Griegst x Matter and Shape, Copenhagen, June 2024
Griegst is pleased to announce a new archive installation titled Arje’s World, opening at the Griegst gallery, atelier and boutique in Copenhagen during the city’s 3daysofdesign festival. Curated by Paris-based design salon Matter and Shape’s artistic director Dan Thawley, the show lays bare the metal scaffoldings and process of Arje Griegst, focusing on monumental pieces from the late artist’s catalogue of homeware and artworks in a conversation between the rough and the precious.
Evoking the artist and designer’s stoic practice and profound inner world, the exhibition reveals relics and elements of process, focusing on monumental pieces from his catalogue of homewares and artworks in a conversation between the rough and the precious. Bringing MATTER and SHAPE’s contemporary perspective to Griegst's bohemian imagination, both emblematic and previously unseen objects are placed in new dialogues within the exhibition’s minimalist architecture, where sterling silver artworks sit amongst the unpolished memories of moulds, wires, wax and tools from the workshop. Large scale works on paper include watercolour and graphite studies for the Galaxi chandelier (2008).
A wrought bronze candlestick from 1963 represents Griegst’s first foray into decorative sculpture, upscaling the visual language of his fine jewellery practice, established in the same year. Other works featured include a patinated bronze fountain (2000-2007) and the self-portrait Merman (2003-06), joining other figurative representations in glazed ceramics, bronze and gold. Further curios include prototypes for the Spira silver tableware produced by Georg Jensen, Triton and Konkylie soup tureens crafted at Royal Copenhagen, and an accumulation of the 1983 Xanadu glass vessels produced by the Holmegaard glass atelier, all of which underline Griegst’s experimental and unconventional work with historical and mythical references in the decorative arts during the second half of the 20th century.
“Our collaboration with Matter and Shape is part of not only our ongoing exploration of the Griegst archives, but also what we look like through the eyes of others. Dan Thawley’s approach to our house is very sober and clean and opens up a different part of our landscape, which has been exciting to witness,” comments creative director, Noam Griegst.
Art directed by Simon B. Mørch, who brings his museal-like aesthetic to Matter and Shape’s stripped-back narration, the installation contrasts ceremonial grandeur with the industrial crudeness of workshop shelves and the unpolished memories of moulds, wires, wax and tools, applying an almost brutalist lens to the precious objects by documenting their making-of to allow a wider understanding of Arje Griegst’s dream world.
Arje’s World on view from Wednesday June 12th until Sunday September 1st, 2024.