MODERN ICONS: A CONVERSATION ABOUT MID-CENTURY FURNITURE WITH KIRSTY GRANT
About
Join us for an informative discussion exploring the timeless appeal of mid-century furniture—its craftsmanship, cultural significance, and the passion behind collecting these iconic pieces—in conjunction with Bayside Gallery’s major exhibition Schulim Krimper: mid-century artist and master craftsman.
Exhibition curator Kirsty Grant will moderate a discussion between curator and writer Jeromie Maver, artist and collector Peter Atkins, and Chiara Curcio, Head of Decorative Arts, Design and Interiors at Leonard Joel. Speakers will offer a critical, personal and commercial lens on the aesthetics that define mid-century design, and the narratives that underwrite this iconic period in Australian design history.
Schulim Krimper: mid-century artist and master craftsman is on display at Bayside Gallery from 5 July to 24 August 2025.
For more information about the exhibition and its related public programs, please visit our website here.
SPEAKER BIOS
Kirsty Grant is an independent curator and writer with a specialist knowledge of Australian art and design developed over two decades of working in major public collections including the Queensland Art Gallery and National Gallery of Victoria. She was Director of Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, from 2015-16 and prior to that, Senior Curator at the National Gallery of Victoria. Kirsty has curated numerous exhibitions on the work of Australian artists including John Brack, Fred Williams and Yvonne Audette and in 2014 she curated Mid-century modern: Australian furniture design at the National Gallery of Victoria, which was the first major exhibition dedicated to Australian furniture of the period. She is the guest curator for Schulim Krimper: mid century artist and master craftsman.
Jeromie Maver is a curator, researcher, and author specialising in Australian mid-century design. In 2016, he was awarded a Creative Fellowship from the State Library of Victoria, alongside collaborator Dean Keep. The fellowship culminated in the groundbreaking 2018–19 exhibition Clement Meadmore: the art of mid-century design at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, which featured over 100 objects. Maver’s most recent exhibition, The endless interior (& The biography of the émigré object), held at Glen Eira Gallery in 2023, explored forced migration and its influence on design through a curated collection of émigré objects. Building on this research, he is currently writing a book examining the contributions of émigré cabinetmakers, designers, and artists to post-war Melbourne. His published work includes chapters in The other Moderns: Sydney’s forgotten European design legacy (Hawcroft, 2017) and Molto Bello: Icons of modern Italian design (Morgan & Lantieri, 2024). Beyond his academic and curatorial practice, Maver is a passionate advocate for design education and for making design history accessible to wider audiences. In 2023, he and Keep established the MaKe Fund, a philanthropic initiative to support this endeavour.
Peter Atkins is a prominent Australian contemporary artist known for his reinterpretation of everyday visual forms. His practice, described as ‘abstraction from the real world’, draws on urban signage, packaging, and cultural symbols to evoke memory and shared experience. Blending influences from Modernism, Pop Art, Minimalism, and Postmodernism, Atkins creates work that challenges the boundaries between high art and popular culture. Over the past 35 years, Atkins has exhibited widely across Australia and internationally, with his work held in major public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, NGV, and MCA. He has received numerous awards and residencies, including the Helen Lempriere Traveling Art Scholarship and Australia Council residencies in Paris, Rome, Barcelona, and Los Angeles. Atkins has also contributed to curatorial and scholarly projects, including recent essays on Clement Meadmore’s design and sculpture for TarraWarra Museum of Art. His public art commissions, such as the Metro Tunnel hoarding in Melbourne, reflect his commitment to integrating art into everyday life.
Location
Bayside Gallery
Corner Wilson and Carpenter Streets, Brighton Victoria 3186
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