hella jongerius at museum boijmans van beuningen

hella jongerius at museum boijmans van beuningen photo by gerrit schreurs fotografie

hella jongerius: misfit museum boijmans van beuningen, rotterdam on now until feburary 13th, 2011

‘misfit’ is the first retrospective of dutch designer hella jongerius on show at the museum boijmans van beiningen in rotterdam. the exhibition includes industrial products, experiments and sketch models which jongerius has completed over the years, with all the objects on display arranged by colour, something which plays a key role in jongerius’ work.

detail photo by gerrit schreurs fotografie

designboom published a preview of jongerius’ newest work on show. entitled ‘300 coloured vases’, the installation consists of three series of coloured vases in which the designer has experimented in colour, using the vessels as her ‘canvas’. the first two series are a collection of forty and forty-two vases respectively, each partially coated with paint from the industrial color ranges RAL (2003) and NCS (2007). the third series has been produced in collaboration with glaze experts at royal tichelaar makkum. whereas the first two series employ industrial paints, the third series uses a combination of a hundred historical mineral recipes and a hundred modern chemical glaze recipes, which jongerius refers to as the ‘fast-food’ colours of the modern ceramics industry. these recipes include such ingredients as cadmium (red), iron (brown), selenium (yellow), copper (green), cobalt (blue) and manganese (purple). the glazes are applied to the vases in layers of patterns, which results in an optical blending – something like a pointillist style on porcelain. these experimental combinations of colours and patterns and alteration in firing temperature results in new colours, which unlike industrial colours that appear flat, have an irregular, layered appearance.

‘coloured vases series 3’ (full view) photo by gerrit schreurs fotografie

jongerius believes that over the past two decades, too much focus has been put on  quantity and standardization. industry has created thousands of colours that are designed to look the same in all circumstances, however these colours lack the irregularities that can provide a more beautiful visual experience such as those found in series 3 of jongerius’ ‘coloured vases’.

‘coloured vases series 3’, oranges photo by gerrit schreurs fotografie

‘coloured vases series 3’, whites photo by gerrit schreurs fotografie

‘coloured vases series 3’, greens photo by gerrit schreurs fotografie

‘coloured vases series 3’, blues photo by gerrit schreurs fotografie

exhibition view of ‘hella jongerius: misfit’ at museum boijmans van beuningen, 2010 photo by lotte stekelenburg

photo by lotte stekelenburg

the objects on display are all arranged according to colour photo by lotte stekelenburg

photo by lotte stekelenburg

photo by lotte stekelenburg

‘long neck and groove bottles’, 2000 porcelain, glass, plastic tape long neck bottle – 50 x Ø14 cm, groove bottle: 44 x Ø18cm unlimited production / 2 basic forms and several colour combinations own initiative, developed during a working period at the EKWC production jongeriuslab photo by gerrit schreurs fotografie

‘a tribute to camper’ 2009 various materials, various dimensions industrial production (winter collection 2009, summer collection 2010) commissioned and produced by camper photo by roel van tour

‘nymphenburg sketches – animal bowls’, 2004 porcelain bowls, animals made by hand, glaze and hand painted decorations various dimensions, Ø17 to 35cm unlimited production / 5 sculpted animals: hippo, bird, hare, snail and fawn each bowl is a result of handicraft and are each unique commissioned and produced by nymphenburg collection: the stedelijk mesum’s hertogenbosch, zuiderzee museum enkhuizen, stedelijk museum amsterdam, FNAC puteaux nationalmsueum stockholm

‘nymphenburg sketches’ are a celebration of animal collections found in the archives of the german porcelain manufactory, nymphenburg. the blown up decorative patterns, which partly cover the sculpted animals, were originally used on the company’s cups and saucers. ‘polder sofa’, 2005 wood, foams, upholstery of several textiles or leather and several colour nuances XS: 78 x 226 x 95 cm / XL: 78 x 293 x 100 cm / XXL: 78 x 330 x 100 cm industrial production / 5 colour versions in textile: red, green, brown, cream, anthracite 2 colour versions in leather: brown, white commissioned and produced by vitra photo by vitra

‘bob garden club chair’, 2010 aluminium frame, foam, polyester fabric with PVC cover, polyproylene 84 x 92 x 95 cm / foot rest: 34 x 70 x 73 cm / side table: 45 x 41 x 49 cm photo by mark gregory peters for kettal industrial production – commissioned and produced by kettal

the ‘bob garden club chair’ is a reinterpretation of a characteristic garden club chair. the aluminium frame has a sturdy dark look when seen from the front, and reveals a more elegant, lighter construction at the back. you can read the designboom article on the ‘bob garden club chair’ here.

‘frog table (natura design magistra)’, 2009 walnut wood, blue semi-transparent coating 120 x 210 x 105 cm limited edition (8+2 A.P., +2 prototypes commissioned and produced by galerie kreo collection: museum boijmans van beuningen rotterdam, private collectors photo by fabrice gousset, courtesy of galerie kreo

in many works, jongerius deals with the relationship between users and their products. with ‘frog table’, the frog functions as an intermediary. the decoration has become almost an autonomous 3D figure who will not be ignored at your table. ‘frog table’ plays with the imagination of the user. at the same time, the design reveals an outspoken view of the power of decoration in design.