Aldo Bakker: fascinated by the language of his multi-faceted medium
Carpenter Workshop Gallery New York presents Aldo Bakker’s solo-exhibition Slow Motion, where the artist brings a new perception of furniture.
Carpenters Workshop Gallery New York presents Aldo Bakker’s solo-exhibition Slow Motion. The exhibition reveals 10 new works ranging from stools to tables created with stone, metal, and Urushi – a Japanese lacquer process. Loic Le Gaillard, co-founder of the gallery, is very excited about Bakker’s first exhibition here, since joining the Gallery’s roster in 2018: ‘’Powerful, elegant and filled with personality, Aldo’s furniture brings a new perspective, not seen before in the design space. These qualities coupled with his impact on the design would make it impossible to not want to represent him.’’
Indeed, the widely celebrated Dutch artist seems to bring a breath of fresh air to the design world. After rejecting formal art training, the autodidact moved on to study idiosyncratic artists of the modern age. Think of composer Luigi Nono, painter Giorgio Morandi, writer J.M. Coetzee and architect Carlo Scarpa. What fascinated him about these masters, is the interest in the language of their multi-faceted medium. Which contributes to the ability for objects to tell their own stories.
This fascination seems to come back in the exhibition Slow Motion. The name references to Bakker’s effort to slow down our process of seeing. The works might appear singular after a superficial first glance. However, after taking time to carefully view the presentation a mesmerizing similarity is revealed. Only then, the creations start to speak and ask not to be viewed as inanimate objects. We can then no longer project our knowledge of style, shape or material value onto them.
What looks like a table, just speaks about what a table could be. Bakker positioned the works forcing us to shift our perception and view them as individuals. By doing so, the works do not try to reach the masses but instead address the individual.
Aldo Bakker’s exhibition Slow Motion is on show in Carpenters Workshop Gallery, New York, from April 25 to June 22.
All images courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery.
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