gallery FUMI marks 15 years of disruptive design with major show

gallery fumi launches major group show in london

Marking 15 years of disruptive design, London-based Gallery FUMI is launching a major autumn exhibition, Growth + Form, as a testament to its impressive collection of success stories. From September 7th to September 30th, 2023, FUMI will stage a group show, bringing together new pieces of functional art from its roster of artists and designers. Curated by design historian Libby Sellers and designed by Leendert De Vos, the exhibition specifically highlights curated pieces that look at the ‘dynamics between the inner and outer form: revealing the growth patterns of an object or material, and transformation through adaptation and regeneration.’ From Max Lamb to Voukenas Petrides, and Glithero, discover the eye-grabbing collection of design and art pieces at the Growth + Form show.

exhibition view of Growth + Form | all images courtesy Gallery FUMI

growth + form explores the boundaries between science & art

The concept of the major autumn exhibition, designed by Leendert De Vos, is a nod to the works of biologist D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1860-1948), specifically his 1917 publication On Growth + Form: a poetic and mathematical study of living forms ‘sprouting, ballooning, and metamorphosing into mathematically harmonious shapes,’ as written by Thompson. Tapping into the creative affinity between science and art, the pieces created for the Libby Sellers-curated show at Gallery FUMI (see more here) will display fluid organic forms, natural materials, and geometric structures.

Highlights include the Light Entanglements, a sculptural chandelier by Danish artist Stine Bidstrup, made of hand-blown clusters of glass; Coloured Sticks, a sculpture by Rowan Mersh exemplifying his signature creative process of hand-assembling thousands of typically overlooked individual components; Copper Roots, a floor light by British duo JAMESPLUMB, an evolution from their acclaimed Steel Roots series. Voukenas Petrides, the creative partnership formed by Greek designer Andreas Voukenas and American architect Steven Petrides, will also showcase an organically-shaped chair in bronze.

the major group show will run until September 30th, 2023

Dutch designer Bernadette Deddens and Japanese designer Tetsuo Mukai from Study O Portable will also unveil three seating installations inspired by the isometric grid system in Sol LeWitt’s Incomplete Open Cube. British designer Max Lamb has created two new pieces of furniture for the show, each made from a single log of timber and polished with linseed oil. Moreover, British artist Leora Honeyman will present a bench in ceramic using unusual coloring techniques inspired by her celebrated Comfy Chair and American woodworker Casey McCafferty, a sculpture titled Sticks + Stones, made of soapstone and oiled walnut. Finally, Berlin-based designer Lukas Wegwerth will unveil a wooden cabinet featuring sculpted hand-colored shingles, together with a vase from his Crystallisation Series, exemplifying the show’s title: Growth +Form.

Pebbles Chair (2023) by Francesco Perini | oak, 84 x 62 x 53 cm & Marmaros Metamorphosis (2023) by Rowan Mersh | hand-dipped paint on birsh, Ø 125 cm / D 21 cm

PARTICIPATING DESIGNERS AND ARTISTS

The complete list of participattng artists and designers at the Gallery FUMI major group show is as follows: Casey McCafferty (US), Francesco Perini (Italy), Glithero (The Netherlands/UK), JAMESPLUMB (UK), Jie Wu (China), Johannes Nagel (Germany), Kustaa Saksi (Finland), Leora Honeyman (UK), Lukas Wegwerth (Germany), Max Lamb (UK), Rowan Mersh (UK), Saelia Aparicio (Spain), Sam Orlando Miller (UK), Study O Portable (The Netherlands/Japan), Voukenas Petrides (Greece/US), Stine Bidstrup (Denmark).

Overall, FUMI represents a roster of 28 international artists and designers, all creating unique collections for the gallery. In addition to the 2023 participants, the roster also includes: Alex Hull (UK), Allan Collins (UK), Atelier lachaert dhanis (Belgium), Bob Lorimer (Sweden), Eelko Moorer (UK), Freddie Yauner (UK), Jochen Holz (Germany), Maria Bruun & Anne D. Vester (Denmark), Shinta Nakajima (Japan), Studio 6:AM (Italy), Tuomas Markunpoika (Germany). This year, FUMI ceramic artist has announced its representation of Jeremy Anderson (US), who will produce a new series of ‘illuminated sculptures’ to be unveiled as part of their summer exhibition, PAD London and Design Miami.