American Chateau at Spring Projects, London

It would be easy, at first glance, to mistake Spring Projects’s latest exhibition for a Cork Street style take on 17th century interior design. On closer inspection however, American Chateau: Room 1 reveals itself as anything but traditional.

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Featuring a selection of collaborative work from Californian, Dutch-raised artist Nienke Klunder and her partner Jamie Hayon, American Chateau offers a tongue in cheek take on post-pop culture and the role of art in contemporary society.

Forming their close creative bond after meeting in Italy back in 2003, Hayon and Klunder have since gone on to produce a subtle yet stinging body of work, straddling the realms of design, art, functionality and frivolity.

Featuring a series of projects including a high-gloss wood limousine table, a Jeff Koons-inspired purple ride-on hot dog and a baseball bat-legged achromatic parlour table, the work on show weaves an elegant route between all-out artistic farce and limited edition design.

Other pieces such as a series of photographs featuring towel-draped, inflatable female forms and a sculptural donut Madonna, provide a play on the classical bust - while a series of bling-adorned plates bring a taste of low-fi Americana to the effete parlour room aesthetic the pair play on so well.

14 September 2009 | Art