Syzygy: a kind of unity
Above: English ripple ash table by John Makepeace & rug by Tracy Oldfield
Above: 'Sandwave' by Paul Gower
Above: Wellsley House Bench & table by Robert Kilvington
Above: 'Tall Girl' by Kay & Stemmer
Above: A beautiful hall cabinet by Wales and Wales
Above: 'Wish Bone Stool' by Guy Mallinson
The Alpha House Gallery, in South Street, Sherborne, is putting on an exhibition of designer furniture, rugs and textiles curated by the renowned Dorset furniture designer and maker John Makepeace. The show will feature work by John and six of his former pupils as well as pieces by some of the country’s leading rug and textile designers. In case you are wondering, ‘Syzygy’, pronounced ‘sizzer-gee’, means a kind of unity, especially through coordination or alignment. It is used in astronomy to describe the alignment of three or more celestial bodies in the same gravitational system along a straight line. So now you know.
The exhibition breaks new ground for The Alpha House Gallery. The Gallery normally has a mission to bring high-quality contemporary ceramics, paintings and sculpture to Dorset. However, this exhibition ties in well with the usual policy of exhibiting a rich juxtaposition of two-and three-dimensional work.
John Makepeace, the UK’s leading designer and maker of bespoke furniture, began making furniture in 1957, and since 1977 he has been based in West Dorset. ‘When I started it was extremely difficult to survive as a furniture designer-maker,’ says John. ‘I was told I would never make a living and advised to go into the furniture industry. Now the picture has changed completely, we’ve seen the rapid decline of volume furniture making in the UK and the rise of the bespoke contemporary furniture maker.’
The majority of John’s commissions come from private individuals and families mainly in Britain and the United States. A commission might involve making a single item or furniture for an entire room. So influential has John’s work been in shaping the development of bespoke furniture it can be found in some of the UK’s and the United States’ great public collections including the V&A in London, the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge, The Smithsonian Institute in Washington and The Art Institute, Chicago.
But if John Makepeace is this country’s leading designer-maker of furniture there are also good grounds for calling him the UK’s single most important teacher of the craft. Thirty-one years ago John opened Parnham College near Beaminster and between 1977 and 2001 the college educated an entire generation of furniture makers. It is the work of just six of his former pupils, all of whom are now highly successful designer-makers in their own right, that John has selected for inclusion in this show. Let’s take a look at their work…
Paul Gower
Paul works both to commission and speculatively in his furniture-design business in Abbotsbury. Working mainly in wood, other materials are used to complement and enhance natural textures and colours, such as in the piece of furniture pictured here, ‘Sandwave’, which is made of American brown ash and aluminium. Recent work has explored exciting finishing techniques such as sandblasting, bleaching, fuming and metal patination. www.paulgowerfurniture.co.uk
Robert Kilvington
Robert’s work has developed into areas of public seating and large-scale sculpture for public places, and he is particularly interested in creating work relevant to its location, inspired by the surroundings and the activities carried out within it. This three-seater bench – the ‘Wellsley House Bench’ – and low table are made in stainless steel and natural oak. www.robertkilvington.com
Kay & Stemmer
Both Sarah Kay and Andrea Stemmer we trained at Parnham College, and their collaboration was formed in 2000. Their furniture is renowned for its simple elegance, functionality and attention to detail. ‘Tall Girl’, pictured here, is an unusual alternative space for personal grooming. The solid walnut legs are shaped to hold the solid walnut box of three drawers and also the mirror, and with a footprint of only 45x40cm, it fits easily into smaller spaces. www.kay-stemmer.com
Wales and Wales
Rod and Alison Wales will be showing examples of their one-of-a-kind pieces at Syzygy. These combine simple, sculptural forms with intensely-worked surfaces, showing occasional visual ambiguity without sacrificing utility. This hall cabinet is fumed and limed oak with paint, and stainless-steel handles. www.walesandwales.com
Guy Mallinson
Guy’s furniture is made from coppiced greenwood without machinery, electricity, glue, metal fixings or screws. It represents the ultimate in environmentally-sound technology, using ancient techniques to produce contemporary designs. The ‘Wish Bone Stool’ pictured here is of ash and oak-bark-tanned leather, and is made entirely by hand using the natural shrinkage of green wood to lock the joints. Guy also runs green woodwork courses in his woodland workshop in West Dorset. www.mallinson.co.uk
Opening image: Table by John Makepeace, made of English ripple ash. The rug is by Tracy Oldfield, and contains mohair from the Angora goats she breeds on her farm near Beaminster. www.johnmakepeacefurniture.com www.tracyoldfield.co.uk
Syzygy takes place at The Alpha House Gallery, South Street, Sherborne from 12th April to 10th May. Tel 01935 814944 or visit www.alpha-house.co.uk for more details.