Lecture "Artists and craft"
Copyright : Ron Nagle
Artists and craft
Lecture by Anne Dressen
Thursday, January 16, 2025
Free Admission
Book here
Anne Dressen, art historian, exhibition curator in the contemporary department of the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and contributor to the exhibition JB Blunk – Continuum, will discuss the relationship that many artists – like JB Blunk – have with craft (textiles, jewelry, ceramics, etc.); this will be an opportunity for her to revisit a trilogy of exhibitions held at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris and present her ongoing research, which aims to envision an inclusive and reflective museum of plural arts.
Meet Florence Wullai
Florence Wuillai
Residency in June 2024
Meet textile designer Florence Wuillai and sheep breeder Cécile Maisonnier
Wednesday, November 13, 2024, at 6:30 PM
Free Admission
Book here
The project
My sheep breeder is named Cécile Maisonnier
Following her 2023 residency at the Foundation, which focused on the traditional Charentaise slipper, Florence Wuillai, a designer specializing in textile research and development in wool, linen, and hemp, continues her exploration of wool and its new technical potential.
As part of the project to design the new residents’ house at the Foundation, Florence Wuillai collaborated with sheep breeder Cécile Maisonnier to create a rug. More than just a decorative object, it is a landscape that outlines the grazing plan of the breeder—a symbolic way for the designer to connect the material with its origins. This rug weaves connections between the actors of the same region and sparks a conversation about our relationship with the objects around us.
BLUNK SHOP POP-UP
A co-production by Fondation d’Entreprise Martell x WE DO NOT WORK ALONE x JB Blunk Estate.
Ceramic soja or sauce pitcher, limited edition of 150 pieces, handmande by ceramicist Sophie Irwin.
Price: 150 euros.
BLUNK SHOPSeptember 7 - October 20, 2024
On the occasion of the JB Blunk, Continuum exhibition, the Fondation d’entreprise Martell and the JB Blunk Estate have partnered with WE DO NOT WORK ALONE, a publishing house for functional objects designed by artists, to produce an exclusive edition of a sauce pitcher based on an original piece by JB Blunk from 1975, currently on display at the Foundation. This pitcher was selected by Mariah Nielson, JB Blunk’s daughter, as a representative piece of her father’s work. It illustrates JB Blunk’s relationship to craftsmanship and his absolute commitment to making everyday objects designed for his own use.
This reinterpretation (limited edition of 150 pieces), created by Strasbourg ceramicist Sophie Irwin, will be exclusively available for purchase exclusively at the Fondation Martell in Cognac, the Blunk Shop in Paris, and online at www.wedonotworkalone.fr and www.jbblunk.com. (Price: 150 euros) as of September 7th.
The catalogue of the exhibition will be available and for sale as of October.
The Blunk Shop, 58 rue du Vertbois, 75003 Paris
WE DO NOT WORK ALONE welcomes the Blunk Shop, a unique presentation of editions from the JB Blunk estate, featuring the Blunk Pitcher alongside a selection of objects by Martino Gamper, guest designer and scenographer of the exhibition at the Fondation Martell.
Practical Information:
From September 7 to October 20, 2024:
Tuesday – Friday: 12 pm – 6 pm
Saturday: 2 pm – 6 pm
For more information: 06 74 83 01 29
About WE DO NOT WORK ALONE
WE DO NOT WORK ALONE was created in Paris in 2016 by Louise Grislain, Anna Klossowski, and Charlotte Morel.
The company produces, in limited series, everyday objects designed by artists. It offers artists a departure from their usual practice by confronting them with the question of functionality and use. Based on artisanal or industrial know-how, these everyday objects are produced on a case-by-case basis, according to methods defined in collaboration with the artist. The project attempts to bring a fresh answer to the long-lasting question of the links between art and everyday life. Its name is also the title of a collection of thoughts on artistic creation by Japanese potter Kawai Kanjiro.
Conference 'explorations of less"
Conference "Explorations of less"
MATHILDE PELLE INVITES ARNE HENDRIKS AND ERNESTO OROZA
As part of Paris Design Week and in conjunction with the “Chemin Creux” (Hollow Way) exhibition, the Martell Foundation presents a conversation between designer Mathilde Pellé and designers Arne Hendriks and Ernesto Oroza around the central question underlying her approach: “why is there something rather than less?”
