LOS ANGELES, CA.- Industry Gallery exhibits limited edition poured concrete furniture and other works by Dutch designer Tejo Remy, a founding designer at Droog, and René Veenhuizen, his design partner of the past decade, on the Fifth Floor Atrium of the Pacific Design Center, in conjunction with Design Loves Art and WestWeek 2011. The exhibition will run through June 10. In 2010, Atelier Remy & Veenhuizen created the first concrete prototypes – two chairs, a bench and a stool – which immediately attracted international media attention. One of the two chairs is now in the permanent collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The PDC exhibition also includes a large tubular bench made from tennis balls based on a series made for Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen; an “Accidental Carpet” made from recycled blankets; and, a chair constructed from wide bamboo slats (one of only six made).
The works in the exhibition appear to be made of inflated fabric, but actually are of poured concrete. Remy & Veenhuizen cast each prototype as a single piece in individual molds created from waterproof PVC or plastic sheeting. Once assembled, the molds are placed upside down and concrete is poured into the feet. The legs are steel reinforced and the concrete itself contains small metal fibers that add stability. Within two days the works are solid enough for the mold to be cut off; and, within two weeks, the furniture is completely dry.
The concrete furniture prototypes stem from designers’ aesthetic that advocates using mundane material. The new works follow a lineage established in 1991 when Tejo Remy created “Rag Chair,” “Chest of Drawers (You Can’t Lay Down Your Memories)” and “Milk Bottle Lamp”, which reused and repurposed basic, discarded and underappreciated materials. Those three works, staples at Droog since 1993, are included in major public and private international collections.
"We wanted to create landscape elements that were tactile and soft, even though they were made from concrete. The original idea was to work with big rubber molds to create a soft appearance," said Veenhuizen. Remy added, "We reduced the size of the works to make them more manageable. Then, as we experimented with the concrete, we became interested in the amount of pressure the concrete put on the molds, and how the end result made that pressure permanently visible."
Helen Varola, Curator/Director of Design Loves Art at the PDC states: “Atelier Remy & Veenhuizen brings the language of arte povera to another level of experience.” “These concrete works reflect the ingenuity, curiosity and inventive use of materials that are hallmarks of Tejo and René’s design ethos,” said Industry Gallery owner Craig Appelbaum.
Tejo Remy graduated the School of Art in Utrecht, department 3d‐Design in 1991. René Veenhuizen graduated the School of Art in Utrecht, department 3d‐Design in 1993 and is now on their faculty. After several years of collaboration, they formalized their design partnership in 2000.
Their work is exhibited internationally and included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Audax Textielmuseum in Tilburg, and other venues.
