Emmanuel Babled at Twenty First Gallery
Emmanuel Babled debuts Twenty First Gallery’s new domestic space, set in a New York Brownstone.
Breaking from the ubiquitous white cubes that pack much of West Chelsea, Twenty First Gallery founder Renaud Vuaillat opts for the far more homey charm of a brownstone townhouse, just a block away. Debuting the new space this month, designer Emmanuel Babled makes his New York premie, on view till 10 June. Vuaillat showcases a selection of the Lisbon-based French designer’s limited edition tables, consoles and lamps. Spread across the sprawling main level, the solo show employs historic architectural features already in place. Process-based experiments of moulded glass spheres for the Digit series dot a built-in cabinet. Babled’s artisan apporach – pushing materials and processes to new limits – is evident in the now recognised Osmosi series – combining Venetian hand-blown glass, thick Carrara marble and 3D cutting technology. Biomorphic Quark tables follow a similiar methodology to reevaluate traditional Italian craftsmanship. More recent in the designer’s oeuvre, Stepp personifies black granite into human-like legs to play on the visual illusion of support. Etnastone is a table produced using Sicilian lava in different hues of enamelled glaze. A fitting introduction to the new gallery space, Babled’s collections further the treatment of domesticity.
Emmanuel Babled till 10 June
Twenty First Gallery: 458 West 22nd Street, New York
(by appointment)