COLLECTIBLE 2018: Mendes Wood DM
The Brussels branch of the São Paulo gallery is betting on the striking furniture of Manuel Raeder for their COLLECTIBLE outing
We’re gearing up for the first edition of COLLECTIBLE here in Brussels, and we’ve asked some of our favourite galleries about their selection for the fair. First up: the Belgian outpost of Mendes Wood DM.
Just a quick note: the Manuel Raeder Mountain chairs featured in their selection were inspired by such disparate characters as Edgar Allan Poe, Lola Montez and Klaus Kinski’s kitsch Fitzcarraldo. If you visit the Mendes Wood DM booth, have fun trying to match the muse to the result.
TLmag: Which designers are you featuring at COLLECTIBLE?
Mendes Wood DM: We’re showing the work of Studio Manuel Raeder, an interdisciplinary studio based in Berlin since 2003. Their activities include a wide range of formats, exploring the boundaries between exhibitions, ephemera, books, type design, editing, publishing, furniture design and curatorial praxis.
Manuel Raeder aims to move away from a purely didactic approach to design, one that imposes a specific way of use. Instead, he is concerned with how people can and should appropriate pieces according to their needs and desires. By the way: we are presenting a solo show of his, titled Muebles Manuel, at our gallery space until April 7 —which complements our participation at COLLECTIBLE.
TLmag: Is there a theme to your selection?
Mendes Wood DM: We are particularly interested in design made for specific contexts, taking the body as a point of departure.
TLmag: Why do you think collectible design is such an important force right now?
Mendes Wood DM: We think it has to do with an increasing awareness of the objects that surround us, and a general tendency to push and blur the boundaries between art and design.
TLmag: Why did you decide to participate in COLLECTIBLE?
Mendes Wood DM: We believe it’s such an original initiative, exploring a field that is specialised and yet incredibly rich. Also, since we opened our Brussels branch less than a year ago, it’s essential for us to get involved with local projects that have a strong connection to our programme and our mission.
COLLECTIBLE, a new fair devoted exclusively to 21st century collectible design, will be held from March 7-11 in the Vanderborght building
BLACK MOUNTAIN left arm (2016)
Courtesy of the artists and Mendes Wood DM São Paulo, Brussels and New York
BLACK MOUNTAIN right leg (2016)
Courtesy of the artists and Mendes Wood DM São Paulo, Brussels and New York
Articles you also might like
TLmag spoke with Humberto Campana ahead of his exhibition, “On the Road,” which opened at Friedman Benda on March 7th. This exhibition marks the first of a series of exhibitions and inaugurations recognizing the 40th year anniversary of Estudio Campana.
British designer Sebastian Cox has built a successful furniture company around the idea of a tightly controlled artisanal production model that cuts out the middleman and allows nature to inform every step of the process.
Front Design is known for creating playful, avant-garde objects. Shifting between research-driven and experimental projects, the eponymous Swedish design studio embraces tactile and surprising elements to lend their designs a sense of magic.
A contemporary bench by Beauty Ngxongo, with a backrest woven in the traditional Zulu style, brings an age-old South African craft into the 21st century.