‘Grandmateria III’ is the next chapter of a story that began with the gallery’s launch exhibition during the London Design Festival 2007. The title alludes to the mythologies of the Philosopher's stone: a stone said to have alchemical powers to transmute lead into gold. By working with modest materials, using materials out of context, or by layering the materials with rich narrative each of the selected designers elevate the ordinary to extraordinary effect. Amongst the works selected for ‘Grandmateria III’ are Peter Marigold’s bronze ‘Wooden’ vases, Liliana Ovalle’s red clay and oak ‘Sinkhole Vessels’, Paola Petrobelli’s ‘Nido’ glass designs and Lex Pott’s ‘True Colour’ copper shelves and vases.

Marigold’s ongoing series of ‘Wooden’ forms are made by pasting a piece of wood with hot wax to create an impression of the original wood. The wood is then moved to a new position and pasted again and again, blending it with the previous pieces so as to build up the form intuitively, creating an object that is both moulded, yet unique. The wax form is then cast into either plaster or metal combining it into one singular material through one singular action – the resulting form becoming an amalgam of moments.

For Marigold, “the forms are ‘wooden’ in that they have been created using wood rather than being made of wood. They therefore reference wood as an active verb rather than a monumental noun; the resulting forms highly animated and not ‘wooden’ at all”.

The ‘incomplete’ and the ‘unrehearsed’ as observed through the urban context are dominant themes throughout all Ovalle’s works. For this new series the London-based designer returned to her native Mexico to collaborate with Colectivo 1050 in order to learn from their ancestral and indigenous ceramic techniques which are in threat of being lost. The black vessels stand as a representation of the geological phenomena of sinkholes: voids that emerge abruptly from the ground, dissolving their surroundings into an irretrievable space. For Ovalle, by referencing these varied notions of extinction, “the Sinkhole project reflects and extends the permanence of what seems to be inevitably falling into a void”. As Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Architecture and Design and MoMA, has said, “Ovalle’s talent is deep, versatile, and trespasses common places”.

Italian-born, London-based Paola Petrobelli’s series of ‘Nido’ lights and glass pieces were originally conceived for Nilufar Unlimited. The inspiration behind ‘Nido’ (Italian for nest) was to look at the lamp not only as an object with the purpose of containing and diffusing light but also as a volume or a vessel to contain small, everyday things. Petrobelli has designed three types: a table version for putting keys as one returns home; a hanging version for books and reading glasses; and a narrow hanging version to hover above a working surface to contain pens. ‘Nido’ is the perfect continuation of Petrobelli’s existing portfolio of glassware characterised by strict formal qualities and architectural accents.

Amsterdam-based designer Lex Pott graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2009. He employs a raw and intuitive method in his work, turning to the essence of materials such as wood, stone and metal for inspiration. His experimentation with oxidisation and the resultant effects of colour and texture is indicative of Pott’s organic approach to design that he believes showcases “the relationship among colour, material and information”.

Libby Sellers Gallery
41 - 42 Berners Street
London W1T 3NB United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)20 33848785
gallery@libbysellers.com
www.libbysellers.com

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