At ninety-four years of age the Danish-born American designer Jens Risom has collaborated with Rocket Gallery and Benchmark Furniture, who have jointly secured the European rights to reissue his 1950s and 1960s furniture designs. The first collection of nine pieces is being exhibited at Rocket.
JENS RISOM FURNITURE, 2nd July-4th September 2010
ROCKET GALLERY
Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JJ (020 7729 7594)
The group of furniture released by Rocket includes an easy chair, a side chair, a desk, various coffee tables, two magazine tables, and Risom’s famous upholstered bench. These are shown in a mixture of oak and walnut versions and upholstered in a variety of Kvadrat fabrics and Elmo leathers.
The collection has been creatively directed by Jonathan Stephenson of Rocket and made by Sean Sutcliffe and Terence Conran’s Benchmark Furniture company in their Dorset and Berkshire workshops, with the close involvement of Risom himself.
Jens Risom was born in Copenhagen in 1916. From 1935 to 1938 he attended the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen where he trained under the furniture-maker Kaare Klint and his fellow students included Hans Wegner.
In 1939, Risom emigrated from Denmark to the USA, where in 1941 he designed the first range of furniture manufactured by Hans Knoll. In 1946, he established Jens Risom Design Inc which grew to become the third largest furniture company in America.
“I set out to design contemporary furniture that was comfortable and practical to use. I developed an American version of Scandinavian modern furniture.” - Jens Risom, Classic Modern
A catalogue of the new furniture collection is available and the pieces can be viewed on the dedicated Jens Risom website.
Simultaneously, as a back-drop to the furniture, Rocket is presenting ‘Black & white minimalism’ with works by Lars Wolter, Michelle Grabner, Stefan Eberstadt, and Keld Helmer-Petersen.
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