Reno1984

Question list: 

Q1:What wasthe real reason for Loic Le Gaillard and Julien Lombrail to establish CWG?

Loïc Le Gaillard: I movedto London and had an idea for a gallery that represented artists and designerswho created pieces with a link between art and design. 

I started off in finance and then created myown business, but just couldn’t shake off this ambition to open a gallery anddecided to go for it. I found the space in Chelsea, London which was a formercarpenter’s workshop. 

One day I was talking tosomeone about the project and they mentioned that a good friend of the family,Julien Lombrail had a similar vision to me. I gave Julien a call and before Iknew it we’d gone into partnership. 

We then took the step ofopening the gallery in Mayfair in 2008, then in 2011 we branched out to Paris.Things have gone from strength-to-strength and now the gallery has a 7,500 m2 researchand development space in the suburbs of Paris. 

Q2:What were the biggest challenges in the first few years?

Loïc Le Gaillard: In thefirst few years we had to do a lot of leg-work in terms of meeting people, someof those relationships are still important to us today, such as those from the DesignAcademy Eindoven, we met new graduates whose work we were impressed with suchas Maarten Baas, Studio Job and Studio Drift and their careers have grown with ours.

Also, we met a lot ofimportant collectors, interior designers and curators who taught us a lot aboutthe way we work in today.

Today we have a large team across fourlocations and we travel around the world, in the beginning it was up to just ustwo to do everything from the lifting to the catering, things changed veryquickly. 

 

Q3:CWG’s art design pieces remind me of the design style ofsome Italian pieces. Do some people ever say CWG’s pieces are  ‘flashy without substance’?

Loïc Le Gaillard: ‘Substance’is essential to the works we produce with our artists and designers, in factfor all our projects. 

We work closely withartists and designers to produce functional sculptures, works that are not justbeautiful and created as a works of art but also fully designed to be sat on,to store things in etc. 

Q4: Has CWG’s operational model in Europe been widelywell-received? What do people think about this type of combination?

Loïc Le Gaillard: It’s been very well received, it was something that collectors had beenlooking for, functional sculptures produced in a very limited number (usuallyeight + four artist’s proofs). 

Things took off very quickly and are continuing to grow. Alongsideexhibitions at the gallery we exhibit at fairs all around the world, forexample this year in China we were at Design Show Shanghai and Design Beijing. 

We also exhibit at Design Miami in Basel and the US, PAD Paris and London,Masterpiece London and many others. 

Q5: How does CWG select the artists or designers it co-operateswith?

Loïc Le Gaillard: Wehave a high standard in terms of the detail involved in the creation of thework, the quality of the material used, the level of creativity but most of allit’s still about feeling, our emotional connection with the work and if weshare the same outlook as the artist or designer.  

Q6: As art and design become more popular, what does CWG aboutthis trend in Asia, or its development in China?

Loïc Le Gaillard: It’sa new area for the gallery and one that is developing quickly for us. 

At the fairs we’vebeen to in China collectors and visitors to the booth have been very curiousand enthusiastic about the gallery so I feel we have a promising future there. 

Q7:Art needs the spirit of innovation and new techniques, but designneeds to pay more attention on practicability. How does CWG define these works?.

Loïc Le Gaillard: This is why we opened our research space in Roissy in the suburbs of Parisso that we can bring together our artists and our team of technicians andartisans to make sure that there is no need to compromise. With this support the artists can create a work exactly how theyenvisioned.

There’s no need to reduce theaesthetic value in order to make it functional or visa versa, we can find a wayto make it as practical and beautiful as possible simultaneously. 

Q8:I can see some of artist’s works are very special andunique, hard to be produced，but some of theworks can perhaps be reproduced. Are all of CWG’s pieces limited editions orunique? 

Loïc Le Gaillard: Some works are unique, but most, especially those produced with thegallery’s involvement are limited edition to eight pieces. 

It depends on the work, some pieces are limited edition but the materialused, for example marble with its unpredictable pattern in a way makes themunique. 

We are very strict with limited editions, for example with bronze casts themold is destroyed after the final edition is made. This exclusivity is whatmakes collectible design attractive.   

Q9:What is CWG’s thefuture goal or plan?

Loïc Le Gaillard: Our plan is to continue to follow our passion. Even though Carpenters Workshop Gallery is growing quickly and internationally Julien and myself stillremain very hands on in the running of the gallery as its our dream. 

The research space in Roissy is a key to the growth of the gallery as itmeans we can be more involved in the creation and innovation of design. 

CarpentersWorkshop Gallery 是巴黎一家很有意思的画廊，这家画廊代理各类艺术家、设计师的作品，准确的说是艺术家设计的家具作品。由于现在藏家对于藏品的需求趋势，艺术与功能性的结合被更为重视，由此出现了艺术与设计产品的联结。在国内类似的画廊有 凹空间Gallery ALL 名字还要霸气牛B。