•September 16, 2015•

Perkinson Art Gallery in Kirkland Fine Arts Center will showcase an exhibition of groundbreaking industrial designs of the Iannelli Studios through Saturday, Oct. 24. The exhibition is part of a book collaboration between Millikin University’s Bronze Man Books and author David Jameson, owner of ArchiTech Gallery of Architectural Art in Chicago, Ill. The book is entitled “Everyday Modern: The Industrial Design of Alfonso Iannelli.”

Alfonso Iannelli is most famous for his sculptural work commissioned by architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the Midway Gardens project in Chicago in 1914. Iannelli Studios maintained a long and illustrious business in industrial design throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s, including contract design work for the Mueller Company in Decatur, Ill.

The exhibition will include original drawings, documents, blue prints, photographs and objects related to the industrial designs of the Iannelli Studios for companies such as Oster, Parker Pens and Wahl Eversharp. These unique artifacts are loaned from major Chicago collections.

Millikin Art Department and Bronze Man Books students were actively engaged in the editing, design and production process for both the book and the exhibit. Students have worked closely with Ed Walker, Millikin associate professor of art, and Dr. Randy Brooks, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Millikin, as well as Millikin alumnus Eric O’Malley ‘97. O’Malley has been instrumental in securing the connection with David Jameson as well as other collectors of Iannelli’s work in the Chicago area.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.