The Philosopher's Stone

Tail light by Stuart Haygarth

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Gallery Libby Sellers

Grandmateria II

When I first met Libby Sellers we had a spring lunch in the gorgeous courtyard at the V&A with our common friend Helen Evenden. Libby was talking then about opening her own Gallery and in September it became a reality. Located right in-between Art Galleries and Design stores on Berner Street in London she could not find a better location for her stunning functional Art pieces.

Since 2007 she had been doing pop-up galleries, and it was time to stay put in one location.

The first pop-up Gallery was called Grandmateria, so it was only natural to make the Gallery begin with a symbolical Grandameteria II.

The title alludes to the mythologies of the Philosopher’s Stone: a stone said to have alchemist powers to transmute lead into gold. By working with modest materials, using materials out of context, or by layering the materials with rich narrative each of the represented designers elevate the ordinary to extraordinary effect. - Libby Sellers

BrickGlass by Fabien Cappello (2010)

Photography: Gideon Hart

© gallery libby sellers

Christmas tree project by Fabien Cappello

Photography: Gideon Hart

© gallery libby sellers

These Christmas tree tables, were initiated by both Libby and the artist Fabien Cappello, to change discarded Christmas trees into tables and stools and have part of the profit go to the Woodland Trust. An estimated 976, 000 Christmas trees will be discarded this year, so why not make something useful out of them?

Geno Chair by Simon Hasan

Photography: Gideon Hart

© gallery libby sellers

These boiled "Geno" leather stools are quite a fantastic and interesting minimalist concept. 

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Sliplamp by Nicolas Le Moigne

Photography: Nicolas Le Moigne

© gallery libby sellers

This limited edition table lamp is made out of eternit, a fibre cement that is commonly used for construction. Remarkably, when you touch it, it feels soft and smooth.

colony - asmara' by formafantasma for gallery libby sellers
photo by luisa zanzani
© gallery libby sellers

Italian born, Eindhoven-based designers Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi is behind the exciting Formafantasma pieces, focusing on current and historical flow of people between North Africa and Italy (especially Sicily). The mohair blankets looks a bit like oversized stamps, showing the marks each cultures have established with each other. Like here the old Fiat factory in Eritrea.

Libby in front of Nina Tolstrup's paletable (2010)

This table and chairs are constructed out of reclaimed wood taken from unused pallets.

(Nina Tolstrup has made off cut animals casted in Crystacal plaster for a limited edition sale at Phillips de Pury's gallery the 1st of December.)

Excited about what Libby comes up with next I am looking forward to checking out her next opening in the middle of December. Find more info about Libby Sellers Gallery here.

With Love 

Kristin