Janette Laverrière
Janette Laverrière’s remarkable and influential career was rediscovered by Perimeter Art&Design in the year 2000 and investigated in a monograph published by Editions Norma in 2003 followed by an in delpht interview by Hans Ulrich Obrist in 2008. During that period her work was exhibited in Design Miami/Basel, Pavillion of Art and Design Paris and London, Dubai Design Days, Centre George Pompidou, Berlin Biennale, Musee d’Orsay.
A marginalized figure for much of her career, Laverrière’s work is characterised by her fresh and innovative approach to a diverse range of materials: laminates, steel, plywood, and lacquer, the use of a whimsical range of colour and form and virtuoso re-imagining objects relevant to everyday. She worked as both an interior architect and designer, completing major public projects such as the Presidential Palace in Niamey (Niger) during the time of decolonization and the much-acclaimed Swiss Hospital in Paris. She believed in furniture that should be affordable and functional- for example she liked that a piece of furniture have a double function- but always added a touch of poetry that left an undeniable impact on the aesthetics of modern furniture. Laverrière ended her career designing conceptual, non-functional mirrors—discovering a newfound usefulness in technically useless things.
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EXHIBITIONS
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2016
Walker Art Center, Minnesota
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2015
Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, California
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2014
Duddell's, Hong Kong
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2010
Fauteuil Cognac, Berlin
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2004
Rabih Hage, London
