Contemporary design and art specialist Galerie Philia has collaborated with art magazine Eclipse on a new exhibition, ‘Héritages’. The show, at Unité d’Habitation in Marseille, marks the 70th anniversary of Le Corbusier’s residential housing design, also referred to as ‘La Cité Radieuse’.
‘Héritages’ takes place in two rooms of an apartment in the residence, the design of which conforms to the harmonious proportions of Le Corbusier’s Modulor theory, where the human form is considered in the room’s scale. Eight designers have been invited by Galerie Philia to put their own interpretative spin on Le Corbusier’s principles, and their work is displayed alongside contemporary artworks by six visual artists chosen by Eclipse magazine.
‘Héritages’, exhibition view. Photo: Maison Mouton Noir. Courtesy of Galerie Philia. Courtesy of Le Corbusier Foundation, © FLC A.D.A.G.P, Paris, 2022
‘Le Corbusier is considered one of the most influential historical figures in contemporary design,’ says co-founder of Galerie Philia, Ygaël Attali. ‘Either by affiliation or disaffiliation, the ensemble of works in this exhibition questions his work and his legacy, and intends to respond to his theoretical but also polemical genius.’
The works are divided into two parts, ‘Resonances’ and ‘Dissonances’, in a nod to the polarity Le Corbusier’s theories invite. In the first part, ‘Resonances,’ his legacy becomes a foundation for designers including Rick Owens, Pietro Franceschini, Arno Declercq, and Paul Matter, who sculpt armchairs, sofas and vases into minimalist shapes. Artworks by Edgar Sarin and Mateo Revillo build on this brutalist aesthetic.
Jojo Corväiá, Roxane Lahidji, Jérôme Pereira, Niclas Wolf, Sam Szafran, and Fabrice Hyber and Flora Temnouche take a more critical perspective in ‘Dissonances,’ a tactile celebration of organic forms.
‘Set within the walls of Le Corbusier’s architectural masterpiece La Cité Radieuse, the exhibition “Héritages” weaves a dialogue of resonances and dissonances between contemporary artists, designers and Le Corbusier, acting both as a tribute to and a critical reflection on his theoretical and artistic ideology,’ the editors of Eclipse add. §
‘Héritages’, exhibition view. Photo: Maison Mouton Noir. Courtesy of Galerie Philia. Courtesy of Le Corbusier Foundation, © FLC A.D.A.G.P, Paris, 2022