Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body - by Kristina Wilson (Hardcover)

Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body by Kristina Wilson is a groundbreaking book that sheds light on the hidden racial and gender codes embedded in postwar America's iconic design sensibility.

This provocative analysis uncovers fresh perspectives on one of the most distinctive movements in American visual culture, challenging conventional histories of design and offering a nuanced counternarrative. With meticulous archival research and carefully interrogated texts and images, Wilson reveals how race and gender shaped the presentation and marketing of Modernist decor, from advice manuals to furniture and art.

By examining the booming suburban landscape of postwar America, she demonstrates how ideals defined by popular Modernist furnishings were far from neutral or race-blind, reinforcing middle-class White privilege. This insightful book will encourage readers to look more closely within and around the frames to see where race, gender, and power inform design, both in history and in our contemporary world.

Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body is essential reading for historians, educators, designers, and students of design, offering a compelling counter-narrative that challenges conventional wisdom and expands our understanding of this influential design movement.