Make Yourself Comfortable at Chatsworth, Chatsworth House, Derbyshire

Contemporary chair design exhibition, Make Yourself Comfortable at Chatsworth, brings forth the private collection of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, which includes work commissioned from leading artists and new makers dating back to the the 17th century. These pieces will be showcased alongside furniture by innovative designers such as Thomas Heatherwick and Amanda Levete, Marc Newson, Tokujin Yoshioka, Piet Hein Eek and Moritz Waldemeyer. Furthermore, new commissions will come from Raw Edge whose bright and delicately detailed Endgrain seating will send coloured, grid-like pathways across the floor of the Sculpture Gallery, and Tom Price who will install Counterpart in the chapel.

Endgrain uses the idea of a tree, carrying minerals throughout its body using it own grains, to transfer coloured pigment into its own wood grain. The benches on view have therefore been painted ‘from inside out’ as Raw Edges soaked lengths of timber in various dyes, once they had a colourful collection these were glued and sculpted into the finished pieces. In places, benches and stools will seem to grow out of an indoor landscape.

Other new commissions come from three of Sheffield Hallam University’s MA Design students and the university’s alumnus, British designer Daniel Schofield. Carrying new works and historic pieces throughout Chatsworth, the exhibition intends to create a new way of looking at the house’s historic collection. Each seat gives a specific perspective of certain works and arrangements, creating an engaging and involved experience.

Make Yourself Comfortable at Chatsworth, 28 March – 23 October, Chatsworth, Bakewell, Derbyshire, DE45 1PP.

Find out more at www.chatsworth.org.

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Credits
1. Moritz Waldemeyer, By Royal Appointment. Courtesy and copyright of Chatsworth House Trust.