Approached as a direction to be probed, the concept of “less” allows us to reconsider our material environments and authorises a critique of the dominant models that are curiously both producers of exhaustion and saturation.
In contrast to the prevailing trend in Western societies to always seek to generate “more”, this exchange invites us to take examine the approaches of designers at the forefront of design thinking: whether it be outlining hypotheses of reduction in the size of the human species (Hendriks), considering technical reappropriations and forms of technological disobedience in a frugal economy (Oroza), or even considering the resource at the heart of ruin (Pellé).
These approaches, bridging anthropology and design, open up new ways of considering our practices and our relationship to material needs, and imagine paths for the reformulation of a common equilibrium.
Mathilde Pelle, Designer and independent researcher
Arne Hendriks, Artist, art researcher & art historian
Ernesto Oroza, Artist, designer, researcher & professor – École Supérieure d’Art et Design de Saint-Étienne
Monday, September 9, 2024 from 2.30pm to 3.30pm
Espace Commines, 17 rue Commines à Paris 75003
European Heritage Days 2024
European Heritage Days
September 21st and 22nd
Book here
Woodworking Workshop for Children: “Blunk’s Apprentices!”
Saturday, September 21, 2024, from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm
Each child, accompanied by the cabinetmaker Mathias Heinisch, will create two cedar wood spatulas in the spirit of what JB Blunk created for his home!
Details: €45/child. Reservation required. For children aged 8 and up. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Reservations by email: ateliers_bois@orange.fr
Guided Tour of Two Exhibitions: “Grand Tour”
Saturday, September 21, 2024, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
For the 2024 European Heritage Days, the Foundation is pleased to welcome you for a guided tour of the JB Blunk “Continuum” and Mathilde Pellé “Chemin creux” exhibitions, accompanied by a guide. You will also have the opportunity to visit the Glass Workshop and attend a glassblowing demonstration by artisans Valentin Rizzo and Gaëtan Oheix.
Details: Free. Reservation required. Duration: 1.5 hours.
Guided Tour of the JB Blunk “Continuum” Exhibition
Saturday, September 21, 2024, from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
For the 2024 European Heritage Days, the Foundation is pleased to present the exhibition of artist JB Blunk – Continuum. Discover the fascinating work of JB Blunk with a guide. Immerse yourself in the universe of this multidisciplinary artist. This tour offers a unique opportunity to explore Blunk’s sculptures, paintings, and installations while benefiting from the explanations and anecdotes of a guide.
Details: Free. Reservation required. Duration: 1 hour.
Guided Tour – Mathilde Pellé – “Chemin creux” (Hollow Way)
Saturday, September 21, 2024, from 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm
The Foundation invites you to explore the exhibition of designer Mathilde Pellé: “Chemin creux.” Dive into an immersive guided tour to discover Mathilde Pellé’s unique subtractive practice. This visit will allow you to explore the designer’s captivating work and learn more about the creation of the “Chemin creux” ‘Hollow Way” exhibition. Join us on Saturday, September 21, at 6:00 PM (duration: 30 minutes).
Details: Free. Reservation required.
Chromatic Mediation: “Do You Know Torula Black?”
Saturday, September 21, 2024, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Designed and developed since 2011 by Sumiko Oé-Gottini, a sensory design researcher specializing in color, “chromatic mediation” aims to raise awareness of socio-ecological transition issues and to enhance tangible and intangible heritage through the observation of color.
A chromatic mediation experience centered around Torula Black will be offered throughout the city of Cognac!
Details: Free. Reservation required.
Biodiversity Fresco
Saturday, September 21, and Sunday, September 22, 2024, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM
The Biodiversity Fresco is a fun and cooperative workshop aimed at raising participants’ awareness of biodiversity issues.
During this workshop, participants will discover how ecosystems function, the role of biodiversity for humanity, its interactions with human activities, and the threats related to its decline.
Registration: Online at www.fresquedelabiodiversite.org
Price: Pay what you wish, starting at €5 (excluding reduced rate).
Sensory Tour: “Beyond Sight”
Sunday, September 22, 2024, from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
The Foundation offers you an immersive tour: “Beyond Sight,” where you will discover the JB Blunk-Continuum exhibition, engaging all your senses with a mediation kit specially designed by students of the DNMADE at Charles Coulomb High School in Angoulême.
