Carpenters Workshop Gallery San Francisco Group Show
All images courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery
In this Maker’s Spotlight, we are highlighting Carpenters Workshop Gallery, a favorite source for functional art and collectible design!
In 2006, two childhood friends, Loïc Le Gaillard and Julien Lombrail, opened their first gallery space in an old carpenter’s workshop in the Chelsea area of London to provide an ideal environment for showcasing Contemporary Conceptual Design-Art. Both partners had an artistic upbringing; Le Gaillard grew up in his father’s gallery in Paris, while Lombrail is the son of, and now agent for, artist and designer Ingrid Donat.
From Functional Art to Collectible Design, Carpenters Workshop Gallery produces and exhibits international artists and designers, both rising and established, that produce original and limited edition works outside of traditional territories of expression. Le Galliard and Lombrail focus their energy on sculptural objects that provoke an emotional response. PAD and Design Basel have provided key platforms for CWG to present their highly curated works to top international collectors since 2007, when they also opened their next gallery location in the Mayfair gallery area of London.
In 2011, CWG meandered into international territory with a gallery in Paris’ Marais District, and quickly became one of the most prominent contemporary design galleries in Paris. The following year, the pair expanded their global reach as they opened a gallery space on Fifth Avenue in New York City. A smart move indeed, as more than 40% of CWG’s business was coming from the United States.
Wendell Castle, “Fallen and Risen”, 2016
The gallery celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2016 with a new workshop space in Roissy, where 8,000-square-meters are devoted to creativity and craftsmanship, artistic research, and development – “A place where elite artisans come together in homage to the French ‘Arts Décoratifs’.”
Ingrid Donat, “Commode Tribal”, 2016
In 2018, CWG opened a fourth location at Saint Joseph’s Church in San Francisco. The gallery occupies a 9,000 square-foot mezzanine at Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, a national historic monument built in 1913. The building’s ornate Romanesque Revival style is a perfect juxtaposition to the works displayed inside.
“What we like is the way that there is strong narrative in the object.”, says Le Gaillard. As an example, he cites a curvilinear sofa by one of their designers, Sebastian Brajkovic, which appears to almost melt into the ground on one side, blurring the line between sculpture and furniture.
Carpenters Workshop Gallery is, in two words: Art Furniture. Experience the epitome of collectible design by international makers through the gallery’s diverse, beautiful and awe-inspiring offerings.