Krueck + Sexton REFLECTIONS – FROM THERE TO HERE at Volume Gallery
9 September - 28 October '17
Volume Gallery is pleased to announce its first solo exhibition with Krueck+Sexton, Reflections – From There to Here, opening Saturday, September 9th from 5-8 PM at 1709 W Chicago Ave, Chicago IL, 60622.
Ron Krueck and Mark Sexton have worked in partnership for over 35 years. Their first private residence commission was the now iconic Steel and Glass House (Chicago, 1979). Soon after completion, they began a series of commissions for prominent Chicago tastemakers including Beverly/Barry Crown and Joan Weinstein – the owner of Ultimo, an infamous fashion boutique known for bringing Giorgio Armani and Sonia Rykiel to Chicago.
Reflections, focuses on works – specifically, chairs - from these 1980s commissions, which propelled Krueck+Sexton’s career. Larger projects, ranging in scale, followed--from restoring Crown Hall to larger buildings like Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies in Chicago, as well as numerous project around the U.S. and Europe.
Central to Reflections is the Lounge Chair. Originally designed for the Weinstein commission, this piece is being realized for the first time. Fabricated by the same metal craftsmen that were responsible for the production of all of the furniture from the 1980s, the Lounge Chair is a beautiful example of Krueck+Sexton’s unique approach to juxtaposing a cool material like polished stainless steel with the warmth of plush velvet.
Each piece of furniture in Reflections is an elegant expression of form, proportion, and sensuous materials. The structures are highly reflective appearing to lighten the mass of the design. The byproduct of reflectivity is that it absorbs and becomes part of the environment it is placed. It is an object at one moment and folds into space the next. The reflective stainless steel enables an expression of fluidity in form. Paradoxically, each organically inspired piece appears to be a celebration of industrial design, while in reality they are all meticulously handmade.
The mohair and cotton velvet fabric is a natural material that is visually soft with multidimensional hues created by how the light hits it and is used in all of the chairs. The fabric is supple and almost warm to the touch, in contrast to the cool precision of the machine made stainless steel. The connections are all about expressing how materials are put together. They are often highly articulated to support the visual delight, rhythm and scale of the object. Although the furniture was designed for specific residences, their classic form and materials allow them to work outside the original space.
