Athens’ The Breeder gallery presents a series of steel furniture works by Philippe Malouin. Titled ‘Steel Works’, the exhibition marks the Canadian, London-based designer’s solo debut in Athens, and merges an industrial design language with a bright palette of saturated hues. The collection was previewed at the gallery's booths at Frieze London 2021 and Fiac, before being shown in its entirety in Athens.
Featuring sculptural steel furniture and lighting design, the collection merges Malouin’s focus on craft and industrial design. The pieces’ forms are achieved through compositions of basic components, objects found by the designer in scrapyards in Greece and the UK.
Steel furniture by Philippe Malouin
Mobile workstation: lawn bowling roller and seat, steel tube, plate, and C-profile
Manufactured between Brighton and Athens, the process is inspired by the Dadaist découpé tradition, which involves cutting up and rearranging parts (usually text). ‘Sourcing steel objects instinctively and rearranging them ad hoc, Malouin’s intention is to create new meaning and value,’ reads a text introducing the works. The results are multifunctional ‘hybrid objects’ that create an interplay between two- and three-dimensional forms and challenge our perception.
The collection includes a chair made from a bench bracket from an Athens park and a 20kg bodybuilding plate, a lamp made with an I-beam, and a mobile workstation based on a lawn bowling roller and seat. These found objects are combined with standard construction elements such as pipes, plates, brackets, and rebars. The collection’s vivid colours represent the manufacturing location, with red and green for the UK, and blue and light blue for Greece.
Chair made of square pipes, bent plate, bracket, rebar, steel disc, steel.
Table lamp made of I-beam, bent plates, steel.
An ongoing fascination of Malouin’s is finding everyday materials and repurposing them as the base of his desirable designs – case in point his ‘Press’ mirror for Umbra Shift, an intuitive design object made by simply pressing and polishing a steel tube, or the more intricate design of the series of ‘Turntables’ he created for the Museum of Santa Barbara, whose design is based on a standard circular groove, which had intrigued the studio’s team.
‘They are ultimately artistic manifestations where their functionality is not always delineated,’ states The Breeder gallery introduction to Malouin’s new works. ‘By probing its boundaries to and beyond the limits, Malouin creates here a rather surprising language of form.’
Mixed-use tower made of steel tube, truncated I beam, found bracket
Left: chair/umbrella stand made from square tube, pipe, round plate, steel. Right: Small table made of cut pipe, laser-cut plate, steel
INFORMATION
‘Steel Works’ by Philippe Malouin is on view at The Breeder gallery, 4 November – 31 December 2021
ADDRESS
Iasonos 45
Athens 104 36
Greece
-
'It’s not so much about art, it's more about the process': Tim Burton at the Design Museum'The World of Tim Burton' is now open at the Design Museum.
-
Bedside lamps for illuminated nightsThe Wallpaper* edit of the best design-focused bedside lamps and where to buy them: warm and bright autumn nights with this edit of bedside lamps for your room
-
A bridge in Buffalo heralds a new era for the city's LaSalle ParkA new Buffalo bridge offers pedestrian access over busy traffic for the local community, courtesy of schlaich bergermann partner
-
Lake Como Design Festival explores neo-nomadismStaged across historical venues in Como, the latest edition of the Lake Como Design festival (17 – 25 September 2022) includes exhibitions and talks centred around the theme of nomadism, and how it has shaped culture and creativity
-
SCP presents Philippe Malouin’s military camp-inspired chairMilitary-inspired and sustainably made in Norfolk, England, the ‘Camp’ chair is unveiled at Milan Design Week 2022 (7 – 12 June)
-
Studiopepe unearths a new aesthetic inspired by ancient sacred artefactsPresented through an immersive installation at Fuorisalone 2022, Studiopepe has created a collection of furniture and objects with Galerie Philia, marking the studio’s debut into collectible design
-
New York design exhibitions: collectible design and emerging talent to discoverA Wallpaper* guide to the best New York design exhibitions to visit now
-
Design Miami/Basel 2021: the Wallpaper* highlightsAs Design Miami returns to Basel (21 – 26 September 2021), we look at the fair’s highlights, including thematic displays, Curio presentations, and large-scale installations
-
Last chance to see: Front’s magic mirrors in ParisSofia Lagerkvist and Anna Lindgren of Swedish design studio Front present ‘Seven Stories About Mirrors’, a new solo exhibition at Paris’ Galerie Kreo (until 24 July 2021) looking at the history of mirrors in a contemporary context
-
Design Miami launches shop to support Covid-19 key workersDesign Miami/ Shop will include collectible design from 52 international galleries, and the new charitable initiative in collaboration with international designers and artists
-
Gagosian brings a taste of Casa Malaparte to LondonLondon's Gagosian Gallery presents a collection of furniture reproductions from Casa Malaparte, Curzio Malaparte's legendary villa perched atop a promontory on the island of Capri
