ColAAb round table, Librairie des Beaux-Arts de Paris

On Friday June 30, the reception hall of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Paris was the setting for a round-table discussion organized by Aurélie Sarallier, founder of ColAAb. Invited by Le Cercle Chromatique, alumni of the Beaux-Arts, the young fine art publishing house has taken over the bookshop space for a few weeks: several design works by Morgane Tschiember, Angelika Markul, Vincent Lamouroux, Sara Favriau, Nicolas Momein and Xiao Fan Ru will occupy the premises from June 1 to July 16, 2023.

The conference brought together the exhibiting artists, Nicolas Bourriaud, curator, former Director of the École des Beaux-Arts and renowned art critic, and Elvire Bonduelle, visual artist and École des Beaux-Arts alumnus. Moderated by Nicolas Bourriaud, the meeting focused on the relationship between art, design and architecture. What is a useful art object? Functional? The answers given by the artists were also a way of revealing their artistic approaches, brought to fruition thanks to the support of ColAAb.

The question of the useful, the beautiful and the superfluous is omnipresent among artists and designers. Must a creation be useful to society in order to legitimately exist? If the definition of a function enables us to satisfy a necessity, human needs cannot be restricted to their material nature, as they are inescapably linked to an aesthetic and emotional dimension. Functionality cannot therefore be synonymous with utility when it comes to works of art, whether pictorial, sculptural, graphic or conceptual. As for design and architecture, their mission is to combine the beautiful and the functional in order to become part of our daily lives, replacing purely everyday objects with creations that are as practical as they are poetic.

Standardization is also at the heart of the thinking of the artists represented by ColAAb, each of whom in their own way gives life to furniture whose forms derive from memories of travel, personal experience, and outdated, bypassed issues.

For Angelika Markul, the magic of art brings a piece of the impossible home, as illustrated by her comet-like Tchouri coffee table. Sara Favriau shared her relationship with nature, drawing inspiration directly from the field to create delicate wall and plant creations entitled Et si jamais le ciel est un lieu- dit, je le revois près du front.

In the Private Choice 2023 selection, you'll find Xiao Fan Ru's La Voie d'or table, Morgane Tschiember's Shibari stool, whose wood seems deformed by rope - which has become the emblematic element of her work - and Vincent Lamouroux's Orbis modular and circular bookcase, imagined as a protective bulwark where readers can devote themselves to their work in complete serenity.

The works mentioned are on show at the Librairie des Beaux-Arts, 13 quai Malaquais, 75006 Paris, until July 16, as well as at the Private Choice event between October 15 and 22, 2023.

Julie Merle