Esoteric Survey

  ARCHITECTURAL POTTERY  BOOK SIGNING EVENT JF CHEN showroom in Los Angeles.  November 9, 2024 4-6pm In addition to getting your book signed, JF Chen has enough AP in his showroom to do his own exhibition. This is even after he loaned a bunch to the AMOCA exhibition . See you there.  

  Hun Chung Lee, Curated by Bianca Chen at JF Chen Jonathan Ryan at The Landing  ‘Implicit Explicit’, curated by Meaghan Roddy at Hauser & Wirth

STOOLS from the JF Chen Collection , by  Marta & JF Chen . STOOLS and its contents are artful reminders that, despite immediate recognition of form—the identification of a stool, as such—there is no single language of creation or fabrication. We know an object is for sitting because the spirit of its design invites the body to do so. Through this intuitive dialogue, the stool becomes a mirror in which the everyday is reflected, observed, and made endlessly new. - Marta The exhibition includes over 120 stools at two sites. Josef Hoffmann Isamu Noguchi and Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Yrjö Kukkapuro T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings Thonet and Phillip Lewis There are many "Attribution Unknown" which is fitting for the humble stool.  I'm a sucker for rope seats. Eames X 3 Stacy Dukes and  Tokukichi Kato Unknown but FLW-ish Isokon in the middle In addition to curating the exhibition and forthcoming catalog, Marta is hosting a portion of the exhibition at their Echo Park G...

My friend Yoshi is having an exhibition of his photos and a book signing at JF Chen  this Saturday. The design and art direction of the book is by Tamotsu Yagi . He's a big deal in the design world and has a great collection as well. Yoshi shot some photos of his space here .  More on the book:  The Open Hand: Le Corbusier's Chandigarh: A Photographic Essay by Yoshihiro Makino

Ken Nack / Michael Arntz Santa Barbara: 1960s - 1980s September 22 - November 3, 2018 Opening Reception: Saturday September 22, 4-8pm More information at The Landing Monumental Arntz From the Creative Directors of Daft Punk, JF Chen presents Hervet Manufacturier, a limited edition collection of furniture created by cousins Cedric and Nico Hervet. Each piece is an edition of 12, and made in France, the two Hervet cousins design furniture under meticulous respect for the traditional techniques of carpentry.

On July 12th Wright presents Dieter Rams: The JF Chen Collection at auction. Featuring over 130 works by the seminal designer and his colleagues at Braun and Vitsoe. The items up for sale were exhibited last year at JF Chen. In 1955 Rams began working as an architect at Braun and was chief designer from 1961 until 1995. In the 1960s he designed  a furniture collection for Vitsœ ,   including the 606 universal shelving system and 620 chair series. Dieter's desk. Dieter at home.  Source: Yatzer Coming in just a few months is Rams ,  a documentary portrait of Dieter Rams. P roduced and directed by  Gary Hustwit, of Objectified and Helvetica fame.  Original score and music for Rams is by Brian Eno. Source: Gary Hutswit See all the lots available at  Wright

JF Chen Collection at Christie's Joel was born in Shanghai, grew up in colonial Hong Kong, went to school in Great Britain and then moved to Los Angeles for college. It was in Los Angeles where he stumbled into the antique business. Here we are 40 years later and he is at the top of the trade. He currently has three galleries filled to the gills will the best design around. He's actually a really nice guy too. Joel has a lot of chairs. I was at his shop after Christie's left with their 300 lots. They didn't even make a dent! Dan Johnson This is a very uncommon version of the cobra lamp by Greta Grossman. It was produced by Middletown Manufacturing Co. in New York, versus the usual west coast Ralph O. Smith. The brushed brass might be something they could only handle in the blingy east coast. Lester Geis T-5-G Table Lamp for Heifetz Joel has nice stuff at home too, like his second Geis lamp. The online sale is February 7-14 and th...

Dieter Rams/Braun exhibition at  JF Chen Curated by Daniel Ostroff, with exhibition design by Clare Graham Dieter Rams  TP 1 and T 3 radio. These are rare! The first iPod is obviously based off the T3. Actually most Apple designs borrow heavily from Dieter Rams. If you don't believe me, read this . TP 1 in action. To really see it in action, check out this video . Source: MoMA Braun SK 4 or "Snow White's Coffin," designed by Rams and Hans Gugelot The  Vitsoe shelving by Dieter Rams was provided by the company. They have a new showroom in Los Angeles .  The stools are Stapelprogramm 740 for Vitsoe, 1973 Atelier 1 Audio System. That stand is rare. This and many other pieces are on loan from Future Forms . My stereo is hanging out here for a while.  The Joel Chen motto is More is More.    The grinders and toasters The poster was designed by Gary H...