Side Gallery

Zhou Yilun (b. 1983, Hangzhou, China) lives and works in Hangzhou. Zhou graduated in 2006 from the oil painting department at China Academy of Art. His works are formed from a bricolage of identity, as he lifts and distorts techniques inherited from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Romantic eras—revisiting, perverting, and parodying their ideas for the new globalist regime. He has recently exhibited at the KWM artcenter in Beijing, China (2018), appearing in The Post Southern Song Dynasty, an exhibition of works featuring the Martin Goya Business artist collective. Other recent exhibitions include Zhou Yilun: Q.S.K.T., Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich, Switzerland (2020, solo); Zhou Yilun: Ornament and Crime, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2019, solo); After Sunset, Galeria Liusa Wang, Paris, France (2018); Parallel Times, Inna Art Space, Hangzhou, China (2017); The Monkey On Horseback, Galeria Nicodim, Bucharest, Romania (2016, solo); Zhou Yilun, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (2015, solo); GODFINDER, Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing, China (2015, solo); and My Generation: Young Chinese Artists, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, USA; Orange County; Museum of Art, Newport Beach, USA (2015).

Zhou Yilun is, in addition, the founder of the R3PM3 design label which produces clothing and furniture from old, everyday objects and fabrics, which he presented for the first time in 2015 at the Inna Art Space, Hangzhou.

Tadeas Podracky (b. 1989, Czech Republic) is an experimental designer who seeks authenticity in our immediate surroundings. Through material research, questioning craft heritage, and a hands-on approach, Podracky proposes a new methodology. He uses a reformulated approach to design, based on exploring expression, destruction, and accepting individuality.

Whether it is an object or space, he is always looking for a way to break down the established principles of "good" design to bring new possibilities and emphasize the multi-layered identities of the contemporary individual.

Tadeas Podracky went through the design and fine art academic training. He received an MA at the Academy of Art Architecture and Design in Prague; completed study internships in the Fine Art studio at the School of Visual Arts (New York) and in the Monumental Sculpture studio at the Academy of Fine Arts (Prague). After independent practice, he completed an MA in Contextual Design from the Design Academy Eindhoven.

His work won the AD design award and CGD award and has been internationally exhibited, notably Design Miami Basel, FOG San Francisco, Maison et Objet Paris, Mudac museum Lausanne, Designblok Prague, Salone del Mobile Milano, London Design Festival, Dutch Design Week. Podracky was invited as a guest designer to several design residencies, Design Biennial (Venice), Fellowship in Creative Glass Center of America at WheatonArts (USA), and Yuhang Rong Design Library (China).

Chan Chiao Chun (1984, Taipei) is a visual artist and designer. His intuitive practice is based on the struggles between himself and his surrounding objects. Born in Taiwan, the artist moved to Europe to study and graduate with an MA from the Design Academy of Eindhoven. Over these years, he has developed a practice that allows him to explore interactions between human activity and its environments. The transformation from form to function in the contemporary design context and the unlimited self-interpretations of his visual diary play an active role in his design process. He produces a self-portrait drawing every day. He avails of color pigmentations, photographs, and raw materials are applied in his daily imageries. These self-portraits act as an autobiography that weaves a stream of incremental changes together. Chiao chooses to be an everyday creator, dealing with a state of uncertainty rather than perceptions and consciousness. He builds up a framework that thrives itself, and the attributes of its prosperity are hardly definable.

Chiao doesn't conform to conventional design discourse. His work displays a new language that can influence human behaviours and forms in different spaces. His apparent interest in hylomorphism is visible in his delicate approach to matter and form. He prefers to relate his mind to surrealistic scenarios constantly. Through this, he is compounding the richness of individuality.

Carlo Lorenzetti (b. 1990 Chicago, IL) is a designer from Michigan, USA. His formative training in pottery was the basis for his undergraduate studies. He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Art & Design with a B.A in Fine Arts, in 2012. He studied ceramics and furniture design and focused his research on the relationship between digital fabrication with traditional craft techniques.

