Denim furniture exhibition rethinks the role of everyday items

Denim is placed in a functional new context by New York- and Paris-based artist, architect and interior furniture designer Harry Nuriev, who elevates the everyday material in his new exhibition, ‘Denim’.

Nuriev’s debut solo exhibition with Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris encompasses a collection of modular furniture pieces upholstered in denim, in a rethinking of our relationship with quotidian items. ‘In the same way that you layer your jeans, T-shirts and jackets in the order you want, I want my furniture to adapt and shape itself according to the user’s wishes,’ Nuriev says.

‘When I started my practice ten years ago, my question was what can I bring to interior design?’ Nuriev adds. ‘Interior design is a symbiosis of three major creative practices: design, architecture, and art. The big one missing from this equation is fashion, which I find very surprising. Fashion is a unique means of expression and I think that furniture is an extension of our wardrobe, our style and more broadly our identity. Fashion is everywhere, it surrounds us. It’s a medium that lasts over time so let’s infuse it into design.’

The exhibition builds on his fascination with the everyday, with the modular nature of the pieces inviting interpretation as to their use. Artworks mimic the layout of an apartment in their ordered presentation, the pieces themselves reflecting the changing demands we are making on our living spaces. In ‘Sofa Pool’, composed of a table and a sofa, one could comfortably eat and rest, eschewing the need to move and thus disturb the flow of conversation. 

Other pieces created from separate elements can be easily manipulated as the need arises. ‘I conceived the pieces in this collection as assemblies of elements that can be dissociated,’ Nuriev says. ’A sofa can be an armchair but also an ottoman. Each element is its own entity that, put together, constitutes a piece. I think my favourite piece is probably the “DJ Booth” because it brings people together, not just in a party context but as a meeting space. And the “Vanity” too.’

Denim furniture collection and installation by Harry Nuriev, on view from 4 March until 13 May 2023 

Carpenters Workshop Gallery
54 Rue de la Verrerie
75004 Paris

carpentersworkshopgallery.com