Crumpled sheets of metal appear to float inside or wrap around the low tables in a collection by design studio Fredrikson Stallard currently on show at the new David Gill Gallery in London (+ slideshow).
The Crush collection includes a glass table with a polished metal sheet inside it and a bulbous mirror with a hollow pocket on one side.
There's also a low table wrapped in a sheet of polished metal that appears to fall to the floor. Explaining their process, Ian Stallard and Patrik Fredrikson said: "We made tiny models in aluminium, which were then scanned in digitally. You still get the sense that the metal is doing what it wants."
Also on show is a teal blue version of their Pyrenees sofa, which is hand-sculpted from a block of upholstery foam. The original sofa is now in the V&A museum.
We previously featured a fibreglass armchair and footstool by Fredrikson Stallard, also shown at David Gill Galleries.
The collection can be viewed until 27th October at David Gill Gallery, 2-4 King Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6QP.
See all stories about Fredrikson Stallard »
See all stories about David Gill Galleries »
See all stories about furniture »
Here's more information from the gallery:
An exhibition of new work by Fredrikson Stallard comes to David Gill’s stunning new gallery in London’s St James’s this September.
The show, called Crush, will feature a series of new low tables and chaises inspired by the sensuous form of crumpled metal sheet. These will include an extended chaise created from black painted steel rods and upholstered in a sleek ultra-suede skin; glass unit tables containing polished metal sheet in black, gold and silver which creates tantalizing reflections of the surrounding space; and low tables draped with a sheet of polished metal that spills luxuriously on to the floor.
The new work perfectly represents Fredrikson Stallard’s ability to create a meaningful relationship between work done by the hand and the computer. “We made tiny models in aluminium, which were then scanned in digitally. You still get the sense that the metal is doing what it wants,” they say.
Also on show will be a new version of key Fredrikson Stallard piece – the Pyrenees sofa – which they have created in a teal blue. A green version of the Pyrenees, an exercise in hand-sculpting an unusual sofa form out of a vast block of upholstery foam, is in the collection of the Victoria + Albert Museum in London.
Ian Stallard (b. 1973 in Essex) and Patrik Fredrikson (b. 1968 in Sweden) graduated from Central St Martin’s in, respectively, ceramics and industrial design. They formed Fredrikson Stallard in 2003. They joined David Gill Galleries in 2006 and shortly afterwards their first pieces, the shocking pink Bergere armchairs made in rubber and highly polished steel, were exhibited at the Design Museum.
David Gill had been watching them for a while, attracted by their fusion of artistic creativity and technical perfection. His subsequent support has enabled them to pursue some complex projects that have stretched the possibilities of both materials and ideas. "They work against the odds and with great optimism," says Gill. "But the ultimate reward for this process, this refusal to give up, is work that offers extraordinary resolution."
David Gill opened his first gallery in London’s Fulham Road in 1987 and he was the first London gallerist to start producing limited-edition design pieces, initially working with the French design duo Elisabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti. Moving to a 30,000 sq ft warehouse space in South London in 1999. David Gill works with key design and art practitioners including the architect Zaha Hadid, designer Alexander Taylor and ceramicist Barnaby Barford.
In April this year, he launched his latest space in the prestigious St James’s district of London. The interior has been designed by London architect Tom Croft, who has also created Mayfair galleries for Pilar Ordovas and Timothy Taylor.