David Bowie’s Radical Design Meets Fine Dining at @1921nva

This is Ground Control to Major Tom. The new exhibit, Space Oddities:  Bowie | Sottsass | Memphis, at the Modernism Museum in Mount Dora is extraordinary.

Unveiling October 27th, getting to admire one-of-a-kind pieces of art and furniture, owned by the late and great David Bowie, was reason enough to make the hike from Orlando to Mount Dora. While I can appreciate modern and interpretive art, it isn’t something I typically seek out, but the Space Oddities collection was a sight to see.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but if I only had one word to describe the exhibit, it would be … funky.  Bright, bold colors, sharp edges, shiny materials, geometric shapes fused together in both practical and impractical uses. It was fun to simply move from scene-to-scene and experience each one – all with the background of Bowie’s acclaimed music, keyed out on the piano, straight out of a 1980s music video.

David Bowie may not have been there in body, but he was there in soul.

When you make it out to visit, it is worth heading across the street and experiencing the cuisine of 1921 by Norman Van Aken. On opening night, the talented team of the James Beard Award winning Chef’s restaurant served up an array of appetizers to guests. Meat and cheese platters overflowing with soppressata, coppa, lomo, stilton, goat cheeses and more. Lamb meatballs, fritters, and towering seafood towers of cocktail shrimp, oysters, ceviche – to name a few.

Don’t get me started on the dessert spread. Towering displays of cupcakes in different flavors with a hat of fluffy, perfect buttercream, mini tarts with crusts that fall apart in your mouth and smooth, yummy fillings , and macaroons with so many layers of flavor and that perfect combination of chew and crunch. Watch me as a drool in remembrance.

Between the genius of Chef de Cuisine, Camilo Velasco and Pastry Chef, Gloriann Rivera, I left a full and happy girl (with a few extra of those pumpkin spice cupcakes hidden in a napkin).

But what are you waiting for? Go experience it yourself! Learn more about the Space Oddities exhibit by visiting modernismmuseum.org. A unique experience, make a day of it and visit some of the other great shops and charm that overflows from this small town. It’s worth seeing it in person.

Oh, and ah, grab me a sweet treat from Pastry Chef Gloriann while you’re there.

Space Oddities:  Bowie | Sottsass | Memphis

The definitive collection including objects from the estate of David Bowie

David Bowie, mourned by the world on his passing in 2016, was one of the most radical figures in recent popular culture. Memphis, founded under the leadership of Ettore Sottsass in Milan in 1981, was the most radical of all design groups. This exhibition brings them together. Bowie built up an extensive body of Memphis work over the years – iconic works by Sottsass and his colleagues, including Michele De Lucchi, Nathalie DuPasquier, Shiro Kuramata, and Martine Bedin. This exhibition, the largest gathering of Memphis objects ever presented in an American museum, includes over 75 examples, many from Bowie’s private collection. It is a fabulous opportunity to see Memphis as it should be seen – in profusion – and to experience the private world of a great pop visionary.

HOURS: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday – Sunday (closed all major holidays)

ADMISSION: $8 adults; $7 seniors & students with I.D.; $5 children age 4–17 with I.D.; Mount Dora residents, military and service personnel 50 percent off with I.D.

LOCATION: 145 E. Fourth Ave., Mount Dora, FL 32757

CONTACT: (352) 385-0034

Guest Writer: Ms. Melissa Kear.

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