Marcel Wanders: Pinned Up at the Stedelijk 25 years of design

1 February - 15 June '14

Amsterdam

Marcel Wanders: Pinned Up at the Stedelijk is the designer’s first survey exhibition in Europe since 1999, the first-ever large-scale presentation of Wanders’ work, and the first major design exhibition at the Stedelijk since its reopening in 2012. The exhibition encompasses designs from Wanders’ entire oeuvre, from the late 1980s to the present day. More than 400 objects are on view in the monumental lower-level gallery space in the new wing of the Stedelijk.

Conceived in three parts, the presentation contains a white zone, which offers an analysis of Wanders’ work based on 10 themes (such as craftsmanship, narratives and dialogues, surface, innovation, archetypes, variation, and playing with scale); a black zone presenting work of a more personal and often experimental nature in a theatrical setting; and a lounge where Wanders’ role as Art Director for design brands, including Moooi, is explored.

All of Wander’s iconic works are featured, such as the Set Up Shades lamp (1989), the Knotted Chair (1995-1996), Lace Table (1997), Egg Vase (1997), Airborne Snotty Vases (2001), the New Antiques furniture (2005), and the Skygarden lamp (2007). Also on view are lesser-known pieces together with the Carbon Balloon Chair (2013), which makes its European debut in this exhibition.
JacobTV, alias Jacob Ter Veldhuis, the much- praised Dutch avant-garde pop composer, has created a soundscape especially for the exhibition.

First-ever public unveiling:The Virtual Interiors Featured as part of the black zone, the exhibition also includes the first-ever viewing of an extraordinary series of seven ‘virtual interiors’ created by the designer. The works are autonomous digital films of fantasy interiors, some containing Wanders’ designs, others of interiors never destined to exist in the real world. The videos conjure up a dreamlike world, with subtle movements that hypnotize and immerse the viewer. These Virtual Interiors reveal a mysterious, darker side of Wanders. His so-called Monster Chair of 2010 is a prelude to this shadowy world: a chair with the face of a monster embroidered in the back – a reference to Wanders’ imaginary monsters.