The world of interior design

To discover unique interiors with historical and contemporary design, the PAD fairs in Paris and London have become unmissable events.
The gallery owners make discover or rediscover the creations of talented artists, designers, sculptors, cabinetmakers, painters, photographers and ceramists.

For its 25th anniversary, the Pavillon des Arts et du Design (PAD) in Paris, located in the heart of the Tuileries Garden, brought together, from March 29 to April 2, 2023, seventy of the most prestigious French and international galleries who presented interiors with historical and contemporary design. Among these galleries, some specialize in jewelry, paintings or even ceramics and sculptures.

At the entrance to the show, visitors were able to discover the work « Above the Sun, only Sky », created by the interior architect and designer, Diane de Kergal. It is a luminous forest that invites you to travel. At the top of the trees, you can see clouds, a bird and a sun, which are made of natural silk. The artist designed casts then entrusted them to the silkworm factory/manufacture Sericyne, located in the Cévennes. Silkworms have been placed on the moulds, so that they carefully spin their silk and thus reproduce the expected shapes. Diane de Kergal then lit all her sculptures with LEDs.

The galleries showcasing historic design interiors

Several galleries present at the show exhibited historic design interiors.

This was particularly the case of the Meubles et Lumières gallery, founded in 2014, which highlights the achievements of talented designers working from the 50s to the 80s.
At PAD Paris, the gallery notably presented an Edition Jacques Lacloche dining room table with chairs covered in spazmolla foam from the « Module 400/M400 » series, made in 1964 by designer Roger Tallon (1929-2011). This piece of furniture has the particularity of presenting metal slabs in polished aluminum of 400 x 400 mm at the bottom of the legs.
Roger Tallon is considered the father of French industrial design. In the field of transport, it was he who notably designed the layout and interior layout of the Corail trains in 1974, as well as the TGV Atlantique for the SNCF, in 1983. He also created the cartography of the RER network . For the French manufacturer Derny, he designed in 1955, the design of the « Taon », a 125 cc motorcycle.
In everyday objects, this designer has created, among other things, ski boots for Salomon, a toothbrush for Fluocaril, oil cans for Elf, cutlery for Ravinet d’Enfert…
In 1964, he invented the helical staircase without ramp, in cast aluminum, whose steps have the shape of flower petals.
Roger Tallon has also been a teacher since 1957 at the School of Applied Arts in Paris and is at the origin of the establishment of the first design course in France. In 1963, he founded the design department of the National School of Decorative Arts in Paris.
The Meubles et Lumières gallery also presented an impressive mahogany ceiling lamp, designed by the architect Mauro Mauriello in 1967, or a sculptural wall triptych in zinc and copper by the metal sculptor Sandor Kiss (1938-2013).

Studio Willy Rizzo, meanwhile, founded in 2009 by Willy Rizzo and his wife, brings together both photographs and designer furniture.

Willy Rizzo began his career as a photographer in Paris. He has photographed personalities, particularly from the world of cinema and fashion. He has exhibited all over the world.
When he moved to Rome in 1968, he set about designing his own furniture for his new apartment and so began a job as a designer. His friends, many of whom were in the fashion and film industry who liked his furniture, placed orders with him. Faced with demand, he created his workshops in 1970 and launched his points of sale all over the world. One of his marble elliptical dining tables has even been exhibited at MoMA in New York in an exhibition of Italian art.
Since the death of Willy Rizzo in 2013, the Rizzo studio and more particularly his wife continues to bring his work to life by organizing exhibitions, among other things.
On the occasion of the Paris PAD, the designer’s emblematic pieces were presented, including a polished brass bookcase with smoked glass shelves, a reversible backgammon game table with a stainless steel and brass structure, a coffee table rotating round TRG with its polished brass basin, « Love » lamps and wall lights in triangular or round shape.
There was also the Commander SC 115 music cabinet, adapted to today’s new technologies and including a BOSE sound system, a mixer, an AM FM radio receiver, a CD player, a vinyl turntable as well as a iphone dock.

