Philippe Starck

 After the success of the first exhibition “Philippe Starck, the 80’s”, during which a wide audience had come to discover or rediscover the French designer’s early creations, the galerie Jousse Entreprise is organizing a second exhibition which will showcase a new selection of characteristic objects and furniture that have been produced in small series, as well as many prototypes. 

Philippe Starck, whose work never stops pushing the limits and criteria of design, has become one of the most acclaimed contemporary creators at the international level. As Starck likes to put it, he is most of all “a careful observer of our humanity and an explorer of possibilities”. This is the starting point from which he draws his visions and puts them into practice in places and objects that are “good” before being “beautifull”. It is the case for products of our everyday life such as pieces of furniture or a juicing machine, as well as revolutionary mega-yachts, space accommodation modules developed in partnership with Axiom Space and Nasa, hotels and restaurants which are meant to be stimulating and phantasmagorical places that are full of life. “My main field of research is evolution”, he says. 

Elegant and smart objects 

Starck is a creator with a flamboyant and innovative personality. He drew the design world’s curiosity from his very debut. His free and visionary spirit caught the attention of the few French editors: Electrorama distributed some of his first lamps, such as the “Easylight” but also the very radical “Stanton Mick” (1979). 

With his uncompromising approach, he developed a range of furniture with a monochrome minimal design for 3 Suisses amongst which the “Sandy Jesperson” lamps (1985). These elegant pieces were his first big success with the general public. The collaboration with 3 Suisses also encompassed the first wooden house kit, a precursory concept which Philippe Starck confirmed 30 years later with the creation of the individual ecological house named P.A.T.H. 

Philippe Starck witnessed a quick rise to international fame. At 35, he became the only French designer to compete with the generation of Italian creators, thanks to famous Italian editors such as Baleri, Driade and Flos who had him enter their catalogs. These relationships still keep on going today, with the edition of several new creations every year. 

As for the institutional recognition, it came with the furnishing of President Mitterand’s private apartments at the Elysée Palace (1982). To evoke this place, the gallery will showcase the Pratfall, which was the library seat prototype. This order made him even more legitimate and insured him of the industry’s and general public’s acknowledgment, which did not let him down through the following decades during which Starck was given the art direction of the French presidency at the European Union (2008) and prestigious prizes such as being named “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” (1985) and “Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur” (2000). 

Dramatized spaces 

Since the 80’s, Starck hasn’t stopped transforming our living spaces, making a lasting impact. Willing to create experimental places both subversive and poetic in which one lives better, he dramatizes the spaces he draws. The audience then rushes into it, to see it as well as being seen in it. Like the night clubs for example, amongst which the infamous Starck Club in Dallas (1982) or the more widely visited Puzzle for Jean Castel (1987), for which he created some furniture such as bar stools and tables. It is also true with more recent places, amongst which the Caffè Stern (2014), Quadri (2018), Brach Paris (2018) and Cidade Matarazzo (2022). 

To bring these places into light, the exhibition will showcase the iconic three feet chair of the mythical Café Costes in Paris (1984), the pure lines of the stool at restaurant Manin in Tokyo (1987), the prototype seat of the Royalton Hotel in New York (1988), and the andirons at the Paramount Hotel (New York, 1990).

Opening : 09/03/2023 5:00 pm