Máti Gallery champions new design creativity

Long thin steel strip hanging from string

Jean Besson's 'Grand Oiseau', part of Máti Galerie's debut collection. Available in three sizes, Besson's pieces are hand-crafted carefully at his Paris studio as part of a small series production using spring steel, copper and linen thread

(Image credit: TBC)

Newly-launched gallery Máti made its debut as a new nomadic space for creative collaborations, with the aim of presenting design exhibitions in different spaces throughout Switzerland. Starting with an online showcase from its Geneva base, the gallery’s inaugural show unveils the work of five young designers from France and Switzerland, working across disciplines and aesthetics.

‘The galerie breaks down the boundaries between art and design. Everyday objects become works of art, the artists become artisans, and practices intersect,’ reads a statement from the two founders, art directors Myriam Combier and Anne-Laure Fuchs (a former Wallpaper* designer). ‘MÁTI strives to be contemporary by conceiving new, meaningful collaborations that reveal the distinctive approaches of its artists and designers.’

3 coloured prints — 'Material Image' by Dimitri Bähler, graphic paintings that explore the potential of 3d textures, coloured glass and transparent layers

Designers included in the inaugural collection are Dimitri Bähler, Jean Besson, Marie Cornil, Giulio Parini and Réjean Peytavin, five creatives working at the cusp of art and design and whose practices are based on creative experimentation. Bähler’s graphic paintings, Besson’s balanced mobile sculptures, Cornil’s embroidery, Parini’s cymbal-shaped lamp and Peytavin’s ornamental porcelain pieces take the designers’ expertise out of their comfort zones and into new, exciting territories.

The works presented are mundane objects rethought with different creative practices and an artisanal slant. ‘We have always shared a common dream of bringing together our passions and experiences for design, art and graphics. MÁTI was born out of our interest for objects and a taste for beauty,’ continue the two founders. The pair’s passion certainly manifests itself in this project, and in a new creative studio, which they will run alongside the gallery’s programming offering art direction and across the fields of art, culture, fashion and beauty.

Gold symbal lamp — Cymbal lamp by Giulio Parini, a piace from 2107 that the designer describes as 'featherweight as origami but as durable as metal'. The lamp is characterized by a flexible, paper-thin brass sheet

Wood &amp; metal sculptures — Also by Jean Besson are these Stabiles, originally designed in 2016. A simple design of carbon, nylon and fir wood, each oscillates gently on its base

Colourful vase — The Hylomorphoses vases by Réjean Peytavin are 'a material exploration of the connections between shape, its fabrication and its uses'

Colourful paint print — One of Marie Cornil’s ’Tapisse’, a research embroidery project based on the principles of the needling felting (used across the textile industry to create insulation felt). Cornil created a machine to produce an embroidery effect while being free in movement, which she complemented with a vivid colour palette

Deep blue &amp; green tapestry — A detail of “Tapisse” in blue, featuring Divina from Kvadrat with a unique felt embroidery technique

INFORMATION

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Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.