In 2015 he received an M.A from the Contextual Design department at Design Academy Eindhoven, where his research focused on themes of the subconscious. His focus shifted away from hybrid fabrication methods to user experience. His craft background was foundational in his exploration of domestic and primal archetypes. He looked at human behavior, researching themes of the subconscious mind and psychoanalysis, relating them to his design objects. Vessels and containers offer a physical and symbolic platform. He currently lives and works in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Tom Volkaert was born in Antwerp, 1989. Volkaert's work (b.1989, Antwerp) focuses on the changes which occur throughout material processes. He has an intuitive way of work, taking time to understand the fragility of each interval material, allowing them an element of independence, introducing the essential component of chance to the process. Each item produced is an example of Volkaert's exploration of the raw materials he chooses to use. Relics of improvements and repairs are constant in Volkaert's designs, contributing to a vision of unsettling beauty and horror, perfection and defective.

The Dutch designer has recently published his first book, an oeuvre of his inventory. The title, "As slow as possible," references Aesop's fable about the snail and the hare. Volkaert takes inspiration from outside the art world, "not everyone is unique and everything has happened before," he says. The visual ideas of the key figures in the art world can be very defining for a field and can be paralyzing. "That's why I relate to stories that have nothing to do with art history."

He enjoys referencing outside of the art world, "not everyone is unique and everything has happened before," Volkaert has said. The visual ideas of the key figures in the art world can be very defining for a field and can be paralyzing. "That's why I relate to stories that have nothing to do with art history." Volkaert works intuitively and tries to act "as slow as possible" in the depths of his technical research.

Volkaert's sculptures present themselves as untouched. The mysterious iron, clay, and resin forms are fascinating. They force the onlooker to observe every angle, allowing for a chaotic awakening of sensory impressions.

Fascinated by the hollow spaces in his ceramic works, Volkaert recently started to work with transparent materials. His epoxy pieces reveal the inside of his works for the first time, allowing for further exploration of disassociation. By disclosing all areas of his work, Volkaert further strips any illusion the onlooker may have previously perceived. He resolutely opts for the full formality. This time nothing stands in the way of the viewer to fully "see" the work.
 

Côme Clérino (1990, Paris) lives in Paris and works in Pantin, France. He graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2016. He developed a multidisciplinary practice, challenging the academic definition of painting and combining photography, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, and installation. In 2017, he presented his first solo exhibition, "Voir au verso", at Les Gens Heureux gallery in Copenhagen. In 2018, after a new solo exhibition, "Emulsilfy(ing)", at the Castellana 22 gallery in Madrid, he was nominated for the International Painting Prize of Vitry-sur-Seine.

In 2019, he presented his first solo show in France, "Et si on passait les meubles par la fenêtre?", at the Double V Gallery in Marseille, in the spring, as well as his first solo show in Paris, "Que Devons Nous Y Faire", at Galerie Chloe Salgado, Paris in the autumn. In 2020, Clérino notably participated in the 69th edition of Jeune Création at the Fiminco Foundation, in Recyclage/Surcyclage, at the Villa Datris Foundation, and in Wearables, at Etage Projects, Copenhagen. He founded and curated "Dix-sept murs et une fenêtre", the first online show of On / Off Gallery, a digital artist-run space.

Romain Coppin and Alexis Bondoux are two freelance designers, who regularly work together under the name of Messgewand (which is german for “chasuble” a word which, in French, not only means a priestly vestment but also a colorful sporty tank top). Messgewand is a collaborative practice based between Lyon (FR) and Amsterdam (NL). The two designers met eleven years ago, while studying at applied-arts school in Nevers (FR), where they bonded over a shared skepticism regarding the product driven nature of their design education. After seven years of training in product/object design, they now use this discipline as a medium to question its aesthetic conventions and defne their own plastic language.

They explore the concept of mental furniture, midway between functional sculpture and nonfunctional design. To do so they are experimenting with collage and domestic familiarity of sculpture. Through those mediums, they express their interest for the use of art pieces as objects and designed objects as art pieces. This position especially make them answering to professional assignments as much as self-initiated projects with a critical approach toward modes of production and representation. They disrupt the seriality of production by creating a mash-up of low design and craft interventions. 

Their experimentations are visualized using object, furniture, sculpture, image and drawing. By doing so, they try to challenge the contemporary visual codes and rules of the object design feld. Each project is an opportunity to experiment and precise their personal design langage. All of them put together are determining a large research area positioned in a narrow gap between art and design. They see themselves as designers/researchers that have a fascination for aesthetic ambiguity, which is something that they use as a tool to create aesthetic contrasts within their objects, and try to keep their work constantly in between. Always oscillating between sacred and cheap for instance, which is helping them to mix mass culture and avant-garde. Being ambiguous it’s also the way they choose to approach as closely as possible a new discipline related to object/furniture, and to the crossroads of many others.

