Dear Shaded Viewers,
Olympics are over but rejoice, long live surrealism ! This autumn will be as exciting as summer for the 100th year anniversary of the publication of the Manifesto. However, celebrations are not only in the Centre Pompidou. The exhibition there is well curated and some works comes from private collections and renowned American museum. But some galeries have made special exhibitions that make you discover outstanding pieces in a confidential atmosphere.
With the collaboration of NES Paris and BD Barcelona, Jerome Poggi delivered an outstanding exhibition for the design week. The galerist had the genuine intuition to collaborate with international partners who showed the impact of the movement through time. Joan Madera, the set designer and curator is unbeatable on Dali and Gala. He succeded to recreate a Dalinian atmosphere. Especially like the dining bed table, a project he wanted to make with the Marx Brothers. Joan understood perfectly the changes of style in Dali’s career. That’s why you will navigate in pastel blue and pink rooms like in his 70’s when he embraced kitsch, science and psychedelic effects. You will encounter sensual and enigmatic furniture but also minimalistic objects from the 90s that fits perfectly.
The artists that Jerome represents are sober and timeless. A profile from Georges Tony Stoll evocates a Magritte. Are the curtains around the man a coincidence ? Three portraits from Djamel Tatah transmit perfectly the ambiguous sensation of daydreaming. More surprisingly, we can discover a singular artist that coincides with his life, such as Sidival Fila. This Brazilian artist is actually a Franciscan monk who sews monochromes with scraps of fabric. The NES selection of furniture made you understand the depts of the movement. We often simplificate surrealism to freedom of delirium and sex but surrealism façonnated the immediate expression of the artist. Zao Wou Ki’s tapestry proves it with his black round pattern . Also, some Philip Starck chairs shows how playful it is to reinvent a useful objects with radical simplicity or a suggested animality.
The surprise comes from the BD Barcelona selection. The Spanish design society extrapolated some furnitures from Dali’s painting. Such as the fluffy seat in Singularities (1937) But also made exclusive pieces. That unique way of thinking is made possible thanks to Oscar Tusquets. The designers extrapolated furniture with human parts that are looking modern even if they were made in the 30s. The Cajones Lamps with recurrent motives by Dali with soft forms and drawers. They are likely coming from Atavic ruins after the rain where the thick volumes and the crutches gives the lamps an unexpected dynamism. However the main part is two replicas and a model of the Saliva lips, the lips couch that is in Figueras for the famous Mae West room. The conception of the couches are in front of your eyes. The scale models shows how the designer tried to made an object between excentricity and realism. An architectural plan of the Figueras room is also shown. That initiative is a good approch that proves the demanding curation of the galery.
Tusquets remains grounded in the present. He also made furniture with his own aesthetics with the Gaulinettas chairs. However the collaboration with Dali changed his life and he got tons of stories about him. You could hear them this Saturday for the last day of the exhibition
Later,
Mael Heinz
Special Events Paris Design Weekend
Dali and the surrealistic object – A conference with Oscar Tusquets, Jean Louis Gaillemain and Joan Madera
Saturday 14th September 2024 at 11am
Gala, Dali and Fashion – A conference with Joan Madera
Saturday 14th September at 5pm
Surrealistic Tea
Sunday 15th September 2024 from 2 to 6pm
Galerie Poggi 135 rue St Martin, 75004 Paris
