"Lathe" an Exhibition of the Designs of Sebastian Brajkovic at Carpenters Workshop Gallery New York

"Lathe" an Exhibition of the Designs of Sebastian Brajkovic at Carpenters Workshop Gallery New York

3 May - 2 July '16

For its first exhibition of works by Sebastian Brajkovic in New York, Carpenters Workshop Gallery will present ‘LATHE’, a culmination of work from the Dutch artist. Brajkovic’s designs re-interpret 18th century furniture archetypes, transmuted through expressive and surreal forms, while integrating traditional techniques of master craftsmanship with new methods of technology.

Through his choice of production processes and materials, Sebastian Brajkovic simultaneously challenges the traditions he employs and responds to historical references with contemporary re-imaginings of form, technique, and aesthetic.
‘Conversation Piece’, a chair that allows easy discussion between those seated together, resonates the traditional, with an element of the fantastical.

‘Lathe’ is comprised of several key pieces that further exemplify the evolution of the designers process, including ‘Fibonacci’ and ‘Slepinir’. ‘Fibonacci’, which expresses a theory of morphology and growth drawn up by an Italian mathematician towards the end of the 12th century, has been described as the designer’s masterpiece due to its high craftsmanship, both in the complicated spiral structure and its complex embroidery used, executed by Maison Lesage, known for its work for top French fashion houses such as Chanel and Dior.

‘Sleipnir’, a bench composed of five chairs, spreads out like a crowd of people or a herd of animals on the move, an eight-footed creature with an embroidered hide. This animal-like creation sports scales with a geometric pattern rather like that seen in the marquetry of the cabinet maker Oeben (18th century). This pattern flows with the direction of the bench, resembling the harness of a mammal or a reptile.

‘Conversation Piece’, a chair that allows easy discussion between those seated together, resonates the traditional, with an element of the fantastical. The work is a reinvention of a confidante for lovers, a smiling chair, full of a dynamic sensuality inspired by Carlo Mollino’s designs, rounds off the collection.

Lathe, in which the show is named, is a traditional tool used that rotates a workpiece on its axis, performing such various operations of cutting sanding, turning, and deforming to create an object with symmetry about an axis of rotation. This process is the departure point and starting inspiration for the exhibition, opening with Sebastian Brajkovic’s mindbending ‘Lathe’ series, a collection that plays with the viewer’s perception and expectations, literally ‘turning’ a seat into a work of art.

For the ‘Lathe’ chairs, traditional techniques of woodcarving, bronze casting and embroidery are used to create both the structure and the upholstery, which are then integrated with new digital technologies to further advance the realization of each work. Each piece is first sculpted by hand before being moulded, and the designer then refines the sculpture by harnessing the possibilities through 3D Modeling. In doing so, he visually distorts the imagery, and physically stretches out the seats’ surface. The embroidered upholstery owes its intricate precision to digital completion.

Complementing these pieces, will be Sebastian Brajkovic’s minimal and elegant ‘Lathe’ tables and sconces, spun from aluminum.

The designer takes the savoir-faire, the new art of digital craftsmanship and bronze sculpture and turns them into embodied realities. His use of the technique of casting, traditionally employed in sculpture, is further confirmation of the artist’s desire to explore the boundaries between art and design: ‘‘At the end of the day, I like the balance that exists between industrial design and art. Both fields are creative. I work towards both form and function.’’

AN HOMMAGE TO FUTURISM

Left behind is the indelible mark of the moulding, the shape and the grain of the wood which rise ever so gently to the surface of the patinated bronze. The nod to this particular period in the history of furniture-making represents a tribute to the skills of craftspeople everywhere. Sebastian Brajkovic puts a new spin on the classic figurative floral tapestry motif, all the better to defy the strictures of visual perception. As on a page of writing, with deconstructed thoughts, he uses digital technology to recount his fascination for the world in which we live.

A world that is characterized by connectivity, speed and sharing. In this way he pays homage to the ideas and drawings of the Futurists, who communicated their enthusiasm for progress as epitomized by the world of machines, a world of speed: ‘‘I believe in a transcendental vision. I try to reproduce life, to create the illusion of movement and change,
when all along this is impossible. I like to express change, development, hope. My vision seeks to tackle the issue of permanency.’’

