Carpenters Workshop Gallery: Dysfunctional

This Venice Biennale 2019, the Carpenters Workshop Gallery presents Dysfunctional in partnership with the Swiss private bank Lombard Odier. The show will take place at Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’d’Oro on the Grand Canal and is on show from May 8th until November 24th, 2019.

The immersive exhibition of collectible design presents works by established and rising artists seeking to break the thin boundaries between art, architecture, and design. The site-specific works combine remarkable craftsmanship with strong artistic and emotional expression. 17 artists from Carpenters Workshop Gallery roster have been invited to initiate a dialogue between the jaw-dropping architecture of Ca’d’Oro, its impressive collection of Italian masters, and the best of contemporary collectible design. To name a few, Virgil Abloh, Atelier Van Lieshout, Studio Drift, Maarten Baas, Nacho Carbonell, Vincent Dubourg, and Verhoeven Twins.

The works draw on the heritage of the Galleria Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’d’Oro, which features masterpieces such as Andrea Mantegna’s San Sebastian, Jan van Eyck’s Crucifixion and Bernini’s Rio della Plata, a terracotta model for his Fountain of the Four Rivers. The works in the exhibition resonate with Venice’s rich history of craftsmanship and artistic expression. Abloh’s commission -his first-ever functional sculpture collection after having only recently joined the gallery- is inspired by the lagoon city and its acqua alta (high tide). By his and many others’ admissions, Dysfunctional aims to forget function whilst celebrating the power of artistic expression. With the show’s name, which is normally defined as the ‘disruption of normal social relations’, visitors are invited to rethink the conventional relationship between form and function, art and design, the historic and modern.

Julien Lombrail and Loic Le Gaillard, co-founders of Carpenters Workshop Gallery, comment: “We purposely decided to stage DYSFUNCTIONAL during the world’s most important art exhibition, the Venice Art Biennale, to question what defines an artwork, why can artworks not be functional and when does design become art? All works are an expression or application of tremendous creative skill, to be appreciated for their beauty, imaginative or emotional power. By creating this dialogue, we want to follow the spirit of Baron Giorgio Franchetti, who rejuvenated Ca’ d’Oro in 1894 and was an avant-garde collector for his time. In partnership with Lombard Odier, with whom we share the same vision, we want to invite visitors to go on an immersive journey in time and explore the blurred lines between art and design in the context of the rich Venetian heritage.”

Frédéric Rochat, Managing Partner and Co-Head of Private Clients at Lombard Odier, commented, “The Carpenters Workshop Gallery partnership is a natural collaboration for Lombard Odier, given our shared approach as true ‘Rethinkers’. This exhibition successfully fuses art and design, displaying bespoke works of unique savoir-faire. Innovation and customization are part of Lombard Odier’s identity, having consistently reinvented our business over seven generations and two centuries, to provide innovative and tailored advice to our clients in times of change.”

Alongside Lombard Odier, the exhibition is kindly supported by Piaget, Elit Vodka, Bang & Olufsen, and Ruinart.