jaime hayon sources sports for ‘game on’ exhibition at galerie kreo all images © fabrice gousset / courtesy galerie kreo

jaime hayon: game on galerie kreo, london now until september 5, 2015

spanish designer jaime hayon infills galerie kreo, london with pieces from his collection inspired by sports. the exhibition ‘game on’ adopts athletic visual themes, forms, colors, and patterns to functional furniture pieces. the graphic lines of sports fields, aerodynamic curves, and ergonomic equipment structures are reinterpreted in materials like precious carrara marble, mirrored surfaces, metals and neon. each of the works play with metamorphosis, scale, and disguise, uniting a cartoon-like quality with noble materials to form functional, playful, technical and surreal design objects. 

installation view at galerie kreo, london

examples of some of the exhibited pieces include an ice skating daybed, which plays on its resemblance with skates or a bobsleigh to create a juxtaposition of ideas — the speed and recklessness of the sport is reinterpreted to invite sleep and relaxation. a podium cabinet suggests users hierarchize the way they store our goods, with sports jersey-style numbers correlating to the opening of each wooden cabinet door. a racket-shaped mirror seems to spring from a hallucinatory experience of olympic proportions, featuring an oversized, lacquered ceramic ball attached to its surface.

the pieces adopt athletic visual themes, forms, colors, and patterns to functional furniture pieces

the pieces unite a precise design technique with the visual vocabulary of the sports industry. the many different disciplines invoked — gymnastics for the ‘trapeze ceiling light’, ping-pong for ‘ping pong table’, collective sports for ‘game on’ lamps and ‘game on’ side tables — bring an overall coherence to the collection. additionally, hayon finished the collection with a twist: the use of artisanal materials (his personal favorites like ceramic, wood, marble, hand-blown glass, leather) instead of the obvious high-tech and composite materials preferred today.

the graphic lines that occur in sports are reinterpreted in precious materials

‘game on’ side table – copper ceramic, 2015  limited edition of 20 pieces + 2 a. p. + 2 prototypes numbered & signed pieces copper lacquered ceramic, black lacquer / h: 17.7 inches (45cm), d (max.): 15.7 inches (40cm)

‘game on’ lamp – white, 2015 limited edition of 8 pieces + 2 a. p. + 2 prototypes numbered & signed pieces marble, ceramic, opal glass h: 23.6 inches (60cm), lampshade diameter: 15.7 inches (40cm), base diamater: 7.9 inches (20cm)

‘game on’ side table – black ceramic, 2015 limited edition of 20 pieces + 2 a. p. + 2 prototypes numbered & signed pieces black lacquered ceramic, copper lacquer h: 17.7 inches (45cm), diameter (max.): 15.7 inches (40cm)

‘ice skating’ daybed, 2015 limited edition of 8 pieces + 2 a. p. + 2 prototypes numbered & signed pieces solid walnut, chrome-plated metal, fabric, stitching (red, green, yellow) h: 17.7 inches (45cm),  l: 78.7 inches (200cm), depth: 39.3 inches (100cm)

‘podium cabinet’, 2015  limited edition of 8 pieces + 2 a. p. + 2 prototypes numbered & signed pieces black lacquered mdf, black marquinia marble h: 46.5inches (118cm), w: 70.9inches (180cm), depth: 23.6inches (60cm)

‘trapeze’ ceiling light, 2015 limited edition of 8 pieces + 2 a. p. + 2 prototypes numbered & signed pieces lacquered wood, burnished brass, leather, neon height of the trapeze: 21.3 inches (54cm) minimum height 24.4inches / 43.3inches (62cm/110cm) length: 25 inches (63.5cm), depth: 1.8 inches (4,5 cm)

‘racket mirror’ – small model, 2015  limited edition of 8 pieces + 2 a. p. + 2 prototypes numbered & signed pieces lacquered solid oak, mirror, lacquered ceramic h: 47,2 inches (120cm), l: 27 inches (68.5cm), depth: 3.1 inches (8cm)

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