Shapely Simplicity Swedish Exhibit Shows How Designers Elevated Everyday Objects to Art by Gary Tischler In troubled times, art has its saving graces and uses as a balm, which is why the exhibition "Strictly Swedish" had its opening as scheduled at the Inter-American Development Bankís Cultural Center in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack on the United States. On display are examples of the classic lines and the characteristic grace and ingenuity of Swedish designers, bathing everyday practical thingsóchairs, dishes, vasesóin the light of contemporary beauty. The useful things, stripped of their creative design, might be things you find in houses, garages and workshops. But Swedish designers have crafted the practical and elevated it, marrying function to aesthetics in the cleanest, most graceful way. It was a Swede who designed the famous Coca-Cola bottle shape. "From the kitchen to the airport, Swedish designs of everyday objects have increased our aesthetic curiosity and affected the lives of people around the world," said IDB Cultural Center director FÈlix Angel. "The Swedish have designed or inspired many unlikely spaces, private and public." In fact, the Swedish designers have been at the forefront of a European design renaissance that has spread to Finland, Germany and Italy. The objects on display shine. Thereís a juncture at work here where use and pleasure, permanence and the possibility of erosion from use come together. Simplicity is having a moment of true glory. What you hear looking at the objects is not a full orchestra: Itís the affecting work of a string quartet. These are plain objects: drinking glasses, an office chair, cowboy boots, a vase, knives, spoons and forks, a teapot, a lamp, a newspaper stand and a daybed. Perhaps designed objects capture the modern more than painted, sculpted, deliberate art itself. Angel described what Swedish design is not and what it is, saying, "The trends of Scandinavian design were opposed, in a non-confrontational way, to the programmatic and disciplinarian trends developed by the Germans, the epic approach of the French. Swedish designs were very much in tune with the realistic desire of a society willing to start from scratch, but in a comfortable, updated way." These objects look jaunty, clean, streamlined, quick and modern. There is a precise, kinetic quality to the silverware designs of Mats Theselius, and his cowboy boots seem to come straight out of the bowels of pop culture. The transparent, airy beauty of the Skyline vases by Ingegerd RÂman has an appealing purity. Ulla Foresellís glass jars of different colors are simplicity itself. Nirvan Richterís round table is inviting. Contrast Theseliusí silverware designs, which have a clean elegance, with the tools and implements of Harri Koskinen, which seem sharp, waiting to be gripped and used. You might say that these objects have a commonality, uplifted by artful design. They are musical in feel without being atonal. Angel, IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias, Swedish Ambassador to the United States Jan Eliasson and Cultural Counselor at the Embassy of Sweden Nancy Westman were all on hand to open the exhibition. The exhibit is free of charge and runs through Nov. 9, Mon. to Fri., from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The IDB Cultural Center is located at 1300 New York Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. Gary Tischler is the arts writer for The Washington Diplomat.