Muller Van Severen to showcase their design journey at the CAB Saint-Paul de Vence

At the CAB Saint-Paul de Vence Foundation in France, an upcoming exhibition will be dedicated to the works and practice of Belgian studio Muller Van Severen. A closer look at the oeuvre of designers Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen created in the past 12 years will be on display from March 21, 2024, within the building, renovated by French architect and interior designer Charles Zana.

The CAB Foundation is a non-profit space dedicated to the promotion of Belgian and international minimalist and conceptual art and artists who have a singular aesthetic. Enclosing several exhibition spaces, a bookshop, and a bar and a restaurant, the space continues to showcase permanent collection and thematic exhibitions. The new presentation of sculptural works hopes to peek into the work and working methods of a practice often referred to as the one of Europe’s most image-defining design studios.

The Maison&Objet 2023 Designer(s) of the Year, Muller Van Severen will be presenting distinguished furniture pieces, in addition to photographic and design ephemera to bring an extra dimension to the exhibition’s experience. The latter constitutes a closer gaze of the studio’s work documented by Amsterdam-based visual art studio Scheltens & Abbenes, and an overarching glance of the working method through design prototypes, and drawings.

Block colours and elemental forms often slot together a diversity of functions within a single unit. Lacquered steel, aluminium, brass, polyethene, marble, and leather sculpt demountable free-flowing compositions that evoke a sense of romance about living in small spaces. One can say that there is a lot of furniture and transparency too. Established in 2011, Muller Van Severen creates objects that sit on the cusp of art and design; its artist-founders ensure every piece evokes a sculptural quality and is born from careful material research and artisanal precision. At the Maison&Objet 2023 in Paris, the studio has presented an intimate landscape of domesticity constituting island-like setups to accommodate a home, workplace, and a garden with their furniture collections.

Expected to be displayed at the CAB Saint-Paul de Vence building are works such as Installation Small which combines a seat, a rack, a table and a lamp; the Crossed Double Seat that lets people sit close without seeing each other; and the Wire Series comprising outdoor furniture made of a folded mattress-like exposed grid in stainless steel. The foundation building already boasts of an elaborate furniture collection by the likes of Pierre Jeanneret, Jules Wabbes, Charlotte Perriand, and exterior lighting by Poul Henningsen. Rooted in an inspiration for the constructivist period, the space upholds equal appreciation and value for contemporary design. And a young practice like Muller Van Severen coming to a platform like this brings immense hope in building the NEXT for Belgian design, at home and beyond.