LONDON.- Carpenters Workshop Gallery opened the first ever solo exhibition by the French artist Martin Laforêt. Inside Out features ten limited-edition objects combining the mould as part of the piece, and blends concrete with oak and bronze for the first time.

Julien Lombrail, Co-founder of Carpenters Workshop Gallery comments :“We’ve been working with Martin since he graduated and are proud to see him mature into an incredible designer. We feel fortunate to host his first solo exhibition and can’t wait to share his new works in London from January and at PAD Paris.”

The relationship between materials is a main feature of Laforêt’s work. In his oak and concrete monumental lamps and coffee table, the two materials react with each other to give them their unique character and colour.

The bronze collection has been completed using the lost-wax casting technique with the edition of console and side tables as well as several floor and table lamps. Laforêt integrates the concrete moulds as part of his design which form the base of the pieces.

Laforêt comments: “My practice moves simultaneously between cast and mould, lending a poetry to the contrasting materials and preserving the intimate relationship between them. It allows you to see the fill and the void, the inside and the outside, the positive and the negative.»

Laforêt graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven and has been represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery after they discovered him at a graduate show in 2017.

French designer Martin Laforêt (b. in 1991) creates objects and furniture inspired by his interest in materials and techniques. He graduated in 2015 from Design Academy Eindhoven in Contextual Design and in 2013 from ESAD de Reims in Product Design. Previous exhibitions include The graduate(s) (2017) and Nouveau brutaliste (2019) at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, as well as presentations at Salone del Mobile, PAD Paris, Design Miami/ Basel and Dutch Design Week. Laforêt lives and works in Paris.