ALDO BAKKER
09.27.2018 – 11.27.2018
This exhibition highlights Dutch artist Aldo Bakker’s idiosyncratic vision and work processes through his close collaborations with crafts masters including esteemed silversmiths Jan Matthesius and Andre van Loon, Dutch ceramicist Frans Ottink, wood crafter Rutger Graas, the urushi masters Sergei Kirilov and Mariko Nishide, and the renowned porcelain makers of La Manufacture de Sèvres. Les Ateliers Courbet is pleased to unveil Bakker’s latest collaboration with the Viennese silversmiths of Wiener Silber Manufactur for Les Editions Courbet.
Each piece reflects the designer’s appreciation for sensuous forms inspired by our natural and cultural environments. The artist allows his original design vision to morph through the hands of the fabricator guided by the nature of the chosen material. Bakker’s design language is composed of movements whether static, as implied by the trail of the craftsmen’s hands, or continual through the gestures of their use.
The resulting designs create quiet tensions; they are studies in engagement, from the challenges that they present to the master craftsmen behind them, to the interactions they spur with the end user. Bakker intends to invite the user to pause and be present as they engage with his objects. The mindful designs rely, at their core, on the impeccable craftsmanship of each piece that imbues the work with integrity and resonance.
Bakker’s work belongs to significant collections both private and institutional, including the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Fine Art in Houston, the Vitra Museum in Weil am Rhein, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Cooper Hewitt in New York among others.
