Rock on: Max Lamb draws inspiration from the Alps for his latest project

For Max Lamb’s new exhibition ‘Boulders’ at Salon 94 Design, the British designer looked back: to his graduate project, ‘Exercises in Seating’; to the early stone circles of his native Cornwall, England; and even further back to the formation of boulders in the Adamello-Presanella Alps in Italy. Lamb had visited this section of the Alps several times while working on commissions for Pedretti Graniti, an Italian granite quarry. The mountains, the Cascate Nardis waterfall and its rivers all captivated him.

‘The idea [behind this series] was driven by how the river dictates the Adamello mountains. The water slowly moves and shapes this extremely hard, craggy bedrock down the mountain so it becomes these rounded boulders, like beautiful organically carved mini-sculptures.’ To honour this natural process, Lamb preserved the majority of the stones’ exteriors – carving out just enough to create a single seat.

‘Chairs and stools are some of the most prevalent furniture in the domestic space,’ he says. ‘They can be standalone or grouped and are such iconic objects.’ The resulting 11 tonalite granite chairs and nine stools are arranged in two circular formations in the gallery space. ‘Circular motifs allow the pieces to have a dialogue with each other, but also hold equal value, equal weight,’ says Lamb.

‘Boulders’ is the fourth exhibition on view at Salon 94 Design, a collaboration between Salon 94 founder Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn and Paul Johnson of Johnson Trading Gallery, which launched in March this year.

To honour the natural process of erosion, Lamb preserved the majority of the stones’ exteriors

INFORMATION

‘Boulders’ is on view by appointment only. For more information, visit the Salon 94 Design website and the Max Lamb website

ADDRESS

Salon 94 Design
12 East 94th Street
New York NY 10128

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