philippe malouin reconstructs steel scrap into hybrid objects at the breeder gallery in athens

philippe malouin’s first solo exhibition in athens

philippe malouin presents ‘steel works’ at the breeder gallery, a new body of work that repurposes waste material, and particularly salvaged steel, which the artist discovered in scrapyards in brighton, UK, and athens, greece. marking the designer’s first solo show in the greek capital, the exhibition explores the relationship of lighting, furniture and sculpture through a series of hybrid objects that appear both of this world and utterly futuristic. threading the historical and the cultural through a modern lens, malouin, who received the ‘in the artistic realm’ trophy of THE DESIGN PRIZE back in 2017, produced these works in two parts – in the UK and greece – and both their colors and construction are inspired by each city and the waste material he discovered there. 

installation views © philippe malouin, courtesy the breeder |all installation photos by thanassis gatos, unless stated otherwise

hybrid objects at the breeder

on view at the breeder until december 4, 2021, ‘steel works’ highlights philippe malouin’s multidimensional practice, which is located at the junction point between craftsmanship, sculpture and industrial design. the works in the exhibition are created as an innovative dialogue between materials, form and functionality, in which malouin captures all the possibilities the waste material has to offer. taking cues from the city in which they were found, the final pieces occupying the two floors of the gallery are colored in two distinct sets of hues: red and green for brighton; and dark and light blue for athens.

for this new body of works, malouin borrows his inspiration from the dadaist tradition of découpé or cut out technique, the mechanical method of juxtaposition in which a written text is cut up and rearranged in order to create new meaning. here, the designer has rearranged the instinctively sourced steel objects ad hoc with the intention of creating new meaning and value. challenge the viewer’s perception of what a three-dimensional object can be, these hybrid works are ultimately artistic manifestations where their functionality is not always delineated. by probing its boundaries to and beyond the limits, malouin creates here a rather surprising language of form.image © designboom

philippe malouin, chair 17: rectangular beam, L profile, cut rod disc, 2021, steel, 76 x 24 x 40 cm. (right) and philippe malouin, drink table, solid steel base, pipe, cut I-beam, 2021. steel, 62 x 33 x 15 cm. (left) both © philippe malouin. courtesy the breeder