New York: Penthouse Exhibitions

Primal Mysteries
Sébastien Léon
John Wigmore

RALPH PUCCI is delighted to present Primal Mysteries, the first standalone in-house collection in more than ten years, opening at its New York gallery on 8th February. The collection pays homage to many of the studio’s longstanding heroes from the worlds of sculpture and painting:  Giacometti, Brancusi, Miro, Paul Klee, Modigliani, Kirchner, Jean Arp, and looks further back to their sources of inspiration, and the artistic expressions that have been intrinsic to myriad cultures since the dawn of humanity. 

Inspiring the studio for many decades, including the earlier years when it was making mannequins, these movements, artists, concepts, and ideas translate into the collection with a linking thread running through all the designs; each piece shows the hand of its maker and evokes an earthy, elemental character, an escapist antidote to our digitally led world.

Eleven new lighting sculptures by multidisciplinary artist Sébastien Léon, added to Mirage, his debut collection for RALPH PUCCI, are also on view in the (new york) gallery. Exploring the realm of glass manipulation, geometrically blown glass cubes are transformed into semi anthropological shapes through the application of flame and gravitational forces.  Each sculpture emerges as a distinct entity possessing a unique shape and texture.

Los Angeles-based lighting artist John Wigmore continues to push his artistic boundaries by introducing color, shapes and hand-painted designs to his time-honored work with Japanese papers. His latest Chroma series of Wall Light Sculptures explores the relationship between object and environment, often recalling Frank Stella’s early work and the traditional art of shodō in equal measure.