Mathieu Lehanneur's Exhibition at Carpenters Workshop London

S.M.O.K.E. Onyx (pink & green), 2016. Materials include onyx & blown glass. H140 L26 W26 cm / H55.1 L10.4 W10.4 in. Limited Edition of 8 + 4 AP.

Spring Lamp (Zebrino 44 Cm), 2016. Materials include marble, hand blown stretched glass & flex LED. H44 L44.8 W16.5 cm / H17.3 L17.7 W6.5 in. Limited Edition of 8 + 4 AP.

Spring Lamp, 2016. Materials include marble, hand blown stretched glass & flex. H44 L44.8 W16.5 cm / H17.3 L17.7 W6.5 in. Limited Edition of 8 + 4 AP.

Liquid Marble Table Low, 2016. Materials include marble & glass. H40 L100 W75 cm / H15.7 L39.4 W29.5 in. Limited Edition of 8 + 4 AP.

Liquid Aluminium Low Table, 2016. Materials include aluminium & glass. H40 L150 W100 cm / H15.7 L59.1 W39.4 in. Limited Edition of 8 + 4 AP.

Les Cordes (CWG Standard), 2016. Materials include glass & flex LED. H95 L120 W140 cm / H37.4 L47.2 W55.1 in. Limited Edition of 8 + 4 AP.

Installation view of Mathieu Lehanneur’s solo exhibition at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in London.

In his ‘Spring’ exhibition on show during September at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in London, Mathieu Lehanneur took us into a world of flux. As if the cycle of the seasons and nature’s forces have specially looked at the fate of objects… Here, the artist-designer with a passion for science, grapples with ancestral materials in order to suffuse them with plasticity, fluidity and tone.

The works in the ‘Spring’ exhibition hesitate between solid, liquid and gaseous. They appear to be suspended mid-transformation in a poetic state of metamorphosis. Marble and aluminium become liquid, onyx becomes air and glass softens as in a return to its original state. Although the function of each piece is easily recognised (table, chandelier, lamp), the works transcend such definitions. Their movement and suggested dynamic state force you to question what you thought was true to the point where it seems even the inert is being revived.

The presence of glass accompanies all pieces like a transparent skin protecting the object’s soul. Glass is worked in multiple forms using traditional craft methods: curved tubes for ‘Les Cordes’ chandelier, hand blown glass globes for the new version of the ‘S.M.O.K.E.’ lamps, ribbed glass on ‘Spring’ lamps and laminated panels on the ‘Liquid’ tables. The materials are all worked in their natural colour, in their native condition, almost primitive. But this apparent simplicity belies a highly sophisticated technical and technological implementation.