2024-12-21T23:21:05-05:00 https://archinect.com/features/article/150142846/lessons-in-monochromatic-composition-from-arthur-elrod Antonio Pacheco 2019-07-27T07:13:00-04:00 >2019-07-30T13:31:14-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/81/81b8d95c868e8a1913538692db36a6b4.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Arthur Elrod, the noted Mid-Century Modern interior designer, is widely known for his eye-popping, colorful, and groovy designs, but what can we learn from his monochromatic works? Stylistically eclectic, formally complex, and materially decadent, these works hold valuable lessons that, upon further inspection, make great precedents for contemporary design explorations.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Why? Because Elrod anticipated a now distinctly contemporary form of eclecticism that combines the curatorial approach of discerning taste with a no-holds-barred, cabinet of curiosities-centered sensibility that relies on color and materiality to seemingly tie together new and traditional spaces and objects alike. While <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150137949/ebony-magazine-s-psychedelic-test-kitchen-to-embark-on-nationwide-tour" target="_blank">Elrod&rsquo;s colorful works</a> are sure to wow, this approach is more effectively appreciated through the subtlety of his monochromatic designs, where Elrod manages to work in surprisingly explicit ways to undermine the notion that Modernism was founded on newness alone, and to erode the idea that design ha...</p>