Prepare for a one-of-a-kind artwork hunt. This event is a perfect opportunity to explore art in an innovative and sensory way.
Details: Free. Reservation required. For children aged 8 and up.
JB BLUNK - CONTINUUM
JB BLUNK
CONTINUUM
June 8 - December 29,2024
The Fondation d’entreprise Martell is delighted to present the first retrospective exhibition in Europe of the American sculptor JB Blunk (James Blain Blunk, 1926-2002), organized in collaboration with his daughter Mariah Nielson, director of the JB Blunk Estate, with contributions from Anne Dressen, curator at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
The exhibition CONTINUUM offers an immersion into the work of JB Blunk, unknown to the general public but iconic for many artists, for whom he remains a source of inspiration. The exhibition presents a vast collection of pieces created by Blunk, allowing viewers to grasp his unique and unconventional approach: whether creating works of art or everyday objects, his work – in constant dialogue with his environment – is a powerful plea, placing creation at the heart of everyday life.
Blunk drew his inspiration from his relationship with the nature surrounding him daily: located near the small town of Inverness, California, on an exceptional site in the heart of the forest and close to the Pacific coast. Throughout his life, the artist was dedicated to creating in deep connection with his environment, utilizing the natural resources around him (sequoia stumps and driftwood, earth, stones, etc.) to craft pieces, reconnecting with ancestral forms of expression and playing with scales ranging from modest to monumental.
A selection of over 150 pieces including sculptural works, ceramics, furniture, models, paintings, sketches, and original photographs drawn from both the JB Blunk Estate and private collections illustrates the breadth of his artistic practice, at the intersection of art and craftsmanship. The exhibition includes Blunk’s earliest known ceramic vessel made in Los Angeles while a student at UCLA in the 1940s, as well as a collection of maquettes which have rarely been seen by the public until now. Additionally, letters, works on paper and other ephemera drawn from family archives shed light on the artist’s ways of working, his personal and professional connections, as well as his sources of inspiration, whether from early civilizations, different approaches to spirituality, or his pioneering vision in ecology.
A new film commissioned for the occasion captures the multiple facets of the house and studio that the sculptor built entirely by hand, from the architectural structure to the furniture, including tableware, switches, and even a fully sculpted sink. Mainly made from salvaged materials, the Blunk House, emblematic of his practice and mindset, is considered his major work of total art. The short films aim to convey the unique environment in which Blunk lived with his family near the wild coast of Point Reyes in Northern California. A second new film presents a selection of four monumental works installed in the San Francisco region: carved from blocks of giant sequoia, these public seating sculptures in urban spaces testify to another aspect of Blunk’s work.
The exhibition spans 900m2 and approaches Blunk’s work through 6 thematic sections – Japan, Landscape, Home, Archetypes, Process and Public Projects – presenting his holistic approach to design, art, and architecture. Just as Blunk did not delineate between his life and work, the exhibition sections are intertwined and porous, giving the visitor the experience of his different methods, materials, and inspirations as he experienced them: in constant, insistent conversation with each other. The scenography was specially designed by designer Martino Gamper in collaboration with graphic designer Kajsa Ståhl (Åbäke).
“By unveiling the little-known work of an artist celebrating the power of nature, life, and creation at the intersection of disciplines, this retrospective aligns with the ambition of the Martell Foundation to encourage the emergence of innovative artistic approaches focused on the ecological transformation of territories and our ways of life.”
Anne-Claire Duprat, Director of the Fondation d’entreprise Martell
Top – Down : Courtesy JB Blunk Estate
Photos 1 et 2 : Blunk House in Inverness, Californie © Leslie Williamson
Photo 3 : JB Blunk, Untitled, c.1970 © Daniel Dent.
Photo 4 : JB Blunk carving Continuum, c. 1979. © Mike Conway
Photo 5 : JB Blunk, Untitled, c.1990 © Daniel Dent.
The exhibition catalogue is available and for sale at the Foundation’s shop.
Off-Site
From September 7th to October 20, 2024:
Opening of the Blunk Shop pop-up at the We Do Not Work Alone gallery – 58 rue du Vertbois, 75003 Paris.
