Pierre Charpin's purist 'Ignotus Nomen' collection takes a philosophical bent

Pierre Charpin is currently on a tear through French Europe. Since being named Designer of the Year at the Paris Furniture Fair in 2005, he has exhibited at the city's Museum of Decorative Arts, the Grand-Hornu in Belgium and the Mudac in Lausanne. In May he returned to the Grand-Hornu for a 20-year retrospective of his vibrantly coloured furnishings for Ligne Roset and Alessi, among others. And this month he launches Ignotus Nomen at Galerie Kreo, the St-Germain-des-Prés gallery that has backed him since 2005.
Yet this exhibit represents a sea change from the wildly vibrant statement pieces that made Charpin famous beyond the designerati who populate Design Miami and Basel. As he approaches 50, Charpin's work has taken on a more philosophical bent. The name of the new, limited-edition collection says it all: 'Ignotus Nomen', or the thing that remains unnamed. The statement is there, it's just up to you to define it.
Brilliant-white furnishings made from Krion, a type of Corian, are, at their core, straightforward. Until you factor in the anonymous black-resin figures that appear on the surface, shadowy forms to the pieces' austere functionality. Is that a vase propped up on the desk? A spinning top prone on the coffee table? A beaker poking through the bookshelf? The answers: no, no and no. Charpin himself describes them as 'receptors and not signifiers', enigmatic forms washed up on the shore. Indeed, like creatures from the sea they seem to rely on their host the longer you contemplate them.
But that's as far as he goes, daring you, the viewer, to take their meaning a step further. Otherwise they are simply statuary. And, frankly, that may be meaningful enough for some.
'Ignotus Nomen' bookshelf
'Ignotus Nomen' coffee table
'Ignotus Nomen' vase
'Ignotus Nomen' bench
'Ignotus Nomen' desk
'Ignotus Nomen' console
ADDRESS
Galerie Kreo
31, rue Dauphine
75006 Paris
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Based in London, Ellen Himelfarb travels widely for her reports on architecture and design. Her words appear in The Times, The Telegraph, The World of Interiors, and The Globe and Mail in her native Canada. She has worked with Wallpaper* since 2006.
-
Tour this fire-resilient minimalist weekend retreat in California
A minimalist weekend retreat was designed as a counterpoint to a San Francisco pied-à-terre; Edmonds + Lee Architects’ Amnesia House in Napa Valley is a place for making memories
-
Love, community, anti-gay laws: the queer African artists redefining visibility through portraits
In honour of Pride Month, Ugonnaora Owoh speaks to three artists on African queer legacies and their optimism in advocating for queer rights through art
-
A beauty lover’s tour of Tokyo: hair, nails, shopping and bathing
Part 2 of our Summer in Tokyo beauty series sees Lara Johnson-Wheeler seeking out the city’s best beauty spots
-
17 designers and artists reinterpret Dior's ‘Medallion’ chair
The Dior ‘Medallion’ chair project marks the French maison's most significant presence at Milan’s Salone del Mobile to date
-
Virtually experience the shapes and colours of Pierre Charpin
Take a digital 3D tour of Pierre Charpin’s show ‘Similitude(s)’ at Paris’ Galerie Kreo that explores colour and geometry
-
Maison et Objet 2017: confetti & antique surfaces prevail at the Paris fair
-
Future stars: up-and-coming designers rule the roost at Maison et Objet 2016
-
Not clowning around: Galerie Kreo hosts Pierre Charpin’s ’Marbles and Clowns’
-
Designer Pierre Charpin commandeers L'Appartement 50 in Marseille's Cité Radieuse
-
Prints by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec and Pierre Charpin for The Wrong Shop
-
House proud: a colourful retrospective celebrates 20 years of Pierre Charpin's designs