Tables and Chairs
Trestle stools by Rosemary Anrude, 2010
Tables & Chairs; new contemporary voices in wood, will be presented by the Crafts Council in partnership with Priscilla Carluccio at Few & Far from 18 to 26 September 2010 as part of the London Design Festival.
Tables & Chairs will show the breadth and depth of craft and design skills currently being used in contemporary furniture through the work of 12 makers including mid career makers and new graduates. The featured makers are Rosemary Anrude, Anna Bullus, Adi Chambers, Melisa Dora, Zachary Eastwood-Bloom, Deborah Elsaesser, Niall Gonnella, Minja Kolehmainen, Euan Lind, Pottinger & Cole, Jeremy Price, Jolyon Yates.
All the work on show has been made in 2009 or 2010 and these new voices challenge our ideas and preconceptions of what tables and chairs look like and how they are made. These makers marry wood with ceramic, create optical illusions and combine the computer, the laser and the hand to produce pieces that range from the playful and humorous to those that push the boundaries of their material through design and skill.
Rosemary Anrude’s Screw Thread trestles and stools play with our expectations of what materials can employ threads and bolts by applying thread to the legs of hardwood stools and securing the seat in place with brightly coloured wooden ‘bolts’.
Pottinger and Cole’s SSBR chair combines beautiful beech and plywood. The off-cut piece of plywood from the hand-cut circular seat makes the back rest creating a chair economical in both use of material and labour hours.
Other pieces include Anna Bullus’ set of four stools that nestle together and lean at an improbable angle, Zachary Eastwood Bloom’s chair ravaged by hand and laser and Jeremy Price’s use of an innovative technique of overlapping veneers to form joins, the result of which is a new aesthetic in laminated furniture.
‘I’m thrilled to be associated with the Crafts Councils new exhibition ‘Tables & Chairs’. It’s a great example of returning to, working with, and understanding materials’ Priscilla Carluccio
‘Tables and Chairs is a chance to see some of the newest voices in contemporary furniture. From work focusing on material and its capabilities to process and using new innovative techniques all contains the essential qualities of excellent craftsmanship – creativity, technical skill and knowledge of material.’ Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council
Tables & Chairs; new contemporary voices in wood is at Few and Far, 242 Brompton Road, London SW3 2BB, tel: 020 7225 7070 Opening times; 10am – 6pm Monday to Saturday 12 – 5pm Sunday.
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There will be a preview of Tables and Chairs on Thursday 23 September from 6-8pm before the London Design Festival Private View. Please email rsvp@craftscouncil.org.uk if you would like to attend.
For press images and more information please contact Jill Read, Press Officer, Crafts Council on T: 020 7806 2549 or email media@craftscouncil.org.uk
Notes to Editors
• Few and Far is a seasonal and personal collection, selected by Priscilla Carluccio, of clothes from India, Italy, Morocco, vintage and contemporary furniture, jewellery, toys and craft.
• Priscilla Carluccio is one of the Crafts Council’s Craft Champions along with Linda Barker, Sir Terence Conran, Siobhan Davies CBE, Duke of Devonshire, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, Tricia Guild OBE, Sir Mark Jones, Jude Kelly OBE, Cath Kidston, Corin Mellor, Michelle Ogundehin, Grayson Perry, Jon Snow, Sheila Teague, Sir John Tusa and Jeanette Winterson OBE. All have signed up to www.craftmatters.org.uk
• The Crafts Council’s goal is to make the UK the best place to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft.
o We believe that craft plays a dynamic and vigorous role in the UK’s social, economic and cultural life.
o We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to make, see, collect and learn about craft.
o We believe that the strength of craft lies in its use of traditional and contemporary techniques, ideas and materials to make extraordinary new work.
o We believe that the future of craft lies in nurturing talent; children and young people must be able to learn about craft at school and have access to excellent teaching throughout their education.
• 11% of the UK population visited a craft exhibition in 20089/09, and 17% participated in craft activity in the same year (DCMS/ACE Taking Part data update August 2009). (Taking Part is an ongoing survey being carried out by Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts Council England (ACE)
• More than 2.8 million visits were made to the Crafts Council website in 2009. To find out everything you need to know about where to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft visit www.craftscouncil.org.uk
• The Crafts Council is supported by Arts Council England. Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. As the national development agency for the arts, it supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Between 2008 and 2011, Arts Council England will invest £1.3 billion of public money from government and a further £0.3 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
