Olivier Gagnère: French Designer:
Contrasts Gallery presents “Olivier Gagnère: French Designer”, on view at the Shanghai Art Museum from May 13 to June 8, 2006. The exhibition features a selection of over eighty designs, including new pieces specifically designed for the exhibition, and will provide a comprehensive look at the French designer’s works.
Born in 1952 in Boulogne and currently living and working in Paris, Olivier Gagnère is widely considered to be one of the greatest contemporary French designers. Interior designer, furniture designer, light designer, glass designer, and porcelain designer all at the same time, Gagnère’s impressive list of international clientele includes Absolut Vodka, Baccarat, Cartier, and Christian Dior, amongst many others. Gagnère is known for mixing original colour palette with precious materials, for integrating quintessential French elements with the essence and history of other cultures, and for fusing modernity with tradition.
Born into an antique dealing family, Gagnère’s eyes were trained for details, ornaments, and traditional arts and crafts at an early stage. Yet his respect and penchant for decorative art does not lessen his emphasis on function. Although generally considered as one of the most acclaimed icons of Neo-Baroque design due to the preciousness of the material he chooses and the costly handmade techniques, Gagnère’s designs are in fact elegantly minimal with painstakingly chosen ornaments that are carefully arranged to give maximum effect.
Since the 1980s, Gagnère has created many iconic designs for international design firms, including Memphis from Italy, Bernadaud, the Cristalleries Saint Louis, and Fugakawa. Café Marly at the Louvre, for which Gagnère designed the furniture and interior, has become a fashion and lifestyle Mecca to which the hip and the trendy flock. The plate set he designed for established French porcelain company Bernadaud transformed the brand’s image, rendering it younger and more stylish.
Contrasts Gallery is delighted to mount this exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum to support Olivier Gagnère’s endeavor to create designs that are not bounded by nations. By organising this exhibition, Contrasts Gallery wishes to introduce the French designer’s works to the public in China.
For further information, images, or invitations, please contact
Wendy Wang at wendywang@contrastsgallery.com
Tina Sima at tina@contrastsgallery.com
Or call (8621) 6474 1216
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