work of artist and designer Simone LeAmon is brought to the fore in a conversation with editor Belinda Stening. Discussing her rigorous approach to her work the article reveals some of the abiding themes in LeAmon’s practice.