Hervé Van der Straeten's 'Dissonances' exhibition opens at Galerie Van Der Straeten, Paris
Hervé Van der Straeten's beautifully realised design objects - instantly identifiable by their decorative arts bent - puts him on our go-to list for contemporary design-art. The Paris-based designer, who won a 2012 Wallpaper* Design Award for his cubist ‘Twist’ candlesticks, is now presenting his ninth showcase of furniture and objects at his gallery in the Marais.
A play on the musical term, ‘Dissonances’ is a series of pieces comprising a clash of oblique and diagonal angles, materials and forms.
To this end, a console with a bronze base of overlapping components displays a witty volumetric tension. Contrasting materials are placed with one another - resulting in the mingling of textured bronze patina and anodised aluminium, or schist and garnet. And by disharmoniously placing natural materials with electric and metallic tones, the result is a striking cacophony of colour combinations - cue the startling tortoiseshell rock tabletop held up by a bright red glossy stainless steel configuration. 
Van der Straeten, who designs his collections in his own bronze and cabinet-making workshops, developed 'Dissonance' to show an interplay of tension and attraction. In this miscellany of furniture, objects, lighting and mirrors, Van der Straeten has somehow given each piece its own logic, resulting in a polyphonic spree of unique works.
 
'Lantern, 2012' Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
 
'Passage Console', 2012. Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
 
'Aurore Lighting', 2012. Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
 
'Aurore Lighting', 2012.Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
 
’Chaos Console’, 2012. Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
 
Cabinet Ikebana’, 2012.Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
 
'Buffet Bondage’, 2012.Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
 
’Hypertension Table’, 2012. Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
 
’Facette XL Chandelier’, 2012. Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
 
’Inclination’, 2012.Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
 
Van der Straeten won a Wallpaper* Design Award for these cubist 'Twist Candlesticks', 2011. Courtesy of Galerie Van der Straeten
ADDRESS
Galerie Van Der Straeten
11, rue Ferdinand Duval
75004 Paris
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
- 
Five of the finest compact cameras available todayPocketable cameras are having a moment. We’ve assembled a set of cutting-edge compacts that’ll free you from the ubiquity of smartphone photography and help focus your image making
 - 
London label Wed Studio is embracing ‘oddness’ when it comes to bridal dressingThe in-the-know choice for fashion-discerning brides, Wed Studio’s latest collection explores the idea that garments can hold emotions – a reflection of designers Amy Trinh and Evan Phillips’ increasingly experimental approach
 - 
Arts institution Pivô breathes new life into neglected Lina Bo Bardi building in BahiaNon-profit cultural institution Pivô is reactivating a Lina Bo Bardi landmark in Salvador da Bahia in a bid to foster artistic dialogue and community engagement
 
- 
Ten things to see and do at Art Basel Paris 2025Art Basel Paris takes over the city from 24-26 October. Here are the highlights, from Elmgreen & Dragset to Barbara Kruger and Dash Snow
 - 
Yulia Mahr digs beneath the skin in her modern update of classic Greek statues in ParisIn 'The Church of Our Becoming', on view at the Courtyard at Dover Street Market Paris, Yulia Mahr celebrates real human bodies
 - 
Jean-Michel Othoniel takes over Avignon for his biggest ever exhibitionOriginally approached by Avignon to mark their 25th anniversary as the European Capital of Culture, Jean-Michel Othoniel more than rose to the challenge, installing 270 artworks around the city
 - 
Joel Quayson’s winning work for Dior Beauty at Arles considers the theme ‘Face-to-Face’ – watch it hereQuayson, who has won the 2025 Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents at Arles, imbues his winning work with a raw intimacy
 - 
What to see at Rencontres d’Arles 2025, questioning power structures in the state and familySuppressed memories resurface in sharply considered photography at Rencontres d'Arles 2025. Here are some standout photographers to see
 - 
‘With a small gesture of buying a postcard, we all become copyists’: the Louvre’s celebration of copying speaks to human natureContemporary artists are invited to copy works from the Louvre in a celebration of the copyist’s art, a collaboration with Centre Pompidou-Metz
 - 
Wolfgang Tillmans brings a performative edge to bibliophilia at the Centre Pompidou’s libraryAs the Centre Pompidou’s library is emptied ahead of the venue’s five-year restoration, the German photographer moves in for a final fling of a Paris exhibition
 - 
A song for the dead – Josh Homme on performing for six million souls in the bowels of the Paris CatacombsA rock band, a brush with death and an underground tomb coalesce in haunting new Queens of the Stone Age film, ‘Alive in the Catacombs’. Wallpaper* meets frontman Josh Homme and director Thomas Rames