The exhibition invites us to adopt a perspective focusing on the tangible, the alive, the dynamic. An ideal that represents life. Sebastian Brajkovic’s creative process is thus a ‘work in progress’, an endless game, the journey from functional item to work of art: ‘‘My objects are sculptures, but at the same time they are perfectly functional in their design. In painting, I’m drawn to the ‘blurred effect’ and distortion, twisting, rather like Francis Bacon, who creates and then dismantles his subjects. At the moment, I want to create finished objects and show them in all their complexity. It’s an attempt to express perfection.’’

Carpenters Workshop Gallery

693 FIFTH AVENUE - NY 10022

MONDAY TO SATURDAY 10AM - 6PM












Back

 


search

 

 


Archives

September 2020 (2)
August 2020 (1)
July 2020 (1)
June 2020 (1)
May 2020 (2)
February 2020 (1)
October 2019 (1)
September 2019 (2)
July 2019 (1)
June 2019 (1)
May 2019 (1)
April 2019 (2)
March 2019 (4)
December 2018 (2)
November 2018 (4)
October 2018 (4)
September 2018 (8)
August 2018 (7)
July 2018 (11)
June 2018 (11)
May 2018 (13)
April 2018 (11)
March 2018 (12)
February 2018 (13)
January 2018 (18)
December 2017 (8)
November 2017 (15)
October 2017 (17)
September 2017 (14)
August 2017 (18)
July 2017 (10)
June 2017 (12)
May 2017 (12)
April 2017 (15)
March 2017 (15)
February 2017 (22)
January 2017 (13)
December 2016 (9)
November 2016 (14)
October 2016 (11)
September 2016 (19)
August 2016 (13)
July 2016 (11)
June 2016 (16)
May 2016 (19)
April 2016 (17)
March 2016 (9)
February 2016 (15)
January 2016 (14)
December 2015 (7)
November 2015 (15)
October 2015 (12)
September 2015 (5)
August 2015 (12)
July 2015 (16)
June 2015 (9)
May 2015 (15)
April 2015 (11)
March 2015 (16)
February 2015 (14)
January 2015 (14)
December 2014 (13)
November 2014 (15)
October 2014 (18)
September 2014 (14)
August 2014 (10)
July 2014 (14)
June 2014 (13)
May 2014 (22)
April 2014 (12)
March 2014 (12)
February 2014 (16)
January 2014 (19)
December 2013 (8)
November 2013 (33)
October 2013 (17)
September 2013 (20)
August 2013 (15)
July 2013 (6)
June 2013 (14)
May 2013 (17)
April 2013 (17)
March 2013 (16)
February 2013 (14)
January 2013 (16)
December 2012 (8)
November 2012 (20)
October 2012 (22)
September 2012 (17)
August 2012 (17)
July 2012 (22)
June 2012 (13)
May 2012 (20)
April 2012 (16)
March 2012 (28)
February 2012 (15)
January 2012 (17)
December 2011 (17)
November 2011 (24)
October 2011 (14)
September 2011 (21)
August 2011 (20)
July 2011 (21)
June 2011 (22)
May 2011 (18)
April 2011 (22)
March 2011 (18)
February 2011 (20)
January 2011 (37)
December 2010 (40)
November 2010 (41)
October 2010 (31)
September 2010 (45)
August 2010 (22)
July 2010 (24)
June 2010 (51)
May 2010 (69)
April 2010 (42)
March 2010 (60)
February 2010 (39)
January 2010 (39)
December 2009 (52)
November 2009 (38)
October 2009 (64)
September 2009 (66)
August 2009 (46)
July 2009 (54)
June 2009 (55)
May 2009 (60)
April 2009 (53)
March 2009 (64)
February 2009 (52)
January 2009 (58)
December 2008 (51)
November 2008 (43)
October 2008 (72)
September 2008 (86)
August 2008 (46)
July 2008 (74)
June 2008 (67)
May 2008 (63)
April 2008 (25)
March 2008 (21)