Two for one: SEE••DS launches gallery/store hybrid in London

London’s South Kensington has a brand new creative venture sprouting up. Located in an old Victorian house, a former flower shop, the venue doubles as an exhibition space (SEE meaning ‘special events exhibits’) and design store (the ’DS’ part of its name). By bringing together these two elements, it creates a new system of displaying and experiencing art and design. The store/gallery hybrid offers a new conceptual format, which three times a year will change into a new exhibition in the gallery and accompanying store selection, offering new creative experiences with each chapter.

SEE• makes its debut with a showcase from Véio, giving a glimpse into the Brazilian artist’s sculptural take on natural forms and his contemporary point of view on traditional shapes. Curated by Stefano Rabolli Pansera, the exhibition includes wooden objects that come alive through the artist’s work. In the store, Milan-based studio Actant Visuelle has selected a number of objects from an international roster of designers that include Mieke Meijer, Aldo Bakker and Jerszy Seymour amongst others. 

Inspired by the wooden artifacts of Véio’s showcase, the items on sale in •DS focus around wood creations punctuated by accessories in glass, ceramics and metal. The pieces are displayed throughout two rooms of the former shop, where designer Carol Rabolli Pansera has created an interior that leaves traces of the building’s previous lives.