Grethe Sørensen, “Passing By 1”, 2011.
Paris Art + Design (PAD) assembled a motley mix of artists, curators, and designers into its makeshift exhibition hall at Les Jardins De Tuileries, where a host of exhibitors unveiled the latest collections from a number of rising stars and head turners in the art and design world. This year’s event focused on a number of themes, with galleries enamored of artists who work with organic media to weave a natural sense of storytelling into their collection. This round, Galerie Maria Wettergren was especially notable for the tapestry of Scandinavian artists and designers that filled its space with innovative furniture, rugs, paintings, video collages and sculptures.
Ilkka Suppanen, “Porcupine”, 2014.
“We work with a number of artists from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, etc., so here you’ll get a unique take on design and art,” says gallery assistant Agnes Fouré, beaming at a remarkable limited edition 3-D printed lamp by Ilkka Suppanen called Porcupine. The lamp features 1500 spike-like LED lights, and comes in variations of copper, wood and resin.
Grethe Sørensen, “Times Square In A Rush 4”, 2010.
Suppanen hails from Finland where he helms an award-winning design studio that curates projects ranging from jewelry and interior design to large scale architecture. “At its very least, design needs to create value by valuing our resources- human and material – and nurturing a culture where people are less likely to want to throw things away,” says Suppanen.
Fouré then draws our attention to a wall tapestry created by Grethe Sørensen. Sørensen’s “Times Square In A Rush” resembles an abstract painting, but is actually a select frame from a video still of Times Square, a Jacquard tapestry woven from cotton canvas. Sørensen, who hails from Denmark, honed her studies in Switzerland and France in the ‘70s before going on to cultivate her own unique style.
Also: Paris Art + Design | The Organic Magic of Nicolas Cesbron
Whereas Sørensen excels at creating wonderful, fluid meshes of motion and color, Tora Urup delights in creating delicate, seemingly weightless hand-blown glass scultpures that comprise a collection of pieces with floating bowls centered inside a glass base.
Urup runs her own design company, working in both glass and ceramics. Much of her work has recently been exhibited in Paris, New York, Tokyo and London. The designer pulls from a palette of pastel colors to give dimension to the interiors of the glass, so what looks like stains in the sculpture are actually colored shadows cast by light. The result is an airy and indelible mix of modern decor and understated contemporary art.
Tora Urup, “Cylinder With Floating Magenta Bowl”, 2014.
