Safavieh and Market Square to Host Party and Book Signing in Honor of Thomas O’Brien
Safavieh and Market Square are celebrating the debut of interior designer Thomas O’Brien’s first book, American Modern, on Monday, April 19, 2010 with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Courtyard at Market Square. O’Brien will sign books from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Scheduled for April release and published by Abrams, the 240-page book includes 200 full-color illustrations and delves into the philosophy of modernism in O’Brien’s work. American Modern progresses as a series of short stories with seven chapters, each portraying an in-depth study of one home and one variation of modern style.
O’Brien has always looked to alternative sources of pattern for the themes of his carpets – other types of textile weaves and prints, antique ceramics, tooled leather, architectural fretworks, marquetry, jewelry engraving and filigree. “Thomas’s designs for us are neither classical remakes nor contemporary abstractions. They are something in between that feels vintage, but also individual and new,” says Arash Yaraghi, principal of Safavieh.
“I’m drawn to patterns that are versatile, that might look more traditional in a modernist room or more innovative next to traditional, period furnishings,” O’Brien says. “I didn’t want to do very plain, unembellished rugs for my Safavieh collection—what’s modern to me isn’t austerity, it’s just a sharper focus on shape and line, scale and coloration, and a revealing of the character of the material itself.”
The first personality to create a signature collection for Safavieh, O’Brien has designed three collections for the company, with 66 designs in the running line. His rug designs range from classic Art Deco linear motifs to abstract Moroccan geometrics and lavish freeform florals.
In his book as in his rugs, O’Brien emphasizes what is most lasting and calm in modern design, and reveals the presence of something modern in what is past. “My more modern clients have always been the ones who crave actual, traditional antiques, while the traditional clients are drawn to the most pared down modernist forms,” explained O’Brien. “And each style makes the other look better. These things are interconnected, and always have been, in the history of design. I wanted to do a book that looked into this approach as a really modern way of living, from whatever vantage point you start at.”
The complete Thomas O’Brien for Safavieh Couture collection will be on display at Safavieh’s Historic Market Square showroom, Suite 120, throughout Market.