They use their design background to hack the usual product design process of creating and making such as thinking - sketching - drawing - modeling - making. They see each step of it as a potential fnal proposal instead of having them linked in a global and closed production loop. For Messgewand, it is really more fulflling to experiment all these mediums independently from each other by keeping them in an open relation, where they all have the same hierarchy regarding the notion of fnality. One of their challenges is to display the results of their experimentations in some stages which are not the usual ones. They want their artworks to be “about” design more than being design themselves. Challenging the conventional process enables them to build abstract representations of functional design, based on a maximal and excessive ornamentation.

The intuitive and raw collage is the main part of their practice. Connected to an empirical production process, it became their favourite and most powerful way to produce their pieces so far. It really fts their desires of over materiality and obsessive decoration. It allows them to mix mediums, popular aesthetics and domestic codes. Their work is actually a collage of effects (texture, colors, decoration, accessories) combined with poor material, semi-object and leftovers that they enhance by layering, covering, composition and ornementation. Thanks to that re-reading of found material, they are able to create busy objects made of contrasts and ambiguity between trash aesthetics and plastic radicality.Romain Coppin and Alexis Bondoux are two freelance designers who regularly work together under the name of Messgewand (which is german for "chasuble," a word which, in French, means not only a priestly garment but also a colorful sporty tank top). Messgewand is a collaborative practice based between Lyon (FR) and Amsterdam (NL). The two designers met eleven years ago while studying at the applied-arts school in Nevers (FR). They bonded over a shared skepticism regarding their design education's product-driven nature. After seven years of training in product/object design, they now use this discipline as a medium to question its aesthetic conventions and define their plastic language.

They explore the concept of mental furniture, midway between functional sculpture and nonfunctional design. To do so, they experiment with collage and domestic familiarity of sculpture. Through those mediums, they express their interest in using art pieces as objects and designed objects as art pieces. This position especially makes them answer professional assignments as much as self-initiated projects with a critical approach toward modes of production and representation. They disrupt the seriality of production by creating a mash-up of low design and craft interventions. 

Their experimentations are visualized by using objects, furniture, sculpture, image, and drawing. They try to challenge the contemporary visual codes and rules of the object design field. Each project is an opportunity to experiment and precise their design language. They all put together to determine a significant research area in a narrow gap between art and design. They see themselves as designers/researchers who have a fascination for aesthetic ambiguity. They use this to create aesthetic contrasts within their objects and try to keep their work constantly in motion. For instance, they oscillate between sacred and cheap, which helps them mix mass culture and avant-garde. Being ambiguous, it's also the way they choose to approach as closely as possible a new discipline related to object/furniture and the crossroads of many others.

They use their design background to hack the usual process of creating and making, such as thinking, sketching, drawing, and modeling-making. They see each step of the process as a potential final proposal instead of having them linked in a closed production loop. For Messgewand, it is more fulfilling to experiment with all these mediums independently by keeping them in an open relationship. One of the challenges that they face is displaying their experimentations in unusual stages. They want their artworks to be "about" design rather than being design pieces themselves. Challenging the conventional process enables them to build abstract representations of functional design based on maximal and excessive ornamentation.

They work intuitively and are connected to an empirical production process. This became their favored and most powerful way to produce their pieces so far. It fits their desires of over-materiality and obsessive decoration. It allows them to mix mediums, popular aesthetics, and domestic codes. Their work is a collage of effects (texture, colors, decoration, accessories) combined with poor material, semi-object, and leftovers that they enhance by layering, covering, composition and ornamentation. Thanks to that re-reading of found material, they can create busy objects of contrast and ambiguity between trash aesthetics and plastic radicality.

Willem van Hooff (b. 1992, Holland) sees himself as a modern craftsman. After graduating from the Design Academy in Eindhoven in 2018, he opened a design studio in Eindhoven. He achieves a raw style by availing of primitive techniques. He often works with traditional machinery, methods, and existing products. His work breaths a new, exciting life into traditional materials.

Van Hoof's ethos maintains that modern production lacks soul, something which Van Hoof is passionate about. The craftsman believes that the coronavirus pandemic has uncovered people's appreciation of the smaller things in life.

Embracing craft in the digital age, Rollo Bryant (b.1996, UK) specializes in working techniques that merge freehand sculpting with computational software. Focused on projects that create positive environmental change, while promoting the idea that even with this new challenge, design can still be as appealing and versatile, if not more so.

