Which design exhibitions to visit during Paris Design Week?
For eleven years in Paris, the new school year has been under the sign of design with Paris Design Week , which celebrates this area of creation through multiple projects. This year, the event returns from September 9 with more than 300 addresses to visit, between museum exhibitions, public works, windows, galleries and other shops. Overview of seven of them, all imagined in connection with the theme of this new edition: “Desirable Development”.
Through Matthieu Jacquet .
Matias Karsikas, “Mätäs (Touffe)” (2018). Photo: Matias Karsikas
1. The magical ceramics of Matias Karsikas
Giant flowers, tree trunks and other algae dripping with color : the flora modeled by Matias Karsikas seems to come from a fantastic world of which only he would have the key. Barely 32 years old, the Finnish designer, voted last year “Young designer of the year” by Design Forum Finland, works with ceramics slowly and precisely, very careful “not to stifle the voice of the material” . Playing on accumulations of repetitive curved volumes, his creations combine craftsmanship and industrial design to compose unique pieces, as fragile as they are fascinating, a selection of which he presents for six months at the Finnish Institute.
Expo POP’S ART By Chatel Galerie Fondation Banque Populaire William Amor © DR
2. The upcycled flowers of William Amor
A true showcase in the heart of the Marais, the Cognacq-Jay museum is a treasure for lovers of the 18th century and its arts. Between rococo and neoclassicism, the period interiors which are reconstructed there plunge into the splendor of the Age of Enlightenment and its aristocracy, embellished with famous paintings by François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, among others. For a few days, this historic setting meets the floral creations of designer William Amor. Their particularity: these hibiscus, roses and anemones are in fact made from plastic waste, such as bags or bottles, that their author has sublimated with extreme meticulousness until transforming them into pistils and stamens. A way to combine upcycling and beauty.
Carte blanche to William Amor, from September 9 to 19 at the Cognacq-Jay museum, Paris 3rd.
© PCG NJOYA mmodboard
3. New design talents
Three exhibition spaces, calls for projects, an auction and thematic displays : this is the program of the Paris Design Week Factory this week. From September 9 to 13, the annual event which supports and unearths new design talents offers a complete showcase of contemporary creation in various addresses in the third arrondissement of Paris. At the Espace Commines, dozens of designers are gathered around the theme of this new edition, Désirable Development, while the Joseph gallery welcomes spontaneous proposals from professionals in one of its spaces, and in another a selection of international designers, originating from Cameroon to Mexico via Slovenia.
Paris Design Factory, from September 9 to 13 at Espace Commines and Galerie Joseph, Paris 3rd.
Atelier Lucile Viaud. Photo credit: Germain Herriau
Qura vases, Samy Rio © DR
4. Eco-responsible design and unusual materials in a private mansion
How to create objects with seashells, milk or even mushrooms? For years, many designers driven by these questions have been looking for innovative ways to use these natural and unusual materials in durable and resistant pieces. Through her Sustainable Design association, Hélène Aguilar brings together more than forty of them, such as the creators Pauline Esparon, Samy Rio and Lucile Viaud, in her “Frugal” exhibition which covers the 300 m2 of a private mansion in the Marais. A rich overview of the new possibilities of producing without destroying the environment.
“Frugal. A new look at beauty ”by Hélène Aguilar, from September 9 to 18 at the Hôtel de Coulanges, Paris 4th district.
Table “Dialogue 06” by François Coquerel. Marine Bonnefoy
5. The first edition of the GURU fair
While Paris Design Week is home to events and exhibitions, presented this year at the same time as the historic Maison & Objet design fair, these are complemented by a new fair in the heart of Paris: GURU. It is at the Cornette de Saint Cyr auction house, in the eighth arrondissement of Paris, that visitors will be able to attend its first edition. Founded by the director of the contemporary design department of the Maison François Epin with the gallery owner and exhibition curator Graziella Semerciyan, it will present from September 11 to 17 on three floors a selection of jewelry, objects and furniture highlighting craftsmanship. honor, exhibited by galleries, agencies and creative studios.
GURU, Crafts & Design Fair, from September 11 to 16 at the Cornette de Saint Cyr house, Paris 8th.
© Miguel Chevalier
Fall of profession. “In a cloud of pixels” © Camille Gasser. National furniture
6. Pixelated furniture by Miguel Chevalier and A + A Cooren
Almost 5 meters long and 3 meters wide: such are the impressive dimensions of the carpet currently unrolled in the intimate enclosure of the Gobelins chapel. Dotted with black and white pixels, the object matches a sofa and two armchairs featuring this motif, as well as a magnifying glass coffee table in an installation that plays happily on perception. On the occasion of Paris Design Week, the Mobilier national, in charge of the conservation of the Manufacture des Gobelins, invited the artist Miguel Chevalier, known for his immersive digital installations, to create this monumental piece using seven colors of wool while one of his videos, projected on the ceiling, answers them. The Franco-Japanese designer duo A + A Cooren also joined the project, offering these three sober seats with pure lines,
Miguel Chevalier and AA + Coren, from September 8 to 19 at the Chapelle de Gobelins, Paris 13th.
Pierre Bonnefille, “Meditation Room” @ MNAAG Hotel in Heidelbach © Luca Bonnefille
7. The sparkling frescoes by Pierre Bonnefille
Wood, painting and Asia, Pierre Bonnefille knows them well. For twenty years, this painter, designer and French master of art has been transforming interior spaces thanks to his paintings, drawings, sculptures and frescoes which put texture and light in the spotlight, and which translate his powerful fascination for cultures of the East. An approach that has not failed to interest the National Museum of Asian Arts: for the occasion, the latter invites the artist to invest the entire room of his hotel in Heidelbach with sparkling walls covered with ‘gold, while some of his sculptures and drawings are interwoven between the historical Chinese pieces already exhibited in the building.
