Hasta La Ideas

Cardboard furniture by Max Lamb and an oversized screen in the shape of “a curled up woman” by artist Saelia Aparicio are among the works displayed at a Gallery Fumi exhibition that coincides with the Frieze LA art fair in Los Angeles.

The Fumi LA exhibition, on show at Sized Studio, marks the first major US show by the London-based Gallery Fumi and includes an assortment of collectable furniture made of cardboard, resin, wood and metal from a group of international designers and artists.

“Blending the beautiful with the provocative, the refined with the quirky, Fumi’s inaugural presentation spotlights a fresh collection of standout pieces,” said the gallery in a statement.

Following his recent collection of furniture pieces made from cardboard boxes, British designer Lamb built  upon the work with the collection Box 2, which included additional tables, chairs, and a vessel made of the material.

The Box 2 pieces were wrapped in a spotted skin of discarded scraps of cardboard, sourced from cardboard tubes, delivery boxes, and various projects from Lamb’s studio.

The designer crushed and layered the material with homemade glue to achieve “a structural integrity like that of rock or wood” to create each piece.

Lamb also displayed pink and blue tufted armchairs, hand-dyed wool rugs, a curved-edge sofa made of glulam wood, and chairs made of expanded polystyrene insulation and wood coated with gold leaf.

Spanish artist Aparicio created plywood stools cut and painted brightly to resemble bodies in various folded positions, including the orange and red-painted Esfinge Absorta, “a powerful, monumental screen in the shape of a curled-up woman that exudes both physical presence and fragility”.

Stoneware and porcelain lighting and vessels by US designer Jeremy Anderson are on display, which were adorned with tear-drop-shaped jewellery accents and a hand-painted black and white motif.

Other lighting includes the spindly glass chandelier and lamp by the German designer Jochen Holz, with similar, twisting branches reflected in the design of a copper chandelier by British studio James Plumb.

Italian-studio 6 AM Glassworks displayed stools made of black Murano glass that feature distinct stacked layers and geometric bodies, while British designer Allan Collins made amorphous seating covered in Pirarucu fish leather.

Other pieces include a table made of antique wood and pastel-coloured resin by Chinese designer Jie Wu and bronze seating from studio Voukenas Pertides moulded into organic forms.

Other designers showing work were British designer Leora Honeyman, Italian artist Francesco Perini, British artist Rowan Mersh, Dutch designer Eelko Moorer, Finnish designers Tuomas Markunpoika and Kustaa Saksi, German designer Johannes Nagel, Japanese designer Shinta Nakajima, design studio Glithero, German designers Jochen Holz and Lukas Wegwerth, US designer Casey McCafferty, British designers Sam Orlando Miller and Alex Hull and studio Study O Portable.

Gallery Fumi recently marked its 15th anniversary with a design exhibition in London informed by biology, featuring some of the pieces displayed at this year’s Frieze LA instalment.

The photography is by Stephane Aboudaram/We Are Contents, courtesy of Gallery Fumi

Fumi LA is on show at Sized Studio in Los Angeles from 2 February to 9 March 2024. For more exhibitions, events and talks in architecture and design, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

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