Fish Forms: Lamps by Frank Gehry

In 1983, the Formica Company initiated a competition for designers to use a new material called Colorcore. Frank Gehry thought it might make an interesting lamp and when he accidentally broke a piece of the material it reminded him of a fish scale. Fish are a personal icon for the architect who r... Read more

In 1983, the Formica Company initiated a competition for designers to use a new material called Colorcore. Frank Gehry thought it might make an interesting lamp and when he accidentally broke a piece of the material it reminded him of a fish scale. Fish are a personal icon for the architect who remembers live carp in the bathtub at his grandmother’s house in Toronto where they were fated to become gefilte fish for the sabbath. A representative selection of the nearly 3 dozen lamps produced by New City Editions lamps will be on view, including Fish Lamp (1990) from The Jewish Museum’s collection.