Emmanuel Babled at Twenty First Gallery

Sitting room in neutral tones and featuring a dark blue sofa and gold coffee table

Renaud Vuaillat recently opened Twenty First Gallery, a collectible design hub located in an elegant 19th century West Chelsea townhouse

(Image credit: TBC)

By Brook Mason

last updated 25 August 2022

in Features

The French-born, Lisbon-based designer Emmanuel Babled is getting his dues Stateside, with dealer Renaud Vuaillat staging a solo show devoted to his latest work. Vuaillat’s new Twenty First Gallery, located in an elegant 19th century West Chelsea townhouse, could not be a more apt setting for his exhibition, ‘Emmanuel Babled’.

This sun-drenched gallery, which retains an elegant marble fireplace mantel, throws into light just how Babled’s ahead of the curve designs – from limited edition and unique furniture to lighting – are entirely compatible in a traditional interior.

‘Contradiction is key to Emmanuel as he juxtaposes the fragility of hand-blown Murano glass with the sleekness of white Carrara marble in new and novel ways for his "Osmosi" series,’ says Vuaillat. While Babled, a visiting professor at Milan's Domus Academy and Design Academy Eindhoven, taps into centuries-old Italian craftsmanship, he turned to computerised technology to complete this distinctive body of work.

The exact shapes of hand-blown biomorphic glass forms in dusty teal and burnt yellow were 3D scanned and a precise opening milled via digitalisation into a marble console. ‘So the unique glass forms fit exactly inside the top and sides of the console with no seams whatsoever,’ says Vuaillat.

Babled’s 'Quark' series is also on view. These pieces include amoeba-like wenge wood coffee tables, and another table in cast bronze and welded with thin sheets of gleaming copper.

Coffee table constructed from several pieces of glossy wood, and with a fireplace in the background — Its inaugural presentation is devoted to the French-born, Amsterdam-based designer Emmanuel Babled, whose work spans limited edition and unique furniture to lighting

Two pieces of blown glass, one yellow and one blue, moulded onto a piece of white marble — ‘Contradiction is key to Emmanuel as he juxtaposes the fragility of hand-blown Murano glass with the sleekness of white Carrara marble in new and novel ways for his "Osmosi" series,’ says Vuaillat. Pictured: 'Osmosi' console. *Photography: Nicole Marnati*

Amoeba-like wenge wood coffee tables (pictured left) and a cast bronze table welded with thin sheets of gleaming copper (right) — Babled’s 'Quark' series, which includes amoeba-like wenge wood coffee tables (pictured left) and a cast bronze table welded with thin sheets of gleaming copper (right), is also on display

Left: a piece of blue, blown glass set into a marble table. Right: Two white orb lights set into a blue marble stem — Babled tapped into centuries-old Italian craftsmanship while also turning to computerised technology to complete the distinctive body of work. Pictured: a coffee table (pictured left) and a table lamp (right)

Hand-blown, biomorphic glass forms are fused seamlessly into marble bases. Pictured: a pair of vases from his 'Osmosi' series. *Photography: Nicole Marnati*

INFORMATION

‘Emmanuel Babled’ is on view until 10 June. For more details, visit Twenty First Gallery's website

Photography courtesy of Twenty First Gallery

ADDRESS

Twenty First Gallery
458 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011

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