Harry Nuriev, a New York and Paris-based artist, architect and interior furniture designer and the founder and creative director of Crosby Studios, is redefining the purpose of denim. The fabric is his canvas of choice in a new exhibition, titled “Harry Nuriev: Denim.””
Nuriev unveiled the exhibition this month on the ground floor of Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris.
The exhibition is a collection of denim-clad hybrid pieces designed specifically for the space, which Nuriev re-created as an apartment. Described as “micro-environments,” the collection was “conceived as a modular system, composed of several dissociated and interchangeable elements that form a matrix,” according to the exhibition statement.
Each piece is designed to adapt to the way people spend time indoors, especially since the pandemic.
Items include a beauty table, a dining table with 12 cube seats, mirrors and 22 cushions with phrases embroidered on them, including “history,” “expanded consciousness,” “be authentic,” “new renaissance” and more.
The Sofa Pool represents a common space where people can eat, work or rest. “Far more than a simple piece of furniture, it is conceived as a functional extension of ourselves able to satisfy many of our domestic needs. As both a table and a sofa, there is no interruption when moving from one to another, allowing for deeper conversations and connection between users,” according to the exhibition statement.
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Denim’s “vaunted position” within both the haute-fashion world and everyday society is an inspiration to Nuriev, who often mixes influences from middle American fashion with the luxuries of a global elite.
Denim workout equipment—including a bench, dumbbells, yoga blocks, a horizontal bar and a yoga mat—are also part of the exhibition. Though the fabric is rarely associated with the fitness industry, the pieces demonstrate the “physical durability and versatility of denim.”
“Denim is a constitutive part of the history of fashion and Nuriev brings this history to his art. His driving ethos is to combine the worlds of art, design, and fashion,” the gallery stated.
While most pieces in the exhibition are not for sale, buyers can purchase the denim cushions, which retail for 500 euros ($532), on the Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s website. The exhibition runs through May 13.