Loïc Le Gaillard. “They tread
the line between art and
design; hence they appeal to
a wide audience.” Some
pieces have been purchased
specii cally as investments
by British and Swiss hedge funds.
Rather than resenting what
might be viewed as commodi-
tization of the work, Smeets
sees this as a compliment: “Even
an investment buyer has to
like what he selects.”
Curators have been among
their most enthusiastic fans—more
than 40 museums own works by
Studio Job. So do luxury retailers
with art collections, such as
Baccarat and Bulgari, as well as
Parisian fashion boutique Colette,
the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach,
and the European Parliament
in Brussels. Pieces have appeared
in some 300 solo and group shows,
and the i rm has been the subject
of several books, the latest as
part of the mad exhibition.
Although Smeets and Tynagel
have designed several interiors for
exhibitions, the duo’s i rst venture
into curating was an exhibition
for the New York gallery ChamberARTISTDOSSIER
says, “It rivaled the studiolo in the Palazzo Ducale di Urbino—the
dei nitive Renaissance trompe l’oeil marquetry.”
Devotees of maximalism, Smeets and Tynagel refer to their style as
New Gothic, but in fact, they have no identii able signature. The
only consistent elements in their designs are complex storytelling and
superb craftsmanship. A single piece may synthesize the characteristics
of many crafts—from traditional carving, stained glass, gilding, or
bronze casting to modern laser-cutting and 3-D printing—into an
intricately designed, opulently ornamented Gesamtkunstwerk. “Some-
where between Brancusi and Koons, these seductive, pseudo-erotic
objects, redolent with consumer desire, are, in the end, neither pure
commodity nor pure art,” says Moss. “As artifacts, they dwell in a truly
hybrid zone of object and objet d’art.”
Many of the provocative design themes are challenging. The widely
published Robber Baron collection includes i ve polished and gilded
cast-bronze pieces that translate landmark structures into symbols
of industry, wealth, and corruption; in the Perished collection, laser-
cut images of animal skeletons are inlaid into furniture forms of
Macassar ebony; the pair’s romantic breakup in 2015 was translated
into a table depicting a train collision; and several small objects
depict private body parts.
Studio Job has nevertheless acquired a growing international
clientele, primarily from the United States, United Kingdom, Russia,
and the Middle East. According to Smeets, most clients are contem-
porary or modern art collectors or people who are drawn to
craft-related works like haute couture and handwrought silver. “The
collectors of Studio Job are varied, ranging from design enthusiasts to
contemporary art patrons,” concurs Carpenters Workshop cofounder
96
ART+AUCTION MARCH 2016 (^) | BLOUINARTINFO.COM
FROM TOP: STUDIO JOB; ADRIEN MILLOT
The drawing of
L’Afrique uphol-
stery, top right,
was created as part
of a 2012 collabo-
ration between
Land Rover and
Studio Job. A
prototype Taj Mahal
table, in polished
and patinated
bronze, 2012,
below, sold for
nearly $85,000,
well above its
$61,000 estimate,
at Christie’s London
last November.
ARTIST: Studio Job
NATIONALITY: Belgian-Dutch
DATES: 2000–present
AUCTION RECORD: Robber Baron floor lamp, 2007, brought
$110,500 (est. $100-150,000) at Phillips in October 2012.
HONORS: The firm’s work has been shown at London’s Victoria
and Albert Museum, the Stedelijk in Amsterdam, and LACMA,
and will receive its first retrospective at New York’s Museum of
Arts and Design this month. Named the most important designer
of Dutch Design Week in 2012, ’13, and ’14.
VITAL STATS