PARIS.- Gagosian announced an exhibition of new and recent limited-edition furniture by Marc Newson, opening January 25 at 9 rue de Castiglione.

Newson has remained at the forefront of contemporary design for four decades. Working across disciplines, he is renowned for his innovative exploration of form and medium. Reenvisioning the possibilities of classical materials via contemporary fabrication techniques, Newson creates iconic designs that resonate with the past and present.

The Paris exhibition features Cloisonné White and Blue Lounge and Cloisonné White and Blue Chair (both 2022), two works that exemplify Newson’s concerns with both shape and surface. The designer ornaments their copper bodies with elaborate allover patterning in his signature circle and molecular “orgone” motifs in white and blue. Newson’s employment of the ancient technique of cloisonné—typically used to craft small decorative objects—recalls his roots as a jeweler and silversmith. His decision to apply enamelwork to furniture necessitated the adaptation of traditional production methods to a new scale; artisans in Beijing affix cloisons, or partitions of copper wire, to the furniture forms, inlay enamel into the precisely defined designs, and then fire the pieces up to twelve times in vast, custom-made kilns.

Continuing the exploration of blue hues that unites the objects in this exhibition, Blue Glass Chair (2017) is a seat in solid cast glass comprised of quarter-spheres. Its blue top half rests on the symmetrical lower half of uncolored glass, which absorbs and reflects some of its intense colors. As with the cloisonné works, its production pushes the technical possibilities of its materials, requiring a highly controlled, months-long process in a glass oven of substantial size.

Extruded Ribbon Console (2022) is a work carved from a single piece of Azul Macaubas stone, a unique material with distinctive azure tones. The dynamic piece was conceived as a flat curvilinear shape drawn out into three dimensions to define its “extruded” form. The exhibition also includes Clear Surfboard (2017), a high-tech design in aluminum that began as a prototype constructed for Garrett McNamara, offering the renowned big-wave surfer a stability beyond that of a conventional fiberglass board. In these works, Newson reveals the boldness of his vision, melding function and form to extend the possibilities of contemporary design.

Design is about improving things and about looking to the future, pushing the technology forward. For me, as a designer, it is a great opportunity to improve on what is already out there, to simplify, beautify, and technologically improve. —Marc Newson