‘Originally, the instinct was to do this in San Francisco,' says David Alhadeff, founder of The Future Perfect, of the exhibition ‘Inner Space’, on view until 1 May 2024 at Goldwyn House in Beverly Hills. 'It was so obvious,' he reveals. 'The obviousness became the reason not to do it there.'
The ‘obviousness’ stems from the show’s inspiration. In Alhadeff’s words, the show ‘puts JB Blunk at the conceptual centre point of a body of contemporary work that pays homage to Blunk'. The cult-favourite artist lived in Inverness, Marin County, and until recently, was a name mostly collected and exhibited around the Bay Area. 'The San Francisco community is almost too familiar with Blunk,' explains Alhadeff. 'So we wanted to show this in a place that it can be perceived as a bit fresh, without a community's preconceived notions of what Blunk’s work is about.'
The Future Perfect presents 'Inner Space'
While Blunk 'didn't live long enough to be aware of his influence', he is immediately recognisable for his functional sculptures rendered in redwood, a material native to California’s Sierra Nevada range. Yet, his restless practice extends far beyond just wood objects. Blunk worked in stone, paint, jewellery and woven textiles, and left a canon that stands out, in Alhadeff’s eyes, for the 'humble nature with which it was created'. Blunk has 'this incredible legacy that he has left behind, which permeates into the contemporary work that we represent', explains Alhadeff.
And so, 'Inner Space' is a dialogue between Blunk and his mentor, Isamu Noguchi, as well as contemporary practitioners, sculptor Ian Collings, jeweller Alana Burns, and artist Minjae Kim (who was recently featured in the Blunk-estate-curated ‘100 Hooks’ exhibition, as well).
'The Future Perfect being a contemporary design gallery, working with historical work is something that we do, but we do it very sparingly – with a lot of intention,' says Alhadeff. Therefore, this is 'the first time that a show puts JB as the conceptual centre of a contemporary design show', and it’s an exhibition that makes connections between how these practitioners work, more so than their formal and aesthetic similarities.
The exhibition, which activates the gallery’s historic Los Angeles space, which Alhadeff explains was bought 'to create these types of conversational shows', features an array of works not often known from any of these practitioners. Blunk’s rare wooden thrones are exhibited alongside his relatively unknown stone wall works, and put into dialogue with a steel table and set of chairs from Noguchi (on loan from Converso Gallery).
Meanwhile, Kim’s quilted fiberglass chandelier and fiberglass and steel sconces (presented in partnership with Marta gallery), Collings’ stone sculptures, and Burns’ sea-sourced and silver objects and jewellery, evoke the craftsmanship found in both Blunk and Noguchi’s works.
'This is not the kind of lineage that has the patriarchy as part of its formula or a direct passing of some sort of sceptre,' says Alhadeff. 'This is the passing of a passion, a thoughtfulness. What we're really underpinning is this way of working.' Or in other words, making space for the subtle and humble.
'Inner Space' is on view at Goldwyn House until 1 May 2024
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