Modernism Refreshed

Designer Madeline Weinrib puts a groovy spin on modernist masters

By Mitchell OwensPublished: Jul 31, 2010

Madeline Weinrib's gloriously graphic and sumptuously colored Middle Eastern– and Asian-inspired textiles and carpets have struck a deep chord across the globe, bringing age-old motifs to a 21st-century audience. So who better to give the furnishings of Gio Ponti, Vladimir Kagan, and Arne Jacobsen a collective kick in the pants than this celebrated artist and designer, whose Madeline Weinrib Atelier is one of the glories of ABC Carpet & Home? (The trendsetting Manhattan emporium was founded by her paternal grandfather.) In an exhibition at luxe Manhattan design gallery Sebastian + Barquet, Weinrib energizes classically cool icons of 20th-century seating with her zesty fabrics, including her signature Mandala pattern. Who says modernism can't be exuberant too?

Madeline Weinrib at Sebastian + Barquet, Sept. 10-Oct. 23; sebastianbarquet.com.