Out of the Blue, an exhibition celebrating the work of influential design company Designers Guild, will open at The Gallery in The Arc, Winchester, on 27 May 2022.
Founded by Tricia Guild OBE, Designers Guild started life in 1970 as a small section of a single shop in Chelsea’s Kings Road. The brand has since evolved and grown into a global enterprise of bold, colourful eclectic taste, whose products have changed the way we view colour, pattern and texture in our homes. The rich riot of colours of designers Guild will be exhibited across both The Gallery and City Space at The Arc.
Out of the Blue unravels Tricia Guild’s unique and creative approach, focussing on her inspiration, intuitive design methodology and the techniques, processes and materials used. Frustrated with the lack of truly contemporary fabrics and wallpapers for interiors, Tricia’s vision was to create a lifestyle. Tricia showed people how to put the different elements of a room together; how colour, pattern, texture and form can combine to create a harmonious space.
Offering unique access to the Designers Guild’s archive, Out of the Blue will showcase the story of Designers Guild and their distinctive place in British interior design, in settings that capture the changing tastes in interiors over the past five decades.
The show first debuted at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London in February 2020 but was sadly quickly closed due to the pandemic. This new incarnation of the exhibition will showcase new exhibits, including several that have not been seen in public before.
The show charts the story of Designers Guild through a biographical and visual timeline and pinpoints the moments in the company’s history that instigated change and new directions in interiors trends: from the innovative, saturated colours inspired by India in the 1980s to the cooler, calm palettes of the 1990s, the re-imaginings of traditional textile weaving and printing in the 2000s to the up-to-the-minute digital printing of today.
Tricia Guild says: “It has been wonderful delving in and out of our archives, rediscovering designs, reliving pivotal moments and reminiscing about everything in between, all from the past five decades!”
Kirsty Rodda, Visual Arts Exhibition Manager at Hampshire Cultural Trust, commented: “We are so delighted to have secured this exhibition for Winchester. Tricia Guild's commitment and passion to textiles and the promotion of a lifestyle intimately related to the arts is exactly the spirit of creativity we seek to nurture at The Arc.”
Out of the Blue will be supported by a varied programme of events, workshops and classes, including a personal tour of the exhibition with Tricia Guild on Tuesday 16 June.
More information on Out of the Blue and how to book tickets can be found at arcwinchester.org.uk