If there is no doubt that objects play with our emotions, François-Xavier Courrèges, he plays with objects by making them talk brilliantly on his booth. Pierre Sala, Gaetano Pesce or Enzo Mari, are all iconic names in the French and Italian design that you will find in the scenographies of this new antique dealer …
What is your background ?
After general studies, I worked as an assistant stylist in fashion, then fairly quickly, I exhibited video installations, drawings and collages in the context of contemporary art, notably with Alain Gutharc and Yvon Lambert in Paris, or Gagosian in New York.
Very early on, I was made aware of antiques thanks to my parents who took me antiquing to Paul Bert in the 1980s. So it was quite naturally that my attraction to vintage and design was born.
In parallel with my activity as an artist, I started buying and reselling design pieces as a collector.
I am interested in memory, in oblivion, and I am passionate about archives and research around works and designers. I spend a lot of time in the library, to cultivate this taste, to discover, and to enrich my knowledge.
This activity around design, which was then secondary, gradually came to the fore, out of passion.
What are you presenting on your booth?
I had been thinking about moving to Paul Bert Serpette for a long time. I took advantage of a period of expatriation of several years to refine my project.
I am particularly interested in furniture-sculptures, trompe-l'oeil objects and lighting, such as the desk in the shape of a school notebook from 1983 by Pierre Sala or the umbrella that unfolds into a chair from 1995 by Gaetano Pesce, presented currently on my booth. I like when design goes beyond the notion of utility and becomes an object of questioning.
I will also present a selection of pieces that are not all signed, but whose dialogue with these creators seems relevant to me.
Being from the world of contemporary art, I also want to show editions by artists that I like, often major figures, like at the moment, cards signed by Cindy Sherman and a small drawing by Ugo Rondinone.
I like to combine objects and create correspondences between them.
Do you have a favorite designer?
I want to introduce JC Peiré, a French ceramist from the 1970s and 1980s, who has fallen into oblivion. A few years ago, I fell in love with one of his pieces, a wall lamp in the shape shirt with a Plexiglas tie lit underneath by a fluorescent tube. I then wanted to know who was hiding behind this mysterious name. I conducted research on his work and his career Jean-Claude Peiré, known as JC Peiré, has produces functional decorative objects, a prolific work that testifies to inventiveness, ingenuity and renewal in the field of ceramics of its time, and which easily resembles pop-art
The works of JC Peiré, although strongly inscribed in their time, fit perfectly into our interiors Today, it is a work that I am delighted to defend and to make discover on my booth.