The Chastel-Maréchal gallery, for its part, was created in 1994 by Aline Chastel and is mainly devoted to the works of French designers from the 1930s to the 1970s. In 2018, it is also exhibiting pieces by modern Brazilian designers.
At the show, the gallery presented in particular a series of furniture created by Jean-Michel Frank (1895-1941) including a bronze floor lamp with medal and glass patina made around 1930 as well as a pair of armchairs (model known from 1925) , deep and comfortable, completely covered in fabric and resting on two pyramid legs at the front and two saber legs at the back. There was also a set of three oak nesting tables, with the detail of the notches allowing the smaller tables to fit perfectly into the larger ones. This model is known from 1939.
In addition, the Chastel-Maréchal gallery exhibited works by the contemporary artist-painter and sculptor, Joy de Rohan Chabot. This artist unites her passions for nature and the decorative arts to create furniture and decorative objects. Her long collaboration with Dior Maison and her numerous exhibitions around the world have made her a renowned artist.
On the occasion of the Paris PAD, we were able to see, among other things, an openwork screen « Promenade de mai » with four sides, composed of leaves, flowers or even butterflies; the whole being in bronze with a golden patina with a few silhouettes of birds painted in black metal. There was also a pair of chairs with tripod arms in bronze with a golden patina, a coffee table representing a tree trunk and decorated with plant elements, or a lantern with a tree in its center supporting five arms of light.

Galleries showcasing contemporary design interiors

Within the Paris PAD, several galleries presented interiors with contemporary design.

This is notably the case of the ammann gallery, founded by Gabrielle Ammann in 2006 in Cologne, which brings together works by architects, designers, photographers and artists.
On this show, we could see light sculptures by the French artist Thierry Jeannot, namely the chandelier named « Transmutation » resembling a large glass tower, and a chandelier named « Octomut » that could make you think of an octopus. He created these fixtures using recycled materials with mostly plastic bottles as if it were crystal.
The ammann gallery also exhibited works by Sumie García Hirata, a Mexican artist. She uses her own photographs or purchased photos and alters them using metallic gold or silver thread. On the occasion of the PAD, his art photographs essentially represented seascapes.

There was also contemporary furniture created by studio nucleo, a collective of artists and designers based in Turin, Italy. The ammann gallery presented among other things a bench and stools with a mixture of wood and epoxy resin in various colors.

On the other hand, the Maison parisienne gallery founded in 2008 by Florence Guillier Bernard presented the know-how of French artists-craftsmen.
In particular, we were able to see furniture created by the designer and cabinetmaker Pierre Renart. There were tables, consoles and an armchair in wood, his favorite material. The furniture is made from different types of wood and is worked in such a way as to obtain elegant curves. Several of these pieces of furniture have joined the most prestigious collections. In 2019, his « Möbius » console (ribbon collection) joined those of the Museum of Decorative Arts and in 2020, the Mobilier national acquired this same console and his « Eclosion » coffee table (genesis collection).
Maison parisienne also exhibited works by Julien Vermeulen, a feather artist. There were several paintings created from feathers of different birds. One of his works “Black Gem” was previously acquired by the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris in 2021.
The gallery also presented the works of Simone Pheulpin, a textile sculptor. She creates objects and paintings using strips of raw cotton fabric from one of the last Vosges factories. She also uses pins from the last French sewing pin factory, to be able to maintain her sculptures. On this show, his creations represented landscapes, fossilized stones or even shells. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris currently has three sculptures by the artist in its permanent collections.

In addition, the Opera gallery created in 1994 by Gilles Dyan, in Paris and Singapore now has fourteen exhibition venues around the world (Monaco, Switzerland, England, United States, Lebanon, Hong Kong, South Korea, United Arab Emirates). The gallery showcases modern and contemporary art in all mediums, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and video, as well as design pieces.
During the PAD in Paris, she presented the paintings of the Korean artist, Cho Sung-Hee. To create her painting « Pink concert », she used traditional hanji paper in which many circles are cut which are then painted. And by a method of collage, these circles are then superimposed and form like a field of flowers.
There was also a sculpture by another Korean artist, Chun Kwang Young. This work includes many pieces of polystyrene geometric shapes that are surrounded by mulberry paper (hanji), then tinted with tea and pigments and including writings alluding to ancient books. The artist drew inspiration from his disease-ridden Korean childhood and the way medicines were typically wrapped in triangular packets of mulberry paper, or hanji, to create his signature style.
The gallery also exhibited sculptures by Fred Eerdekens, a Belgian artist. Several graphic copper sculptures have been made and with a play of shadows on the wall, messages are revealed.
We could also see several « Big Easy » armchairs in epoxy resin of different colors, by the Israeli designer Ron Arad.

