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Founded by Henri Delbarre and Geraldine Jackman in 2016, Gallery St. Vincents shapeshifts between being an art and design store and a design gallery. 2022 marks the fifth year of the gallery which has spent all these years providing a special, well-curated and welcoming space for designers, artists, creatives and artisans to display their works. To celebrate this special event, the gallery has come up with a very unique exhibition ‘5/5/5’, which features five unique creations by five different European designers. The exhibition has been open to the public since 12th May 2022 and will go on till 9th July 2022.
5/5/5, which strikes as a probable angel number, seems to catch the attention of the observers with its exhibits. Ben Storms, Frank Stabel, Lukas Cober, Fred Rigby and Cedric Gepner & Sophie Gelinet from Studio Haos work to create eclectic designs that eschew trends and reflect the strong relationship they hold with the gallery.
The number five holds lots of significance and is often associated with the five biological senses, the five elements of nature, the five Olympic rings, the five vowels and much more. Through the exhibition 5/5/5, the gallery lays out an extensive commemoration of ‘five’ and ‘fifths’ with each of the select designers offering contemporary designs owing to a wild card of freedom of theme and style in the converted 1700s printing house space of the gallery. Belgian artist Ben Storms extends his expertise in blown shapes through his ‘Ex Hale Wallpiece’ as his first foray into colour. The artist uses the rare techniques of casting and moulding glass to give it a density akin to natural stone, defying transparency and lightness- factors often associated with glass otherwise. The result is a metal-finished wall piece that stirs the mind with its naturally created cracks and crevices.
Furthermore, Frank Stabel’s bronze stool for the exhibition is ‘an ode to unpretentiousness’ for which he rips the concept of a stool to the basic utilitarian essence. He draws inspiration from different cultures and history to understand the purpose and use of a stool only to distil the long lineage down to a simple vertical stick supporting a horizontal beam connected through constructive knots. While Frank uplifts a simple object, Fred Rigby drifts back in time to the neolithic age, with his ‘Rock Armchair’. The UK-based designer brings asymmetry and informality to the platform in a very interesting way. Fred’s armchair is inspired by clusters and rock formations seen on beaches and gives a clear invitation to sit and relax without the imposition of a fixed seating position. The soft fabric and tactility in design contrast the look of the chair but match its intentions to ease up.
For 5/5/5, Lukas Cober’s ‘Pillar table- liquid bronze’ accentuates the sculptural value of the piece by combining a round table top with a tubular base. The designer casts with the traditional lost wax technique with an intuitive sculpting process with no shapes to fixate on. The trimming of the material on top, thus creates beautiful bell shapes, well in line with the ‘liquid’ theme of the piece.
Lastly, in an echoing attempt to commemorate design masters such as Enzo Mari, Gerrit Rietveld and Charlotte Perriand, Studio Haos display their solid oak desk. This desk is a product of experimentation with new techniques in furniture design at a more local and human size while being exposed to shape and material. This new HAOS piece, made from tried-and-true wood, is valued for its thoughtful design rather than for its exquisite craftsmanship or extremely rare materials.
Each of the sculptural pieces from the exhibition is intriguing in its own way, whether it be due to the context and thought behind the design, the material used or the technique. Gallery St. Vincents continues to festoon its space with the best in design.
The exhibition is being held at the St. Vincent’s Gallery, Antwerp from 12th May 2022 till 7th July 2022 and is open for public viewing from Thursday to Saturday 12pm to 6pm.
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