Milan Design Week 2024
Pictures
Emma Pflieger et Antoine Foeglé – Keep it Flat © MUDAC – Etienne Malapert
Hors-Studio – To Bind © Ella Perdereau
The Light Library © Marine-Rouit Leduc
Milan Design Week 2024
April 15 to 21, 2024
Agora du Design
The Foundation is delighted to support the Agora du Design as it participates in Milan Design Week from April 15 to 21, 2024, where the projects of the 2021 laureates will be presented. This exhibition, held at BASE, an artistic research center, offers international visibility to designers Marine Rouit-Leduc, Hors-Studio, Emma Pflieger, and Antoine Fœglé.
In 2024, the Foundation announced a new biennial partnership with the Agora du Design, committing to host the winners of the 2023 and 2025 research grants in design and curation awarded by the Agora Prize, in residency. Thanks to the support of the Pernod Ricard Group, the Foundation also annually supports the presentation of the laureates’ work during a highlight of the international design scene.
Exhibition of the laureates from April 15 to 21, 2024, at BASE, Milan
Opening reception on April 15 at 5 p.m.
Conference "Slow-Made"
© Mobilier national
European Days of Craft
April 5, 2024 at 6.30 pm
Conference "Slow-Made"
presented by Marc Bayard
Book here
On the occasion of the European Days of Crafts, Marc Bayard will lead a conference on “Slow Made.”
Slow Made means “made with the necessary time.” This movement, launched in 2012, aims to rehabilitate the value of time in order to produce, work, and consume better. It seeks to federate and valorize the creative sector in a broad sense and also to encourage the consumer to become an actor by choosing an object that carries shared values, a sustainable model opposed to the disposable consumption model and planned obsolescence.
This movement acknowledges a return to reality, the necessity of long-term thinking, and the affirmation of the body. Based on these observations, the movement, seen as a space for debate, develops perspectives for reflection in order to act on the current ecological transition.
Marc Bayard is the Head of the Mission for the Valorization of Crafts and Innovation at the Mobilier national, where he has programmed numerous contemporary artists, including Yan Pei-Ming, Eva Jospin, Pierre&Gilles, Maurizio Galante&Tal Lancman, Sheila Hicks, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, or Harry Nuriev.
With a PhD in Art History from EHESS, he is a former resident of the Villa Medici and has directed the Department of Art History at this institution for six years. He has also been a member of the Cabinet of the Minister of Culture, Mr. Frédéric Mitterrand.
He is the author of “Design du pouvoir. L’Atelier de Recherche et de Création du Mobilier national” (2016), and “Slow-Made. Manifeste du geste humain” (2022).
Screening of the film "The River"
© Météore Films
ScreeningMarch 21, 2024
The RiverA film by director Dominique Marchais
On the eve of World Water Day, the Foundation is organizing an exceptional screening of Dominique Marchais’ new film, “The River,” in the presence of the director. A poetic film about the rural world, an ode to water and nature which recently received the Jean Vigo Prize. The screening will be followed by a discussion between the director and designer Olivier Peyricot. Between the Pyrenees and the Atlantic flow powerful rivers known as the gaves. Cornfields make them thirsty, dams block salmon migration. Human activity disrupts the water cycle and the river’s biodiversity. Men and women cast their curious and loving gaze towards this fascinating world of beauty and disaster.
Thursday, March 21st from 8 pm at the Galaxy Cinema, Châteaubernard
In partnership with the Galaxy Cinema and Eurociné-Cognac
Unique rate: 5 euros
Conference : Is ceramic sustainable?
© Benoit Chenudeau
ConferenceDecember 15th, 2023
Is ceramic sustainable?Presented by Jean-Charles Hameau
In resonance with the Almanach exhibition, this conference aims to discover the connections that bind ceramics to the notions of sustainability, reusability, and recycling. We’ll delve into the key assets of ceramics (material qualities, enduring nature in associated uses), potential pathways to reduce its environmental impact, as well as the limitations to its reuse or recycling (energy cost of reusability, irreversible nature of clay transformation during firing, consumption habits).
Jean-Charles Hameau is a heritage curator and head of collections at the Musée national Adrien Dubouché (Limoges), where he has worked since 2014. Specializing in modern and contemporary art, he notably led the reorganization of the museum’s hall dedicated to contemporary ceramics (2018) and curated exhibitions such as ‘À table! Le repas, tout un art’ (2021), ‘Formes vivantes’ (2019), and ‘Avant, ici, Maintenant, l’expérience Non Sans Raison’ (2015).