Sam Deacon, one of our Cellar Maison Design team, also a keen artist in his own right, has been stepping out to take in the extraordinary design events in London this month. Here is his account of the Fredrikson Stallard exhibition:

On the evening of the 12th of September I was invited to the launch of Fredrikson Stallard’s ‘Intuitive Gestures’ exhibition at the David Gill Gallery in Mayfair, London.” The summary of the event is shown below, taken from the site www.fredriksonstallard.com/news/

‘Intuitive Gestures’ is Fredrikson Stallard’s first dedicated show at the London-based Gallery since 2016 and will showcase several significant bodies of work shown in the UK for the first time.

The exhibition title ‘Intuitive Gestures’ refers directly to the artists’ work which is a translation of both physical movement and subconscious thought. These two human faculties combine with the reactive qualities of materials – through the precision of digital technology – “to record the energetic action of making”. Rather than simply demonstrating a laboured process of form creation, the work captures that moment of freedom, where instinct and physical gestures are allowed precedence.

Presented in the UK for the first time during the exhibition will be the Antarctica collection; an ambitious body of work made entirely of acrylic where concept precedes function. The Antarctica works again capture visceral action, in this case, suggesting a tool hacking away at blocks of ice. This moment of violence is frozen in stillness. The rawness captured inside the volumes is juxtaposed with the smooth surface, creating a play of illumination, continually activating both the piece and environment around it.’

I was inspired by the beauty, expert combination and craftsmanship of materials used in this exhibition.

The Antarctica collection, while being raw and hacked as described above, also has an air of fragility and instability, as though a single touch of the acrylic surface would warp it further or melt its ice like form. This collection mastered the manipulation of light, the thick acrylic block causing a magnified and distorted view through refraction. These beautiful tables cast intricate shadows on the floor, creating a show stopping centrepiece in a room.

More details of this beautiful table: http://www.fredriksonstallard.com/archive/antarctica/

Another firm favourite from the show was the Species II armchair, pictured below. This luxurious armchair at first glance looks to be carved from stone with its sharp edges and rigid form. Similar to the Antarctica range, this sculptural masterpiece craves to be touched and enjoyed, but its scale, colour and fragility seemed to intimidate some. This chair is a true piece of sculptural art, an illusion made from polyurethane, glass fibre and polyester.

http://www.fredriksonstallard.com/archive/species-2-2/

My favourite pieces from the exhibition were the ‘Scriptus Shelves’, storage shelving inspired by hand drawn calligraphy lines. I love the unique thin forms of these wavering shelves, another fragile looking but fully functional piece of modular furniture in a beautiful material, patinated steel. We have noticed the increasing popularity of tarnished and antique metals in our recent Cellar Maison wine room projects and I was inspired by these strong patinated steel shelves.

www.fredriksonstallard.co.uk/archive/scriptus-shelves/

Our luxurious contemporary and hybrid Wine Cellars, Wine Walls and Wine Pods often combine many materials including acrylic, metal, glass and wood joinery. The beautiful and unique properties of these materials in co-ordination with each other and alongside well-designed lighting can create functional masterpieces, as seen in our online gallery. The below example of our project in Hersham, Surrey, combines back lit acrylic, stainless steel metal bottle supports and grey washed joinery to create an enticing and opulent wine room.

The work of Fredrikson Stallard is a great source of inspiration and an example of how such materials can be manipulated to create unique and luxurious furniture. The exhibition ran from the 13th of September until the 28th of September at the David Gill Gallery, 2-4 Kind Street, London, SW1Y 6QP. The latest and highly coveted furniture from Fredrikson Stallard may perhaps inspire ideas for your own Wine Wall, Pod or Wine Cellar from Cellar Maison.

Please do contact Cellar Maison here for a friendly, no obligation chat or start with our unique Online Design Planner.