With a distinct focus on material and lighting innovation, Rollo’s goal is to create works that change perception, invite intrigue and raise poignant topical discussion. His fascination with naturally formed organic structures has led to an aesthetic identity of similar character and taste.

Optimistic about design intervention as a means to address ecological neglect, Rollo’s most recent project ‘Urban Stem’, attempts to bring this conversation into the spotlight, by imagining a future where we are brought closer to the biosphere. Highlighting a number of key problems with the ways we light our cities, the project explores ideas to mitigate our impact and prioritize an alternate agenda for urban design.

The creative duo of Frederik Nystrup-Larsen (b.1992 Copenhagen) and Oliver Sundqvist (b.1991 Copenhagen) has proven to be a partnership that continuously questions the current state of contemporary art. The pair have reinterpreted the processes of consumerism, illustrating critique on overconsumption and poor manufacturing through working in the field of art and design.

Intellectually and physically dependent on regular variation and change, 'Mater' (meaning mother in Latin), the first collective project between Oliver and Frederik, was a vase created as a Christmas present for their mother. Norma, a Copenhagen restaurant that is often referred to as the best restaurant in the world, used the vase. Since 'Mater,' the duo have continued focusing on creating unique and collectible objects, with a central focus on longevity. The pair seek to ignite a feeling of responsibility in people through the creations of thoughtful and sustainable pieces. A lot of their work questions the surrounding world. Inspired by characters who challenge established understandings of and structures within this world, the duo look towards multiple disciplines to fuel their creativity.

Their process is as equally important as the final product. Inspired by beauty and decay, Oliver and Frederik's creative process is split into phases - initially, they spend a lot of time reflecting, not stressing about it, and being slow, taking actions that do not relate to the project or practice. The following phase, the physical execution of the idea, is built on intuition and (often an unhealthy) tempo. The duo thrives off the flow of stress, allowing their brains to work on autopilot while creating.

The designers split their time between Copenhagen and London and have exhibited at Art Basel and at two solo shows before they had even finished school.

Oren Pinhassi (b.1985, Tel Aviv, Israel; lives and works in New York) graduated from the Yale School of Art in 2014. Recent solo shows include Castello San Basilio, Basilicata, 2019; Palazzo  Monti, Brescia, 2019; One in the mouth and one in the heart at Skibum MacArthur, Los Angeles, 2018; Springs at the Petach Tikva  Museum of Art, Israel, 2017; Nature Calls at RIBOT Gallery, Milan, 2017; Hanging Gardens at New Capital Projects, Chicago, 2016.  Group exhibitions include For Mario at Tina Kim Gallery, New York, 2019; Four at Yossi Milo, New York, 2019; This Is Not A Prop at David  Zwirner, New York, 2018. Completed residencies include Outset Contemporary Art Fund’s Bialik Residency, 2017, the Shandanken  Project at Storm King Sculpture Park, New York, 2016 and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine, 2014. Pinhassi  has been awarded numerous prizes including The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, 2018; Fannie B. Pardee Prize, Yale School of Art,  2014; The Art Slant Prize, 2014; Shlomo Witkin Prize, 2011 and the Excellence Program Scholarship, Israeli Ministry of Education, 2011.  Pinhassi lives and works in New York City.

Pinhassi’s installations examine the relationship between the human figure and the built environment by conjuring evocative sites  that intersect public and private exchange. Past works explored bathhouses as spaces of vulnerability and sensuality, or cruising spots  in nature as voyeuristic portals to erotic transformation. The sculptures in The Crowd invoke architectures of authority, incorporating  features of manmade spaces designed to exert power over individuals within them. Quotations from civic institutions are equally  abundant – voting booths, segregation cells, institutional desks. Points of bureaucratic exchange become expressions of bodily  desire, as teller windows imply receptive orifices.  

Pinhassi’s primary materials are plaster and sand, methodically layered over welded steel skeletons. The visual sensibility created  by both medium and application is one of constructive ambiguity – the tactile surface announces itself as handmade, yet the  predominantly grey colour and repetition of form across the group of sculptures evokes a spectre of concrete modernism that is instantaneously disavowed by their voluptuous sensuality, urging us towards a logic of futuristic hybridity. Standing in contrast to the more architectural works are several comparatively humanoid figures, if only for their suggestive pastel pink colouring that guides us  towards the interior space of the body.