Wow, the Spaniards! They simple can’t refrain from lashing out at the vile rationalism of the North – which is, of course, why we’ll always love them. Hey, furniture should be a little shrouded in mystery, a tad enigmatic, cultic, or simply playful. And now Jaime Hayon has sought (and found) his artistic hunting grounds by no means just in the midst of organic buildings, not to forget organic paintings and sculptures – by Le Corbusier and the “Esprit Nouveau”, as some would have us believe. No, painters and sculptors such as Jacques Lipchitz, Max Ernst, Joan Mirò and Alexander Calder have al participated benevolently and from afar in his “Réaction Poétique” collection. Of late, only Maarten Baas has been comparably archaic-cum-surrealist in thrust (and with just as much ironic zest), albeit with a coarser, flippant, less bright and less refined touch.

At Cassina, the focus – and this doesn’t just apply to LC – is always classic/Modernist, which has evidently also rubbed off on the otherwise forever extravagant Jaime Hayon. Yet he has certainly now proved one thing with his decidedly inscrutable idols (vulgo: tables and trays) made of solid ash stained black: the courage to step out of the ranks of the customary and dare create something different. So typically Hayon after all! (tw)

www.cassina.com
www.hayonstudio.com

Cassina
Salone Internazionale del Mobile
April 14-19, 2015
Milan, Rho trade-fair grounds
Hall 20, booth D01/E06