Twenty galleries exhibited for the first time at the PAD in Paris

For about twenty galleries, it was a great first this year to integrate the pavilion of arts and design in Paris.

There was in particular the gallery of Florian Daguet Bresson, specialized in the art of contemporary ceramics.
Among other things, it presented works by Claire Lindner, a French ceramist who draws a lot of inspiration from nature to imagine and create. His creations at the show evoked the seabed. His wall sculptures or placed on a piece of furniture, were in chamotte sandstone or enamelled sandstone and revived with subtle gradations of intense colors.

There were also works by Anthony Sonnenberg, an American ceramist who created Baroque and Rococo style sculptures. The artist mainly uses sandstone, porcelain and recycled objects.
Malene Hartmann Rasmussen, meanwhile, is a Danish artist, currently living in London. Through her sculptures, she brings viewers into the world of tales and myths.
We could see on the show, the « Fantasma Totem », a sculpture of two meters high or even a monster head from a series that she entitled « My Inner Beast ».

The Rademakers gallery also exhibited for the first time at the PAD in Paris. This gallery was founded in 2007 in Amsterdam, by Pien Rademakers and presents works by artists who combine art, design, fashion and jewelry.
At the show, we were able to discover several creations by Joana Schneider. She uses techniques of embroidery, hooks and knots used to make nets. She creates large wall tapestries designed in particular from recycled ropes and rolled up in such a way as to produce shapes. There was notably a garden of sprouting beans or even a Komodo dragon.
The gallery also featured animal sculptures (a family of penguins and a tiger) by artist Sehiba Demir. She creates her works using an unconventional material as it is gun bullet sleeves. This choice of material echoes the human threat to exotic animals.
There were also creations by Simone Post, a Dutch designer. She made the decor for a chest of drawers; and with twisted pieces of fabric, she created several faces. We also saw round poufs designed, among other things, with recycled mattress foam.

The Galerie Mélissa Paul, founded in 2018, exhibits the works of contemporary artists, at the crossroads between art, design and sculpture.
During the show, it notably presented a dining room table in chestnut wood, carved by hand, made in the early 1940s by the Italian designer Paolo Buffa (1903-1970). Below the table top, you can see a sort of sculpted garland.
Next to this table, there was an « Entrelacs » chair from 2019 as well as a « Morels » mirror in sandstone and porcelain made by the French sculptor-ceramist, Agnès Debizet. His sculptures are largely inspired by nature, especially rocks. The carved and openwork chair can make you think of a lunar landscape.

Next dates of exhibitions of galleries that were present at the PAD in Paris

Some galleries that were present at PAD Paris will also exhibit at PAD London.
For those who will be in London in October, do not hesitate to go to the PAD Art + Design which will take place from October 10 to 15, 2023 in the garden of Berkeley Square, in the district of Mayfair.

Otherwise, by autumn, several galleries that were present at the PAD in Paris are hosting temporary exhibitions that you can visit.

The Opera Gallery in Paris is exhibiting paintings by Marc Chagall until April 19, 2023. The exhibition is called « The Poetry of Emotions ».

The ammann gallery (Cologne – Germany) meanwhile, presents the exhibition named « Enlightened » until April 20, 2023. There are works by several artists dedicated to the use and meaning of light in the contemporary art and design.

Galerie Yves Gastou (Paris) is hosting the exhibition  »Yakushima, the Mystic Island » by artist Harumi Klossowska de Rola, until April 29, 2023.

The Rademakers gallery (Amsterdam – Netherlands) exhibits the creations of several artists and designers until April 29, 2023. The exhibition is called BLISS and its theme is the relationship between man and nature. There will then be another exhibition from June 1 to July 15, 2023, by the artist Joana Schneider.

The Kreo gallery (Paris) pays tribute to the Italian designer Alessandro Mendini, through the exhibition « Caro Alessandro », which will take place until May 6, 2023.

Carpenters Workshop Gallery (Paris) is exhibiting until May 13, 2023, a series of furniture and everyday objects transformed by the artist Harry Nuriev. The exhibition is called « Denim ».

The SCENE OUVERTE gallery (Paris) presents the exhibition « Nouvelles constructions » (Adélie Ducasse, ceramist – Paul Coenen, designer) until June 3, 2023.

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Helene CHANTEAU

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