News
17.02.2016
Carpenters Workshop Gallery New York to present ‘Carapace’ by Maarten Baas
From 2 March to 30 April, Dutch designer Maarten Baas will present his latest collection ‘Carapace’ at Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s recently opened New York space.
Carapace is a scientific term for a protective, decorative or camouflaging shell found on the back of animals such as beetles and turtles. This idea of creating a ‘hard skin’ to protect the soft body is a key inspiration for this Maarten Baas’s newest series.
Starting off in admiration of the 1950s refrigerator, this led him to the study of these curved, organic forms found in nature. The designer has created a series of furniture encompassed by a patchwork of bronze plating, dot-welded, piece-by-piece, to form the skin of the furniture, acting as a protective shield, similar to a turtle shell.
The designer says, “I feel it’s important to have a hard layer under which something good and fruitful can bloom up. The works explore the feeling of vulnerability up against the desire for development in the environment.”
Carapace reflects the idea of the protective in harmony with the beautiful. It is represented by the hard metal exterior, consequently conveying the evolution of the very fine interior where treasure can hide.
ABOUT | MAARTEN BAAS
With each collection, the designer pushes the boundaries of functional sculpture to its absolute limit, fully transcending the borders of art and design as is seen with his collections, ‘Clay Furniture’, ‘Hey Chair’, ‘Be A Bookshelf’ and ‘Sculpt’.
Maarten Baas has displayed his works all over the world including Moss Gallery, New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and Milan Salone del Mobile, as well as being commissioned to design at the Gramercy Park Hotel, New York and the Groninger Museum Restaurant ‘Mendini’.
CARPENTERS WORKSHOP GALLERY
COLLECTING DESIGN
Carpenters Workshop Gallery transcends classical borders in terms of art and design. Its proposal stands just at the intersection of these two universes: reaching precisely a symbiosis of art and design.
Carpenters Workshop Gallery produces and exhibits functional sculptures by international rising and already established artists and designers going outside their traditional territories of expression.
The gallery is actively involved in the research and production of the limited edition works exhibited. The choices are guided by the research of an emotional, artistic and historical relevance; a relevance that appears as an evidence.
