Celebrate our Past, Exploring our Future

‘Growing ‘takes its lead from the very first exhibition we held in 2003, called ‘What is Craft?’ Ten years on, we’ve invited leading figures in the sphere of contemporary craft and design, artists, curators, writers and influencers, to nominate work by emerging and established artists who will be the innovators of the future.

Over thirty artists have been proposed by our nominators to create an exhibition
demonstrating a wide range of craft media and forms: textiles, ceramics, glass, jewellery, basketry, furniture and millinery.

The 10th anniversary of The National Centre for Craft & Design (formerly The Hub) comes at an exciting time for contemporary craft. Technical and conceptual innovations have taken craft forward in exciting and unexpected ways, whilst the economic downturn has led to a re-evaluation of traditional techniques and re-use of materials. This exhibition will provoke new ideas and stimulate new ways of thinking about craft as a whole.

Our own NCCD nomination is Paulo Goldstein, a Project Space artist at Collect 2013, the Crafts Council’s prestigious craft fair. We are commissioning Paulo to create new work as part of his ‘Repair is Beautiful’ collection.

Our second commission will be a mini -residency throughout the opening weekend of the exhibition by performance craft artist Alec Stevens, who will be making new work in response to visitor input.

Crafts Council Director Rosy Greenlees nominated basketry artist Stella Harding for her innovative use of material and techniques and ambitious approach to scale and Sarah Warsop, “for her movement inspired jewellery which draws directly on her experience as a dancer and choreographer”.

Journalist and former director of the Design Museum Alice Rawsthorn proposed Dutch based Italian designers Formafantasma, whose work comments on nostalgia and tradition. Japanese-born Hitomi Hosono impressed Bonnie Kemske, Editor of Ceramic Review, who nominated her exquisitely delicate and detailed porcelain sculptures adorned with intricate patterns influenced by traditional British ceramic techniques.

A body of ceramic work will also be on show by Joseph Hartley, New Designers
2013 ‘Designer of the Year’ whose work impressed no less than five of our nominators. There will be textiles by Mister Finch and Mai Tabakian, the latter selected by artist Gabriel Dawe. We are also showing glass from Samantha Donaldson (nominated by our sister organisation Design Factory), jewellery by Lisa Juen and furniture from designer  Sebastian Cox.

Complementing the exhibition will be an online gallery of all nominated artists’ work expanding on the physical show. This online gallery will offer an opportunity for comment and debate on the subject of the future of craft and design as well as an opportunity to view the exhibited artworks from afar.

In her essay for ‘What is Craft?’, Louise Taylor (then director of the Crafts Council) said: “Craft retains its traditional core but many innovators are challenging boundaries and using the language of ‘craftsmanship’ in new ways”. These words still pertain today, especially the extraordinary 3D printed work created by Michael Eden, nominated by leading ceramics specialist Adrian Sassoon, whose work uses new technologies to explore and alter traditional and iconic English designs.

The artworks displayed in ‘Growing’ are destined to become the icons of the future.

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Italian interior design celebrate Mirò and Picasso

A project that combines the most genuine italian handmade tradition in the field of furniture-making with the personality of a great artistic movement: a limited edition dedicated to those who want to turn their own house into a living work of art. Manufactured, carved and decorated all by hand, here are the dressers that blend baroque and contemporary design: symbiosis design by vazzari

Establishing a connection between the great Italian furniture-making tradition and the greatest personalities of the avant-garde that have marked the history of contemporary art.
A challenge wholeheartedly picked up by "Simbiosi Design", a project by Vazzari that sets out to merge the hallmarks of baroque furnishings and the famous paintings of the most groundbreaking artistic experiences of the Twentieth Century. The goal: to blend the art forms of the past to the present, in perfect symbiosis - as the name suggests.
Thus the Miro and Picasso dressers come into being: limited editions, they are furnishings made entirely by hand by cabinetmakers and carvers of great experience according to the standards of the handicraft production of classic luxury furniture.
The big news is in the trims: instead of resorting to the usual gold and silver leaf finish, which is typical of baroque production, the two dressers are decorated in "May 1968" by Joan Miro or "Le peintre et son modèle" by Pablo Picasso. All of this, once again, is strictly handmade.

The choice fell on these two great artists on the anniversary of their deaths, respectively in 1983 and 1973, while the paintings were selected for their aesthetic value as well as for the profound meanings they convey.
In "May 1968" we find the artistic representation of the slogan "power to imagination" - slogan that has characterized the student riots of 1968, which the painting is dedicated to: the expression of a freedom and a vitality that spill over into colorful blots, sketches, and handprints.
Thus, while young people challenged the paradigms on which contemporary society was based, Miro changed the canons of art: just as the canons of baroque had overhauled those in vogue in their time, marking a decisive turning point from the past.

Along with the paradigm shifts, however, there is also a parallel reflection on the very nature of artistic creation. A return to the very essence of the inspiration and the impulses that drive the painter, the artist, and the man: a reflection carried out with the tip of the paintbrush by Pablo Picasso in his famous "Le peintre et son modèle". Here, in an interplay of volumes - of fullness and hollowness - and colored patterns an unbreakable bond between the painter and the model is created.
Amid the soft curves we see faces, parts of the body, the painter's studio. Yet above all the rest, the eye of the beholder is captivated by the flow of free artistic compulsion that breaks the mold and crashes onto the canvas.

"Symbiosi Design" is a project by Vazzari, a company specialized in the production of luxury classic furniture. Following the footsteps of the great Italian furniture-making, Vazzari offers its worldwide clientele stunning furniture that is made entirely by hand by skilled craftsmen.

http://www.simbiosidesign.com

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