Cell mates: La Prairie fuses the worlds of luxury skincare and art
Bubbles and beaux-arts have always mixed well in a cheery cocktail of luxury-meets-Bohemia, especially at Private View time. But visitors to this year’s Art Basel will come face to face with the more unusual pairing of £500 skincare and original sculpture.
Swiss beauty brand La Prairie is breaking new ground by taking luxury cosmetics to the art world. Celebrating 30 years of its range of creams infused with caviar, it has partnered with five artists from the mediums of sculpture, digital art, kinetic art and photography, and the results will be shown over the next few months at fairs in Basel, New York, Shanghai and Paris.
At Art Basel, a sculptural piece by Paul Coudamy will take its place in the La Prairie pavilion in the Collectors Lounge. Coudamy – who runs his own interior design practice in Paris and sits at a crossroads between artist, designer and architect – was given a free hand to evoke, in sculptural form, the brand’s Skin Caviar Absolute Filler.
To develop his piece, Coudamy examined the Weaire-Phelan formula, an exact geometrical structure representing bubbles. Expressing the product’s scientific side, the piece is made up of equal-sized cells of lacquered metal that lock together to form a sculpture that can take new forms each time it is installed. Clustered around its edges are 100,000 black magnetic caviar-like balls. The two elements – the mathematical cell structure and the uncontrollable, organic formations of the balls – combine to represent the make-up of the product.
For fair-goers, appreciation of the piece might be enhanced by the experience of a customised facial, also to be found in the Collectors Lounge.
As originally featured in the July 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*220)
INFORMATION
Paul Coudamy’s sculpture will be on view at the La Prarie Pavillion in the Collectors Lounge, Art Basel from 15 – 18 June. For more information, visit the La Prairie website and Art Basel website
ADDRESS
Messe Basel
Messeplatz 10
4005 Basel
Switzerland
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Ikea introduces its first gaming furniture collection
Brännboll is the first Ikea gaming furniture collection, unveiled during Milan Design Week 2024 and designed to swiftly transform a domestic space into a gamer’s paradise
By Jasper Spires Published
-
Morgan take their classic roadster and give it subtle but significant tweaks for 2024
New details and features give the compulsive Morgan Plus Four an even more pared back silhouette and driving ability
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Wallpaper* Class of '24 exhibition now open at Triennale Milano
Wallpaper* Class of '24 exhibition at Triennale spotlights international emerging talent in furniture and product design, with the support of AHEC and SNOW (until 21 April 2024)
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
Art Basel Hong Kong 2024: what to see
Art Basel Hong Kong 2024 sees the fair back bigger and better than ever. Navigate the highlights with our guide
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Dan Flavin’s fluorescent lights light up Basel
‘Dedications in Lights’ celebrates Dan Flavin’s conceptual works, at Kunstmuseum Basel
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
Peter Blake’s sculptures spark joy at Waddington Custot in London
‘Peter Blake: Sculpture and Other Matters’, at London's Waddington Custot, spans six decades of the artist's career
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Oozing, squidgy, erupting forms come alive at Hayward Gallery
‘When Forms Come Alive: Sixty Years of Restless Sculpture’ at Hayward Gallery, London, is a group show full of twists and turns
By Hannah Silver Published
-
New glass sculpture creates a verdant wonderland at Apple’s Cupertino HQ
‘Mirage’ at Apple Park is the work of Zeller & Moye and artist Katie Paterson, a shimmering array of glass columns that snakes through the grounds of the company’s monumental HQ
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Man Ray’s sculptures go on show in New York
‘Man Ray: Other Objects’ opens at Luxembourg + Co, New York, revealing their author’s ‘artistic revolution’
By Hannah Silver Published
-
The best London art exhibitions to see now
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Erwin Wurm’s pop-coloured fantasy land at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
In Erwin Wurm’s first UK museum show, ‘Trap of the Truth’, the artist transforms Yorkshire Sculpture Park into a slightly warped wonderland (10 June 2023 – 28 April 2024)
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published