Vanity of Object

The exhibition at the Die Neue Sammlung, in Munich, narrates the work of the photographer Tom Vack, reflecting the international scenario on the design’s communication.

Creating enigmas and telling stories, imagination and nostalgia, the processual and the playful, deconstruction and a new historicism – postmodernism revolutionised not just architecture but also design and its pictorial strategies.

The Alchimia studio, the Memphis group and their success, and consequences changed the language of photography, conveying a new concept of design and portraying the products borne from it in the process.

The photographer Tom Vack, whose path has led him from the United States to Italy, France and Germany, played a decisive role in these new forms of expression and communication.

Tom Vack conveyed the work of renowned designers – like Michele De Lucchi, Philippe Starck or Ingo Maurer – in photographs, which were mostly taken for journals or manufacturers’ catalogues. His oeuvre not only reads like a “Who’s Who” of the international design scene since the 1980s but also reflects its globalisation today.

Tom Vack’s creative beginnings fall under the golden age of postmodernism. Factors such as naiveté and subconscious memories are introduced in his photographs, and he experiments with cinematic effects and strong effects of light and shade.

“I wanted to make an object in a picture rather than a picture of an object” is his creative mindset. Vack has left the credo of classical object and product photography and today creates expressive, atmospherically dense compositions that give a sense of their stories – subjective, dramatic, poetic.

01 / 08

Luigi Colani commissioned by Albrecht Bangert, DINO, 2007

Rodolfo Dordoni commissioned by Sanlorenzo, modello SanlorenzoSL 104, 2009

Left: Michele de Lucchi commissioned by Rosenthal, 1995. Right: Toshiyuki Kita commissioned by Sharp, TV Aquos, 2004

Left: Heine Lenz Zizka commissioned by Leica, Digilux 3, 2005. Right: Kostantin Grcic commissioned by Magis, Chair One, 2006

Oliver Bertram, Sensapolis, 2008

Giovannoni commissioned by Veneta Cucine, Cucina Liquida, 2011

George Nelson per Vitra, Marshmallow, 1987

Left: Alessandro Mendini commissioned by Albrecht Bangert, Proust Chair, 2006. Right: Eckhard Knuth+Ingo Maurer, Eddie's Son, 2006

from November 8, 2014 until January 25, 2015
Vanity of Object
Tom Vack – Design Photography
Exhibit designer: Ester Pirotta
Lighting consultant: Hagen Sczech
Die Neue Sammlung
Barerstrasse 40
Monaco

Designers and companies: Michele De Lucchi, Ingo Maurer, Philippe Starck, Ron Arad, Marc Newson, Sottsass Associati, Alessandro Mendini, Luigi Colani, Oliver Bertram, Florian Borkenhagen, Toshiyuki Kita, Satyendra Pakhalé, Massimo Iosa Ghini, Driade, Belux, Magis, Vitra, Nils Holger Moormann, Holly Hunt, Flos, Kartell, Leica, Audi, EMU, Ernst Gamperl, Veneta Cucine

Sahil: G.T.DESIGN's Eco-conscious Design

At Milan Design Week 2025, G.T.DESIGN will showcase Sahil, a jute rug collection by Deanna Comellini. This project masterfully blends sustainability, artisanal craftsmanship, and essential design, drawing inspiration from nomadic cultures and celebrating the inherent beauty of natural materials.