Big names take part in Galerie Kreo London’s inaugural exhibition Des Formes Utiles (Forms and Utility), which is on show until 30 October.  

At its new outpost in London’s Mayfair, Galerie Kreo presents new works from the likes of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Konstantin Grcic, Jaime Hayon, Hella Jongerius, Doshi Levien, Alessandro Mendini, Jasper Morrison (his first gallery piece since 2006) and Studio Wieki Somers. Des Formes Utiles addresses the relationship between function and aesthetics in 12 new Kreo editions.

Both Morrison and Grcic chose to work with wood – the former producing the soft-lined DOOW4L desk and the latter, London Calling, spiral-shaped library steps that speak of Grcic’s relationship with the British capital. ‘Think of London and the Routemaster Bus – the iconic red double-decker with its open rear platform that allowed you to hop on and off anywhere it stopped. When I lived in London, in the early ’90s, the old Routemasters were still in service. They had a narrow spiral staircase in the back that connected the lower and the upper deck. I still vividly remember countless travels across town, sitting upstairs in the front row, and watching London’s big city lights as they passed by below me. Of course, London Calling is not about bus travel. However, the title evokes fond memories I have for the city I once lived in.’ A fitting product for the gallery’s British debut, then.

The exhibition is dominated by an abundance of mirrors: works from François Bauchet, Pierre Charpin, David Dubois, Jaime Hayon, Alessandro Mendini and Doshi Levien. Squarable Lune, the looking glass from London-based Doshi Levien, is composed of two intersecting circles and a square and is based on the mathematical impossibility of turning a circle into a square.

Photos Lewis Ronald