Educating children through play: could be Fredun Shapur’s motto. A discreet and yet iconic artist in the 1960s, he created a broad...
He is the kreo Gallery. Didier Krzentowski runs the place since the first, in May 1999. This day is particularly important these days. “Une pièce par jour” is the 100th exhibition of what is today the greatest French design gallery. It is a name, and above all a face that we all instantly recognize. It is the face of a respected and passionate man, who made this space in the 6th arrondissement in Paris an experimental laboratory for designers. There, Ron Arad, Pierre Charpin, Marc Newson, the Bouroullec and Campana brothers and Konstantin Grcic – the last of them – have been able to materialise and welcome their daily intuitions and their visions of extraordinary. It is the specificity of kreo, which makes the gallery a place of exhibition but also a structure of production and of education to design. Didier Krzentowski is obsessed by lights. He is more than a collector. The gallerist, total fan of Gino Sarfatti, turned out to be a real historian when it comes to lights. “The Complete Designers’ Lights”, book dedicated to his passion, has already a second opus. This figure of specialist makes him a prescriber. The sellers who don’t call him after having discovered something are rare. His opinion matters, exactly as the one he and his associate and wife, Clémence, have given to select the 100 pieces present this September, 10, 31 rue Dauphine, to celebrate their seventeen years of work.
Exhibition “One piece for each day” (1999-2016), from September, 10th to October, 29th at the Galerie kreo – 31 rue Dauphine, 75006 Paris
Didier, on whom do you put the spotlight for your 100-th show “Une pièce par jour”?
I give top billing to our “family” of designers. We show pieces by all the people we have been working with for 17 years at the gallery!
Why this choice?
The idea is to show the variety, the extraordinary inventiveness and the quality of the fascinating research work the designers do. The exhibition is not a conclusion at all, but it is rather a token of dynamism for the future exhibitions!
What do you feel when you show the work of an artist?
First, I need to be surprised. I start looking at it without understanding. It is great to show a designer that offers something never done before, and who gives his vision of the future.
What did you last buy?
An iron meteorite: I love the idea of having an object coming from the universe!
L’exposition n’est en aucun cas une conclusion, mais plutôt un gage de dynamisme pour les expositions futures !
What is the light you prefer?
Of course it is Sarfatti 3026 neon light, from 1954. It was avant-garde and minimalist!
What would Didier Krzentowski advise to someone passionate about old lights to start his own collection?
First, I would advise to read books to understand the evolution of lights, discover who invented them and who made them evolve…
What is the cheap piece you are the proudest of?
It is the “Sciuko” lamp by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castriglioni. It is like a car headlight, in orange enamelled aluminium, that can be used as a wall lamp, a ceiling light, and table lamp…
Do you have a restaurant to recommend in Paris or elsewhere?
Le Petit Lutetia. It is delicious, and the way Christophe welcomes us is really nice!
Credits : Constance Gennari @thesocialitefamily
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