Dezeen Magazine

German museum to host pedestal-themed Konstantin Grcic retrospective

The Kunsthalle Bielefeld museum's Figures exhibition will bring together furniture and lighting created by German designer Konstantin Grcic over the past decade and a half.

Figures Konstantin Grcic retrospective of
Clerici wooden bench for Mattiazzi

Works by Grcic will be shown in the museum's first floor and entrance hall, alongside other artwork selected by the designer from the Kunsthalle Bielefeld's collection.

Figures Konstantin Grcic retrospective of
Chaos chair in orange

The Figures exhibition takes the idea of the pedestal as a starting point – prompted by the designer's recent creation of a new base for French sculptor Rodin's La Douleur artwork.

Figures Konstantin Grcic retrospective of
Sam Son chair for Magis

Grcic's Sam Son chair for Magis with a pool noodle-shaped backrest is included, alongside his Avus leather club chair, and Clerici wooden bench, designed for Italian furniture brand Mattiazzi.

Figures Konstantin Grcic retrospective of
Avus leather club chair

The pedestal theme is more obvious with the inclusion of Grcic's Chair ONE – featuring a solid concrete base that tapers away from the seat – and the portable Mayday lamp, which can be stood on its large white plastic funnel.

Figures Konstantin Grcic retrospective
Chair ONE

The designer's Pallas furniture, made from heavy gauge sheet metal for Classicon in 2003, is also on display, alongside his Diana tables that are similarly constructed from a single sheet of bent metal.

Figures Konstantin Grcic retrospective of
Diana table in bronze

"Originally made by bending a two-dimensional metal plate, the three-dimensional objects became presentational surfaces or repositories for everyday items," said the museum. "Here, however, they stand on a pedestal of their own."

Figures Konstantin Grcic retrospective of
Diana F table in ocean blue

"Relieved of their functional existence in the museum and presented on a pedestal, the furniture finds its way back to autonomous, created form," it added.

Grcic trained as a cabinet maker at The John Makepeace School in England before studying design at London's Royal College of Art. He set up his own industrial design practice in Munich in 1991, and has since become one of the world's most prominent contemporary designers.

Figures Konstantin Grcic retrospective of
Diana E table in grey blue

Figures opens on 19 March and continues until 3 July 2016. The exhibition follows a 2014 solo exhibition by Grcic at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, for which he created a set of installations depicting future living environments based on his vision of design's role in modern society.

Figures Konstantin Grcic retrospective of
Pallas in honey yellow

Earlier this year the designer unveiled his first tile collections for Mutina, which feature embossed patterns and contrasting matte and gloss surfaces.