Discovering Douillard

Magen H Gallery's Booth At Design Miami/ 2011

When visiting Design Miami/ this week, be sure to swing by Magen H Gallery’s booth. Magen H is staging a group show entitled: The Individual and The Collective, 1920-1970. The exhibition includes pieces by Alain Douillard, Jean Prouvè, Charlotte Perriand, Georges Jouve, Jean Royère, Gustave Tiffoche, Le Corbusier, Ceramics of LaBorne and Pierre Jeanneret.

While some of these names are staples at Design Miami/, Alain Douillard is a fairly elusive and curious talent for this circuit. “Alain’s sophisticated creations are a bit of a phenomenon due to his reclusive lifestyle. Preferring to stay in the small town of Nantes as opposed to adopting the path of other artists of the time period who migrated to Paris and enjoyed the cross cultural collective of others in the same location, his work is nonetheless innovative and intellectual,” says Gallery Owner April Magen.

Leather Chair By Alain Douillard Presented By Magen H Gallery At Design Miami/

All of the work you will see by Douillard at Design Miami/ was crafted by hand in his studio. He worked with a wide variety of materials but was most expressive with metal. At the fair, you will see a chair made with leather and steel and a piece called Bouquet made with Iron, aluminum and steel. The two pieces show the range of Douillard’s talent.

Bouquet By Alain Douillard Presented By Magen H Gallery At Design Miami/ 2011

Magen puts Douillard’s work and career into perspective. “ With metal, Douillard found a medium that supported his conceptual ideas previously unavailable to him through the use of conventional materials. Expanding on his investigation of geometric forms, Alain was able to illustrate his fascination with intersecting planes juxtaposed in ‘Negative’ space by manipulating metal parts to create a three dimensional object. Douillard discovered an organic relation between the ragged, and seemingly dissonant elements of metal, and the organic, poetic nature of the material itself.”

Douillard received his classical training in sculpture at the Beaux-arts de Nantes.

Visit: www.magenxxcentury.com and www.designmiami.com.