A Parisian Gallery That Spotlights Emerging Designers Debuts at PAD London
A look at the Theoreme Editions gallery booth at the collectible art design fair.
Sistema By POOL. Photo by Stephane Ruchaud. Courtesy of Theoreme Editions and PAD London.
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 film Theoreme tells the story of a household that is radically liberated and forever altered by the arrival of an attractive newcomer. It’s this transformative feeling that Theoreme Editions co-founders David Giroire and Jérôme Bazzocchi hope their gallery’s objects inspire in collectors. From its home address on Rue de Valois, facing the magnificently manicured lawns of the Jardin du Palais-Royal, the Parisian maison d’edition brings 11 artists to its debut showing at PAD London.
“The works we will exhibit at PAD,” Giroire and Bazzocchi reveal, “embody a sculptural, monolithic, and minimalist aesthetic.” The duo have been working with many of their designers since 2019, when they first launched Theoreme Editions at Salone del Mobile in Milan. The gallery is known for its promotion of creative dialogue and collaboration between emerging French designers and expert European craftspeople.
Of the talents on their roster, Giroire and Bazzocchi “feel a deep connection to their visual aesthetic, to their artistic process, and to the actual people, themselves. Many trained with the most established architects in France, and have gone on to create their own highly impressive agencies. They are pivotal members of the current contemporary design scene in France that embody the era in which we live. We believe they will leave a lasting impact on the history of collectible furniture and interior architecture.”
Constantin Benches by Francesco Balzano. Photo by Stephane Ruchaud. Courtesy of Theoreme Editions and PAD London.
Chair By Exercice. Photo by Stephane Ruchaud. Courtesy of Theoreme Editions and PAD London.
Theoreme Editions releases tightly curated collections of numbered and limited editions. The first, Collection 01, featured seating in shapes resembling melted marshmallows, lamps like jellyfish standing to attention, and other household items in a range of confectionery hues. Collection 02 saw designers taking a more steely direction by exploring mirrors and metals.
Those who have been following the gallery since its first presentation in Milan in 2019 will be eager to see the Constantin Console in resin, a new interpretation of a bench by French architect and designer Francesco Balzano that was only available in an edition of eight. “We developed this adaptation specifically for our booth at PAD London,” says Giroire and Bazzocchi.
The console is “crafted in resin by an expert artisan in the Netherlands,” Giroire and Bazzocchi say, pointing out the material’s “translucent nature that glows when bathed in light.” The console’s colours also become more vibrant when it is illuminated. “We are touched by the tenderness of this poetic material,” the gallery’s co-founders note of the resin, noting how its varying hues appear to “play and dance.”
Maze Mirror by Wendy Andreu. Photo by Stephane Ruchaud. Courtesy of Theoreme Editions and PAD London.
Jellyfish Lamps by Emmanuelle Simon. Photo by Stephane Ruchaud. Courtesy of Theoreme Editions and PAD London.
Other highlights at the PAD London booth include the Sistema modular sofa series by designers Lea Padovani and Sebastien Kieffer of Pool Studio, as well as a folded aluminum chair that looks like an extremely challenging work of origami by Gwendal Le Bihan and Edouard Danais of Exercice.
“An object truly worthy of collecting will instigate an emotional response, an insatiable longing,” Giroire and Bazzocchi say. “We are dedicated to materials, techniques, and colours that inevitably provoke this visceral reaction.” Like Pasolini, the director of their gallery’s namesake film, the co-founders relish in provoking their audiences and collaborators.
“By challenging the most skilled artisans to adapt their savoir-faire to the ideas of emerging designers, we produce furniture and objects that are as audacious as they are visionary,” Giroire and Bazzocchi say. While there is no date set currently for the release of Collection 03, Theoreme Editions devotees are surely sitting on the very edge of their limited-edition seats.
From October 8 to 13, design connoisseurs leap to PAD London, the international design fair poised to launch its 16th edition. Over 10 weeks, NUVO shines a spotlight on the fair’s roster of talented newcomers, many of whom are local to London, and identifies the artists and exhibitors who should be on every visitor’s radar.
