Monumental is a landmark group exhibition from Carpenters Workshop Gallery that explores the theme of scale, where viewers are invited to contemplate its significance in shaping our perceptions and experiences of the world around us.
Through eighteen artworks from Yinka Shonibare MBE, Jean Prouvé, Wonmin Park, Wendell Castle, Charlotte Perriand, Simone Prouvé, Sergio Rodrigues, Michel Boyer, Andrew Branzi, Vincenzo De Cotiis and Maarten Baas, the exhibition celebrates artists who exemplify a unique perspective on scale – from the big to small, the contorted and twisted, and the multitude of materials and processes made to achieve them.
The Windy Chair (2014) by Yinka Shonibare MBE, formed as part of a small edition of three from the artist’s Wind Sculptures series, is crafted to resemble crumpled material moving on a breezy day. The composition appears distorted, its fragmented proportions creating a distinctively surreal effect that gives the piece its unique sense of movement. New works by Wonmin Park, including Plain Cuts Stone and Steel #11 SS2301 (2022) and Stone & Steel Yo Circle (2023), represent a departure from Park’s previous works and showcases his ongoing exploration of materiality and form. The artworks are encrusted in organic forms made of volcanic stone and steel, alluding to the magnanimity of geology, particularly the ruptures made in the Earth’s crust after a volcanic eruption.
Monumental also showcases previously unseen historical masterpieces, including Joaquim Tenreiro’s Credenza (1959-65), a large-scale sideboard created from Pau Marfim that reveals Tenreiro’s mastery working in native woods. Charlotte Perriand’s Conference Table (1947) stretches to more than eight metres, and is one of the artist’s most imposing works and a prime example of her design output during this period, which was defined by prestigious public commissions. Brazilian designer Sergio Rodrigues’ Bookcase (1960s), which draws inspiration from indigenous cultures in Brazil, anchors his style towards more organic materials to show the possibilities of what can be achieved through wood. Michel Boyer’s Brasilia Chandelier (1974), conceived in the 1970s for the French Embassy in Brasilia, depicts a suspended boxy frame and lacquered white crisscross pattern, designed with four cylinders that play with the traditional notion of lighting structures.
The exhibition extends outdoors into Ladbroke Hall’s garden, where visitors can experience Maison Démontable (1944) by Jean Prouvé, which was originally designed in the 1940s as a response to post-war housing needs. The Maison Démontable house showcases Prouvé’s pioneering approach to prefabrication and modular design. Following the exhibition, the work will be installed permanently as an outdoor Pavilion at Ladbroke Hall, a focal point of the new garden designed by acclaimed landscape gardener Luciano Giubbilei, opening to the public in mid-May.