Clocks and Clouds: The Architecture of Escher GuneWardena

The Art, Design, & Architecture Museum presents Clocks and Clouds: The Architecture of Escher GuneWardena, a mid-career survey of the firm founded in Los Angeles by Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena in 1997.

The exhibition highlights Escher GuneWardena’s generous and boundary-blurring engagement with art, craft, and architecture while presenting the full scope of their practice in thematic arrangement. Space for Living reflects the meticulous articulation of space and materials and respect for daily rituals in their residential designs. Relating to Art illustrates the sensitive collaborations with artists for which the firm is well known. Making of Place focuses on conceptually rigorous works for the commercial and public realm. Reading the Past shows Escher GuneWardena grappling with architecture’s history in robust and graceful ways.

Landscapes of Reflection presents the firm’s planning projects for scholarly and spiritual communities. The title Clocks and Clouds comes from philosopher Karl Popper’s essay on rationality and freedom, but also describes the dreamy precision, the spirit, and the material of Escher GuneWardena’s art.

This exhibition is supported by the Museum Council and Edward Cella Art & Architecture.

IMAGE: House of Seven Screens, Photo by Clarke Henry, 2016