For his first solo exhibition at Side gallery, Berlin Based architect Sam Chermayeff (New York City, 1981) draws on intuition in relation to the creation of furniture. This new series, tentatively named “Beasts” is both a continuation and departure from previous projects, as surprising applications intend to transform our encounter and sharpen our connection to the work.
Each of the twenty plus works is a body that invites our bodies to inhabit specific settings. A chair is a desk, a hutch is place to put on shoes and make-up, a sofa is a place to face ones interlocutor and so on. Each piece endeavors to engender a new relationship between our diverse physicality and our everyday lives. In some cases we use these pieces alone and in others they bring us together. We understand ourselves through our interactions with the pieces and we commune with others.
Sam Chermayeff Office has been working on the idea of the body in relation to our use of furniture for a long time. This show is no different but as a series, distilled here, it is taking a further step by quite literally sharping our connection to the work. Its forms come from typologies that we understand intuitively. A table is still a table, even if it is also a light that supports its reflecting surface. This reflection might make the object disappear while its function, eating, working and so on come to the fore. It also makes us, doing those things, appear. Prior to this show, the office tried to make things happy and relatable, because of an abstract idea of joy. Here the joy remains and is seen in our inhabitation. We are expected to use these things, to put our lives onto and into them. They are called beasts because we must take the last step of their creation.
| Hours | By Appointment |
| Venue | Side Gallery |
| Type | Design Exhibition |
| Duration | By Appointment |
| City | Barcelona |
About
Side Gallery
Side Gallery, established in Barcelona and founded in November 2015 works with international design of the twentieth century, as well as contemporary design. The gallery focuses on Latin American historical design from countries such as Brasil, Mexico, or Venezuela, primarily concentrating on the work of Oscar Niemeyer, Geraldo de Barros, Lina Bo Bardi, Luis Barragán, Antonio Bonet and Joaquim Tenreiro, but also with a special sensibility for Spanish and Italian design of the past century and rare pieces by relevant architects worldwide. For its contemporary design projects, the gallery invites international designers, architects and contemporary artists to re-think design and handcraft traditions through ethnographic methods proposing a dialogue between two centuries to develop limited-edition works, commissioned and produced exclusively. Committed to innovation and tradition, the gallery collects, preserves, and promotes modern and contemporary design, whilst exploring ideas across cultures through different initiatives and collaborations. In addition to presenting a dynamic schedule of gallery exhibitions, Side Gallery proposes site-specific interventions worldwide at singular architectural landmarks working with renowned curators and offering a rereading of the lines between architecture, art and design.
