Marion Friedmann Gallery

A Concrete Poetry at ALCOVA 2023 viewing room

 

VIEWING ROOM

‘A CONCRETE POETRY’
at ALCOVA 2023
Milan, Salone del Mobile, Italy
17.4. - 23.4. 2023

Our show 'A CONCRETE POETRY' presents 12 new unique cast concrete cabinets and furniture with plant reliefs cast onto the front doors by Stefan Buxbaum and Franz Ferro.

For his emblematic plant models, the artist applies his chosen specimens and petrifies those paragons of beauty as permanent reliefs onto the surfaces.

The collection was recently presented at the Salone del Mobile in Milan in the fifth edition of the trailblazing Alcova event. A new collection of cast concrete cabinets evokes a surprising sensation in contrast to the softness and sensibility of nature and plant specimens cast onto them. The ’stone’ pieces perfectly blended into the overgrown and concrete beauty and deserted ruin aesthetic of the Alcova site, where nature has become a charming part of this brutalist architecture.

'Forest Coat' by Stefan Buxbaum at installation. Dark concrete sideboard, 2023.

The cupboards of Stefan Buxbaum - a casting and concrete expert - are technical feats: the corpus is cast in one piece, in a lightweight technique. For his emblematic plant models, the artist applies his chosen specimens and petrifies those paragons of beauty as permanent reliefs onto the surfaces.

The softness and sensibility of nature represented through these beautiful plants contrast with the hardness of the concrete. The plants appear as being petrified. We are also reminded of the art deco era or Jugendstil, however, in new flesh, projected into the present and the future through the use of this contemporary material concrete. The beauty of nature becomes even more manifest, the finesse of the plants are more obvious, being cast into a timeless state for eternity.

'Glider' by Franz Ferro at installation. Concrete and wood desk, 2023.

Franz Ferro’s new concrete desk, an elegant piece of ‘stone’, is perfect to get immersed in one’s tasks. The desk distinguishes itself through its pure form where a simple concrete volume carries a wooden plane. The two materials form a seamless natural togetherness.

 

FEATURED ARTWORKS

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

 

STEFAN BUXBAUM

(Austria, 1971) He studied sculpture at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Since 2003 he has been working in the fields of sculpture, design, and furniture. He lives in the east of Austria. His preferred material is concrete where he constantly challenges its qualities and limitation to staggering results.

His body of work is characterized by a dialogue between seemingly disparate elements: the restrained and timeless hardness of concrete meet the fragile vivacity and tenderness of plant specimens. There is a technical sophistication inherent in his work, which has its own melody and adds a new lightness and aesthetic to the gravity of the material. Intriguing cabinets or cupboards, crafted of cast concrete in a special technique with plant specimens imprinted on its doors.

 

FRANZ FERRO

(Austria, 1985) Ferro grew up in a craftsmanship environment and a family workshop dedicated to carpentry. After his first paths of being a chef, he continued to study an MA for Sociology at the University of Vienna. After that he reconnected with his roots and undertook a diploma in interiors, furniture construction & design. In 2022, he established his own practice and carpentry workshop for interiors and furniture.