Analogue and digital processes collide in Fredrikson Stallard’s David Gill showcase
![’Manhattan’ firedogs, a set of gold sculpted ornaments.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ZujiHTB4PBydHknuALHHYY-415-80.jpg)
The work of London-based designers Fredrikson Stallard sits in equilibrium between many opposing worlds; analogue and digital, design and sculpture, creation and destruction, control and chaos. So it seems fitting that their new show at David Gill Gallery is titled ‘Gravity’.
As well as important early pieces like the 'Glass Unit' tables, which went on to inform much of the studio’s subsequent work, the show introduces new furniture such as the ambitious new clear resin 'Gravity' tables. Made using a new digital technique whereby thin fragments of ice are scanned in high resolution and then used to shape solid acrylic, the tables serve as a permanent recreation of the studio’s temporary ‘Polaris’ table that was carved from melting ice for the duo’s tenth anniversary show, ‘Momentum’, during London Design Festival last year.
Also making a return following the September showcase are a set of sculptural, velvet flock-covered foam armchairs. Appearing like rocks quarried from the surface of Mars, the ‘Species’ are hand carved from synthetic foam before being covered in Rothko-inspired red velvet. At yesterday’s preview, it was announced that the ‘Species II’ armchair has been acquired for the permanent collection of the San Francisco MoMA, which is set to open its doors in May.
As well as the monumental works for which the studio is best known, the show also introduces a collection of smaller, more ‘accessible’ design objects including a new series of bronze ‘Consequence’ candlestick holders that were cast from pieces of leftover crushed metal found in the studio scrap pile, as well as a set of cast bronze ‘Manhattan’ firedogs made by digitally scanning and then mirroring pieces of crushed metal. ‘That feeling of effortlessness is really important in our work,’ says Ian Stallard. ‘We like finding a beauty in these brutalist forms.’
The work of the London-based designers sits in equilibrium between many opposing worlds; analogue and digital, design and sculpture, control and chaos. Pictured: ’Gravity’ table
The exhibition also features important early pieces like the ’Glass Unit’ tables, which went on to inform much of the studio’s subsequent work.
The ambitious ’Gravity’ tables are produced using a new digital technique where thin fragments of ice are scanned in high resolution and then used to shape solid acrylic. Pictured: ’Gueridon Gravity’ table.
Appearing like rocks quarried from the surface of Mars, the ‘Species’ armchairs (pictured) are hand carved from synthetic foam before being covered in Rothko-inspired red velvet
The show also introduces a collection of smaller, more ‘accessible’ design objects including a new series of bronze ‘Consequence’ candlestick holders (pictured) that were cast from pieces of leftover crushed metal found in the studio scrap pile.
‘That feeling of effortlessness is really important in our work. We like finding a beauty in these brutalist forms,’ Ian Stallard told W*
INFORMATION
'Gravity' is on view until 7 April. For more information, visit David Gill Gallery's website
Photography courtesy Fredrikson Stallard
and David Gill Gallery
ADDRESS
David Gill Gallery
2–4 King Street
London, SW1Y 6QP
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practices
In the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
St. Vincent on designing her Klaus Nomi-inspired guitar line
St. Vincent is a Wallpaper* guest editor for 2024. Here, she unpacks her long-standing relationship with the guitar. It started with wearing one in front of a mirror. Who knows how it ends. But somewhere in the middle, there is fun and freedom and a well-tailored instrument
By St. Vincent Published
-
Artist Jonathan Baldock plays hide and seek with the windows of Hermès' London flagship
A series of fantastical, brightly coloured hedges, dotted with peepholes, transform Hermès' New Bond Street store, offering an interactive experience for the passerby
By Anne Soward Published
-
Artist Jonathan Baldock plays hide and seek with the windows of Hermès' London flagship
A series of fantastical, brightly coloured hedges, dotted with peepholes, transform Hermès' New Bond Street store, offering an interactive experience for the passerby
By Anne Soward Published
-
Penny Slinger’s 1970s erotic Photo Romance asks: ‘Is this where my story begins?’
Artist Penny Slinger’s seminal ‘An Exorcism’, gets an immersive outing
By Caragh McKay Published
-
Please do touch the art: enter R.I.P. Germain’s underground world in Liverpool
R.I.P. Germain’s ‘After GOD, Dudus Comes Next!’ is an immersive installation at FACT Liverpool
By Will Jennings Published
-
‘Happy birthday Louise Parker II’: enter the world of Roe Ethridge
Roe Ethridge speaks of his concurrent Gagosian exhibitions, in Gstaad and London, touching on his fugue approach to photography, fridge doors, and his longstanding collaborator Louise Parker
By Zoe Whitfield Published
-
‘A gentleness in the hard truths’: behind the scenes at Slave Play
Slave Play, London is on at the Noël Coward theatre – Amah-Rose Abrams reports on a ‘hilarious, tender, confronting’ performance and its masterful mirrored set
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
‘Regeneration and repair is a really important part of how I work’: Bharti Kher at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Bharti Kher unveils the largest UK museum exhibition of her career at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
By Will Jennings Published
-
‘Mental health, motherhood and class’: Hannah Perry’s dynamic installation at Baltic
Hannah Perry's exhibition ’Manual Labour’ is on show at Baltic in Gateshead, UK, a five-part installation drawing parallels between motherhood and factory work
By Emily Steer Published
-
Francis Alÿs plots child play around the world at the Barbican
In Francis Alÿs' exhibition ‘Ricochets’ at London’s Barbican, the artist explores the universality of play, even in challenging situations
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published