Before, After & Beyond, the first full retrospective in London of the work of internationally acclaimed designer Martino Gamper opens today at 11 Mansfield Street, London W1G 9NZ, running until 26 October 2024.
This is Martino Gamper’s first solo show in London since his 2007 seminal ‘100 Chairs in 100 Days’ and will bring together the many different aspects of his design and craftsmanship that have never been seen together before.
Before, After & Beyond is an entire transformation of the house. Each room has been specially staged: a music and games room, a study, a living/dining space, a bedroom, all furnished by Martino Gamper. The installation covers the full range of his work from early one-off experiments, museum projects, industrial products, private commissions, as well as major new designs, rethought early works and unseen pieces – some using reclaimed materials and found works by known designers as a point of departure. New works include beds, desks, handblown and cut glass lamps, dining chairs, drinks trolleys, games tables, a backgammon set, a freestanding bar, mirrors, library shelving and experiments using repurposed Franco Albini and Paolo Buffa furniture.
The exhibition explores and celebrates the domesticity of Martino Gamper’s work, as well as the processes of making, producing, and assembling. His work is reflective of his motive of connecting people, his interest in the social dimension of furniture, using design to create interaction.
Martino Gamper OBE (b.1971, Merano, Italy) started as an apprentice with a furniture maker in Merano and went on to study sculpture under Michelangelo Pistoletto at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. He completed a Masters in 2000 at the Royal College of Art in London where he studied under Ron Arad, before setting up his London studio in the same year.
Working across disciplines, he engages in a variety of projects including exhibition design, interior design, one-off commissions, and the design of mass-produced products at the forefront of the design industry. His design commissions range from the Prada store windows, Valextra Flagship Stores, to chairs for Rubelli and Dior, glassware for Lobmeyr, and restaurants in the Dolomites.
Selected exhibitions and commissions include: ‘Middle Chair’, The Modern Institute at Pollock House, Glasgow (2017); ‘Below Stairs’, Sir John Soane Museum, London, UK (2016); ‘100 Chairs in 100 Days’, MIMOCA, Marugame, Japan (2015); ‘design is a state of mind’, Serpentine, London (2014); ‘Period Room’, Palais De Tokyo, Paris; ‘Tu casa, mi casa’, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2013); ‘Bench Years’, London Design Festival commission, V&A Museum, London (2012); ʻGesamtkunsthandwerk’ (Karl Fritsch, Martino Gamper and Francis Upritchard), Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth – New Zealand (2011); Project for Café Charlottenborg, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2011); ‘Bench to Bench’, public street furniture in East London in collaboration with LTGDC (2011); ‘A 100 chairs in 100 Days’, 5 Cromwell Place, London (2007); ‘Wouldn’t it be Nice…Wishful thinking in Art & Designʼ, Centre dʼ Art Contemporain, Genève (2007).
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Martino Gamper: Before, After and Beyond
Curated by Martino Gamper and Sarah Douglas
7-26 October 2024
11 Mansfield Street, London W1G 9NZ
By kind permission of Maja Hoffmann
Admission free, no appointment needed.
Opening hours:
Frieze week 7-13 October, daily 10 am to 8 pm
14-26 October, Tuesday to Sunday 12 noon – 7 pm