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Omer Arbel | 113

Omer Arbel | 113

POLIDEFKOUS 39, PIRAEUS AT CARWAN GALLERY ATHENS | 04 September - 07 November 2020

Multidisciplinary artist and designer Omer Arbel will present a series of new sculptural works at Carwan Gallery in Athens. From 3 September until 7 November 2020, the exhibition 113 will showcase a display of copper sculptures that are the result of a strand of new discoveries that are part of Arbel’s ongoing research into the reciprocal relationship between glass and copper.

In the creation of 113, a glass form is blown conventionally, then a liquid alloy made predominantly of copper is poured in. The chemical composition of both glass and alloy are calibrated to establish a deliberate discrepancy in the rate at which each material expands and contracts in response to temperature change. As a result, during cooling, the glass form shatters off, leaving a metallic shadow of itself. The metal, when hot, does not come in contact with oxygen on the glass side of the form, leaving an iridescent finish, contrasting with a coarse oxidized finish on the inside surface exposed to oxygen.

The exhibition consists of 70 unique pieces which have been created by hand in Vancouver, Canada. They will be shown as a fixed constellation positioned on a display table along the central axis of the new Carwan Gallery space in Athens. The gallery promotes and produces collectible design, developing exceptional cross-cultural collaborations that call to attention a specific market – the Near East. For those unable to visit the gallery, an innovative VR experience and guided journey has been created for the exhibition.

These works demonstrate Arbel’s decade old signature process, which is to let the intrinsic properties of a given material suggest its form, rather than impose an external idea of form upon the material.

“For some years I have been interested in matching the coefficients of expansion of glass and copper, so that the two could be fused on a molecular level and manipulated. I’ve wanted to explore formal languages that might emerge when two materials, so different from each other, marry. Over time, I’ve realized that a good idea eventually leads to its opposite. Here, for 113, the coefficients of expansion are deliberately divergent. When hot, the glass and copper interact to make a form that neither would be capable of on its own, in a kind of performance staged by the glass blowers, with great skill, in a short amount of time. The object immediately begins to cool, and the two materials, because of their intrinsic nature, are completed to reject each other, break off and separate. I am interested in the form that remains, an artifact resulting from (or documenting) a performative act of unpredictable contingencies and circumstances.”

Featured designer

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Omer Arbel

Vancouver, Canada

Omer Arbel was born in Jerusalem, Israel in 1976, grew up in Vancouver. He was trained in the 1990s as an architect and he apprenticed with architects Enric Miralles in Barcelona and John and Patricia Patkau in Vancouver. His architectural background is evident in his furniture and lighting design - his pieces are characterized not only by their own inherent qualities but also by the way they affect the spaces around them.

Arbel's work has received some of the highest honors of contemporary industrial design and has been published extensively. 113 is the result of a strand of new discoveries that are part of OAO’s ongoing research into the reciprocal relationship between glass and metals.

2003 Good Design Award (Chicago Athenaeum)
2004 ID Magazine Design Review Honorable Mention
2009 Red Dot Design Award

Major Museum Exhibition
Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design , Vancouver Art Gallery

Email: info@carwangallery.com
Phone: +852 3008 5615
Website: Explore the collection on the Carwan Gallery Works page

EXHIBITED WORKS

EXHIBITED WORKS

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OAO113.2020.66

OAO113.2020.66

OAO113.2020.66 OAO113.2020.66

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.16

OAO113.2020.16

OAO113.2020.16 OAO113.2020.16

By Omer Arbel
OA19.2

OA19.2

OA19.2 OA19.2

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.03

OAO113.2020.03

OAO113.2020.03 OAO113.2020.03

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.04

OAO113.2020.04

OAO113.2020.04 OAO113.2020.04

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.08

OAO113.2020.08

OAO113.2020.08 OAO113.2020.08

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.11

OAO113.2020.11

OAO113.2020.11 OAO113.2020.11

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.13

OAO113.2020.13

OAO113.2020.13 OAO113.2020.13

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.47

OAO113.2020.47

OAO113.2020.47 OAO113.2020.47

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.48

OAO113.2020.48

OAO113.2020.48 OAO113.2020.48

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.64

OAO113.2020.64

OAO113.2020.64 OAO113.2020.64

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.35

OAO113.2020.35

OAO113.2020.35 OAO113.2020.35

By Omer Arbel
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MORE WORKS BY Omer Arbel

MORE WORKS BY Omer Arbel

View all
OAO113.2020.66

OAO113.2020.66

OAO113.2020.66 OAO113.2020.66

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.16

OAO113.2020.16

OAO113.2020.16 OAO113.2020.16

By Omer Arbel
OA19.2

OA19.2

OA19.2 OA19.2

By Omer Arbel
OA84.2

OA84.2

OA84.2 OA84.2

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.03

OAO113.2020.03

OAO113.2020.03 OAO113.2020.03

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.04

OAO113.2020.04

OAO113.2020.04 OAO113.2020.04

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.08

OAO113.2020.08

OAO113.2020.08 OAO113.2020.08

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.11

OAO113.2020.11

OAO113.2020.11 OAO113.2020.11

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.13

OAO113.2020.13

OAO113.2020.13 OAO113.2020.13

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.47

OAO113.2020.47

OAO113.2020.47 OAO113.2020.47

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.48

OAO113.2020.48

OAO113.2020.48 OAO113.2020.48

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.64

OAO113.2020.64

OAO113.2020.64 OAO113.2020.64

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.35

OAO113.2020.35

OAO113.2020.35 OAO113.2020.35

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.67

OAO113.2020.67

OAO113.2020.67 OAO113.2020.67

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.60

OAO113.2020.60

OAO113.2020.60 OAO113.2020.60

By Omer Arbel
OAO113.2020.53

OAO113.2020.53

OAO113.2020.53 OAO113.2020.53

By Omer Arbel
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