黑料不打烊

After several typological exhibitions dedicated to the mirror (2003), the stool (2007), and the necklace (2012), Galerie kreo presents step by step (question.s d鈥櫭ヽhelle.s), a new panorama of contemporary design taking the form of a stylistic exercise. Historical pieces and iconic ladders conceived by Alessandro Mendini and Marc Newson come into dialogue with new creations by the gallery鈥檚 designers, from Virgil Abloh to Hella Jongerius and Jerszy Seymour. In the service of a simple and movable object鈥攎ade up of vertical mounts and horizontal steps that allow for the act of ascent and descent鈥攅ach designer proposes a specific ladder, emblematic of their research.

Several complementary approaches are required to grasp and connect the diversity of the many ladders created between the 19th Century and 2022 and assembled in this exhibition. First of all, the historic approach, which leads us from the intensely formal and symbolic research of a Dogon ladder or a Shaker stepladder to the architectural purity of the 1950s and the utopian visions of Alessandro Mendini (鈥淚mpossible Furniture鈥� collection, 1976) and Vidya Gastaldon (Healing Object (Chakra 脡chelle), 2019). More recently, Marc Newson鈥檚 Carbon Ladder, conceived in 2008, constitutes the matrix of this exhibition, as it was the first ladder produced by Galerie kreo. As Marc Newson elaborates, 鈥淢y idea was to take a mundane functional implement鈥攖he ladder鈥攁nd turn it into an esoteric, airy, sculptural object that serves its intended purpose while being exceptionally sturdy and lightweight.鈥� Undoubtedly, thanks to the simplicity and potentialities of the ladder-object, each of them is a portrait of its designer, their sensibility and, perhaps, their era, shadows included.

The technical approach is immediately obvious, distinguishing self-supporting ladders from those that are fixed to the wall or hanging from the ceiling. The difference is significant because of the implications in terms of reach, materials, and structure. Hella Jongerius鈥� suspended rope ladders (Twisted Steps, 2022) allow her to pursue her textile research, full of lightness, while the self- supporting pieces are resolutely more furniture-like, such as Konstantin Grcic鈥檚 London Calling (2014), Fran莽ois Lafortune and Sven Abplanalp鈥檚 Aerophone listening ladder, Jaime Hayon鈥檚 Altos Staircase, or Guillaume Bardet鈥檚 Trait d鈥檜nion 鈥� Hyphen (all 2022).