'8 Chairs' by Clarke & Reilly at Gallery Libby Sellers
14 March - 26 April '13
8 Chairs, an exhibition by the London-based creative team Clarke & Reilly, is a poetic travelogue detailing the plight and fate of eight specially sourced chairs as they made their way from the designer's studio, to Peckham then California and back to London again.
Clarke & Reilly, otherwise known as David Grocott and Bridget Dwyer (b. 1964, 1967), have been collaborating as an artist duo since 2005. Bringing together their backgrounds in fashion (Dwyer) and antique furniture (Grocott), they create unique objects that convey their nostalgic, romantic, and slightly eccentric aesthetic.
8 Chairs exemplifies this reverent attitude towards design as each of the historical chairs, selected to represent a specific character in the artists' minds, has been reinvented, often using period and bespoke fabrics. The redefined forms were then installed on the rooftop of a Peckham building to weather the icy winter before being transported to the scorching Californian desert.
8 Chairs, Clarke & Reilly. Photography by Laurence Passera
8 Chairs, Clarke & Reilly. Photography by Laurence Passera
8 Chairs, Clarke & Reilly. Photography by Laurence Passera
8 Chairs, Clarke & Reilly. Photography by Laurence Passera
