PARIS — The designer Karen Chekerdjian
is known in her native Lebanon for modernist objects made with
traditional materials and techniques. Now, two exhibitions in Paris — at
the Institut du Monde Arabe and at the private Dutko Gallery
— offer a close look at an artist who addresses the divide between art
and function, and the wider gap between Western and Arab cultures.
The
show at the Institut du Monde Arabe, “Respiration,” opened on May 30
and runs until Aug. 28. The exhibition at the Dutko with the same title
closed on Sunday, with pieces offered for sale through August.
“The
idea was to show the positive elements of the Arab world,” said
Philippe Castro, the chief adviser to Jack Lang, the president of the
institute and a former French culture minister. “Today, that can only be
shown through Arab art. There is real creativity coming out of the Arab
world, especially Lebanon. Given the geopolitical context, we felt it
was important to give a voice to this narrative.”
Ms.
Chekerdjian, 45, who is of Armenian descent, was raised in Lebanon, the
region’s most diverse society, a land unsettled by decades of conflict
and turmoil, most recently by fallout from the Syrian war. She began her
artistic career in film, then moved on to graphic design before earning
a master’s degree in industrial design from the Domus Academy in Milan,
where, she said in an interview in Paris, she learned to “think rather
than design.”
“My
objects do not have a traditional ‘Arab’ feel, in that they are not
folkloric or ornamental,” she said. “They have emotion, ambiguity and
search for meaning beyond their function. Mine is not a structured,
rigid approach to objects.”
“I
guess this ambiguity is typically Lebanese,” Ms. Chekerdjian said.
“Beirut is a place that is both fragile and violent. My objects
represent Beirut.”
At
the institute show, Ms. Chekerdjian’s pieces are interspersed among
objects from the permanent collection, an effort to “confirm her place
within Arab heritage,” said Mr. Castro, whose visit to her studio in
Beirut three years ago led to an invitation to exhibit her work.
Her
“Spaceship” stools and tables are organic shapes with geometric angles
threatening to take flight; arched light fixtures bisect the space they
occupy; and plates carved with Arabic calligraphy are displayed
alongside pieces representing the birth of Arabic writing.
Her
use of traditional materials, namely gold and copper, fabricated with
local smithing techniques, places her work within its regional
provenance.
“There is always a Lebanese element, but I push further,” she said. “I do not reinterpret.”
Scott
Longfellow, the director of D’Days, an annual design festival in Paris,
said, “What is interesting is Karen’s relationship to Lebanese
savoir-faire.”
“Her
pieces are exceptionally well-made,” he added, noting that her designs
reference a wide range of eras, including midcentury Italian and 1960s
Brazil.
Ms.
Chekerdjian’s show at the Institut du Monde Arabe is the first solo
exhibition for a designer there, Mr. Castro said. In a low-key way, he
said, her work embodies a modern, progressive edge within Arab
tradition.
“Despite
her orientalism, Karen is a universal artist,” Mr. Castro said. “Arab
artists like her are the fresh breath that will shape the future of the
region.”
