ROBERT STADLER: CUT_PASTE

Robert Stadler will unveil three new works as part of a continuation of his ‘Cut_Paste series’, at the London space of Carpenters Workshop Gallery, from 21 April until 20 May 2016. The series was shown for the first time in Paris last year to much critical acclaim. The exhibition will also include new additions to the collection.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE OBJECT

‘Cut_Paste’ is a series that reflects on the art of building and explores construction and contemporary architectural practices. It is based on the utopian idea of reusing the materials left over in architecture. Robert Stadler provides us with his own interpretation of the architectural gesture confronted with the past and the present, a demonstration that he develops on the scale of the object.

The series represents a construction of floor plans that are cut at right angles, freeing up constructed spaces that go beyond their strict utilitarian function, a reflection on the act of covering edifices. The designer himself says that the pieces can be defined in contemporary terms as a piece of domestic furniture, subsequently giving them a futuristic element.

LUXURY VERSUS UTILITY

The materials chosen are architectural, using a combination of marble and aluminium honeycomb. The strong contrast between these two materials conveys the natural beauty within the pieces against the harsher industrial elements, in tandem with the idea of luxury versus utility.

The minimal beauty of the pieces originates from the clean-cut vertical and horizontal lines, yet it is contradicted by the graphic motifs of the marble and onyx. Having focused primarily on low tables and shelves with the original series, Robert Stadler has integrated a selection of large console tables and lamps into the new collection.

Robert Stadler creates these pieces by cutting, sticking, juxtaposing and shifting the elements to give the shapes the necessary stiffness, reminiscent of discarded shapes found on building sites. The designer integrates the illusion of a random gesture into a piece that links back to a constructivist vision.

Despite its characteristic arbitrariness, Robert Stadler’s pieces are each perfectly formed in order to question what the reality of functional sculpture should be whilst not reducing the design credibility.

ABOUT | ROBERT STADLER

Robert Stadler was born in 1966 in Vienna. He studied design at IED /Milan and at ENSCI/Paris. In 1992 he co-founded the RADI DESIGNERS group which was active until 2008.

His work is present in several private and public collections such as Fondation Cartier, Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, MAK - Museum for Applied Arts / Contemporary Art in Vienna, Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

He works for clients such as Académie des César, Dior, Maison Thierry Costes, Nissan, Orange, Ricard, Take 5 Editions and Thonet.

In 2012 Robert Stadler received the “Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l’Intelligence de la main” together with Siegeair’s craftsmen. He is represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery and Galerie Triple V. Robert Stadler is involved in very diverse fields, obliterating all hierarchies between free proposals, industrial and public commissions.

He explores the exhibition space in order to scramble the usual categories of art and design. He questions the status of the object as work of art or product as well as the border of preciousness versus lowliness and the serious versus the absurd.

CARPENTERS WORKSHOP GALLERY

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.

The gallery relies on the partnership of childhood friends, Julien Lombrail and Loic Le Gaillard. They first opened a space in London’s Chelsea in 2006 in a former carpenter’s workshop; they then followed with a second space in Mayfair in 2008. The opening of a 600 square metre space in Paris in 2011 in the heart of Le Marais district, an address steeped in history as it was previously occupied by the Galerie de France for several decades, was a return to their roots.

2015 marks a major turning point for the gallery with the opening of Carpenters Workshop | Roissy, a unique 8,000 meter square space dedicated to artistic research and development, bringing together the elite of artisans, an homage to the French heritage of ‘Arts Décoratifs’.

Carpenters Workshop Gallery | New York is the lastest step in the gallery’s remarkable development. This new space confirms the leadership and dominant position of the gallery in today’s international territory of art and design.

EXHIBITION FROM 21 APRIL TO 20 MAY 2016

LONDON | CARPENTERS WORKSHOP GALLERY 3 ALBEMARLE STREET W1S 4HE