Sidewall, Isobar

Isobar is an excellent example of contemporary British design as well as contemporary wallpaper design in general. The Glasgow design firm, Timorous Beasties, has been of great interest to both the Textiles and Wallcoverings departments since its founding in 1990. The museum acquired three Timorous Beasties textiles that same year. The founders of the group, Paul Simmons and Alistair MacAuley, met as students of textile design at Glasgow School of Art. As Timorous Beasties, they have consistently produced exceptionally innovative work in the field of surface design. Depicting uncompromisingly contemporary images on traditional textiles and wallpapers, their provocative style was once described as “William Morris on acid.” In 2005, Timorous Beasties was the recipient of the Scottish Style Award for Outstanding Contribution and, in 2006, received the Elle Decoration Award for both Best Textiles and Best Carpet. Isobar will add another cross-departmental bridge between Textiles and Wallcoverings. Contemporary British papers have been identified as an area of collection focus.