Max Lamb Opens at Johnson Trading Gallery

Johnson Trading Gallery presents the first U.S. exhibition of contemporary furniture by British designer Max Lamb. The exhibition features new commissions Lamb has crafted from New York bluestone, along with a retrospective of important limestone, pewter, bronze, copper, wool felt, and polystyrene objects, demonstrating why his work has captured the attention of the international design community. A series of films will offer an understanding of Lamb's design philosophy and processes. The exhibition will be on view from October 8 through November 9.

One of a group of dynamic young British designers who are leading the pack internationally, Lamb was featured as one of four Designers of the Future at Design Miami/ Basel 2008. He is known for the creative vision he brings to contemporary furniture design, for his high level of technical skill, and for his drive, as he explains, "to explore and re-contextualize both traditional and unconventional materials, celebrating their inherent qualities, and to reconsider the function of all objects."

The new works in this exhibition, evolving from his previous collection "Exercises in Seating", a consistent theme throughout his career, exemplify Lamb's skills as a designer, a craftsman, and an artist. For this exhibition, Max has created new works in Delaware Bluestone. A naturally blue sediment stone with a strong historic connection to New York, it is visible throughout the city's sidewalks and architecture. Bluestone, found predominantly in the Catskill Delta, was created over 350 million years ago from run-off from the Acadian Mountains, which covered the area where New York City now exists. Lamb traveled from London to the Catskills to search for suitable and inspiring pieces of stone from which to carve furniture. He collected stones from four bluestone quarries and worked directly with one, combining hand-carving and machine-cutting techniques to create a collection of chairs, tables, benches and stools. His previous stone work in limestone and sandstone, exhibited at Design Miami/ Basel 2008, along with early experiments in carving Cornish granite, advanced his well-honed skill set and his understanding of how to work with this heavy and difficult material.

The retrospective work in the exhibit includes a large, hand carved Polystyrene Dining Table and eight Poly Chairs, White Bronze Poly Chairs, a Nano-crystalline Copper Stool, and a collection of turned Concrete and Felt Stools from Lamb's Solids of Revolution project developed for the 2008 Designer of the Future Award.

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