Precious Strength | Maria Pergay Across the Decades

Demisch Danant presents Precious Strength | Maria Pergay Across the Decades, an upcoming exhibition dedicated to the pioneering French artist and designer Maria Pergay. The exhibition will run from October 24 to November 30, 2024, and will showcase a comprehensive collection of Pergay's most emblematic pieces, presented together for the very first time and many of which have not been displayed for close to two decades.

Maria Pergay, who passed away in October 2023 at the age of 93, left an indelible mark on the world of design. Her innovative use of stainless steel and distinctive style redefined modern luxury. Through her life, her boundary-pushing designs elevated the possibilities of contemporary furniture design.

Precious Strength is more than a display of furniture; it is an immersive experience that invites visitors to delve into the mind of a designer who continually redefined the boundaries of her craft. The exhibition will be organized into a series of interior vignettes, designed by gallery co-founders Suzanne Demisch and Stéphane Danant, evoking Pergay's unique aesthetic and the environments in which her pieces were originally showcased. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore her work in a setting that reflects her personal style and vision. By incorporating elements from all periods of her career, the exhibition underscores the timelessness of her designs and the innovative spirit that drove her work.

Without formal training particular to design, nor outside support, Maria Pergay pursued her creative instincts working relatively alone. When questioned, she refused to be designated solely as an artist, designer or decorator, but described herself as a servant to her own creative impulses. She worked in broad strokes, concentrating on the physicality of ideas rather than the details. The self-proclaimed “captor of ideas” defied the demand to produce according to one theme over a singular period of time, rather creating as her inspiration came, without schedule or structure. Having pioneered the use of stainless steel in furniture, she ceaselessly challenged the inherent limitations of her primary material, combining it with striking effect with mother of pearl, lacquer, and precious woods. She introduced and revisited materials and motifs – not with a sense of repetition – but rather as manifestations of her creative vocabulary. Drawing from a multitude of sources, she was provoked by antiquity, Japanese art and the innate nature of her materials – conjuring a voice so individual that many of her pieces would not receive recognition until years after they were created.