Denim, a fabric that has made fashion history, is reinterpreted by the creativity of Harry Nuriev – one of the most brilliant and provocative designers of the new international generation – in furnishings on the borderline between art and design.
“When I started my practice ten years ago, my question was what can I bring to interior design?” Nuriev says. “Interior design is a symbiosis of three major creative practices: design, architecture, and art. The big one missing from this equation is fashion, which I find very surprising. Fashion is a unique means of expression and I think that furniture is an extension of our wardrobe, our style and more broadly our identity. Fashion is everywhere, it surrounds us. It’s a medium that lasts over time, so let’s infuse it into design.”
Keeping faith with a design vision connected with the concept of transformation and the idea of transferring a new aesthetic dimension into everyday objects and furnishings, the artist-designer – who lives in New York and Paris – presents his first solo show in Paris’s Carpenters Workshop Gallery (54 Rue de la Verrerie, until 13/05).
The designer comments on the exhibition as follows: “It is a crucial step in my career. To be supported by a gallery like this one is a unique opportunity. I enjoy working with them and it enriches me, because although they are always involved in the creative process, they leave me great freedom of expression.”
With the title Denim, the show presents a hybrid collection conceived as a sum of interchangeable modules with which to create tables, sofas, consoles, mirrors… “In the same way that you layer your jeans, T-shirts and jackets in the order you want, I want my furniture to adapt and shape itself according to the user’s wishes,” Nuriev explains.”
Denim is thus composed of separable elements capable of adapting to new contemporary lifestyles, including the more frequent use of domestic space. The idea of putting man at the center of the project, creating a system of furnishings based on the necessities of people, becomes the fulcrum of the collection. One example is Sofa Pool, invented as a multifunctional space that combines various moments of the day: working, eating and resting.
“I have designed the pieces in this collection as assemblies of elements that can be separated,” Nuriev says. “A sofa can be an armchair but also an ottoman. Each element has its own identity, and the assembly can form a single piece. I think my favorite is probably the DJ booth because it brings people together, not just in a party context but also as a dynamic gathering place.”
Photo © Benjamin Baccarani courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery
