Iconic Modernist Building Provides Backdrop for "Magellan" Exhibition
Rooms are filled with objects designed by Belgium’s best.
Atelier Ecru Gallery and Barbé Urbain have joined forces to fuse art and design in a series of new shows, which are taking place inside the famed “De Beir house” in Knokke, Belgium throughout the duration of the summer months. Each of the shows are taking place under the pair’s joint project “Magellan”, and will be spread across the various rooms of the Modernist corner building.
The galleries based the name for their collaborative venture on the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who is known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East Indies across the Pacific Ocean to open a maritime trade route. Inspired, both Barbé Urbain and Atelier Ecru Gallery wanted to offer a voyage of discovery of their own – via the worlds of contemporary art and design. This is further emphasised by their choice to exhibit against an architectural backdrop steeped in history. Completed in 1925, The De Beir house is one of the very first examples of Modernist architecture in Belgium, and was designed by the avant-garde architect Huib Hoste.
The two galleries hold a shared belief that the lines between the art and design worlds are increasingly blurring, and with that, new areas for experimentation are being born. Each room in the house is designed to offer an entirely different viewing experience. Throughout the entirety of the space, works will be presented by artists such as Adelheid De Witte, Charlie De Voet, Flexboj & LA, Joost Pauwaert, Stijn Ank and Middernacht & Alexander, and by designers such as Linde Freya Tangelder, Katrien Doms, Pierre De Valck, Maria Scarpulla, BRUT Collective, Nathalie Van der Massen and Laurids Gallée.
“We see that more and more collectable design is offered at international art fairs, and works of art at design fairs. With Magellan, we want to offer the enthusiast and collector of both disciplines a total package, and take them into the world of both Atelier Ecru Gallery and Barbé Urbain,” said founders Oliver Barbé, Stéphanie Frederickx and Christophe Urbain.
“MAGELLAN in Knokke” is on show through to August 28. In other design news, Gagosian gallery’s London store has been filled with pieces designed by designer Marc Newson, who is taking over the space for the duration of the summer.
