Maria Bruun
Crafted Contrasts
1 june 2024 – 18 august 2024
you are cordially invited to the
opening on 1 june 2024, 2-6pm
the artist will be present
Photo by Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen
Graphic design by Studio Atlant
I am beyond proud to recieve two nominations at the Design Awards 2023. In the Design of the Year category, Atelier Collection for Reform is nominated. Yukari Hotta, Alberte Tranberg and Nina Nørgaard and I have jointly created a collection of handles that strives to give the users something special. Atelier Collection is all about craftsmanship; works created for the hand and in this case – works created by hand. As the chef’s favorite knife, I saw the handle as the kitchen’s most valuable tool. My contribution to the collection is a series of wooden handles. Inspired by the knife handle as an essential tool, the classic dowel detail appears as an essential, constructive and aesthetic element in the handle. With its rounded shape, the handles lie well in the hand and feel both strong and soft. For a designer to be able to move freely in scale and material and at the same time create a complete experience that becomes a greater whole, was the best challenge I could wish for.
What a pleasure to art direct the photos for this years @mindcraftproject – Loved creating beautiful images alongside photographer Anders Sune Berg. The ambition was to let you get lost, and almost loose orientation in the mesmerising materials and work of twelve talented artists
Photo by Anders Sune Berg
Photo Art Direction Maria Bruun
This year’s Wegner Prize was awarded at Schackenborg Castle to Furniture Designer, Maria Bruun.
“The Danish furniture designer based in Copenhagen has manifested himself on the Danish as well as the international design scene in the last 10 years. ”The jury agreed that this year’s Wegner Prize should go to Maria Bruun, because she helps to maintain the unique positions of strength that Danish design and Danish craftsmanship have historically occupied – and continue to occupy” says Tønder Municipality’s mayor, Jørgen Popp Petersen , who is also chairman of the Wegner prize jury that appoints the prize winner.
The jury adds in their motivation that Maria Bruun has proven herself at a relatively young age as one of Denmark’s most important object and furniture designers, who, on top of that, has an unwavering ‘Wegnerian’ passion for wood as a material and adds: “Within the framework of a classic design concept, she possesses an honest and simple aesthetic approach to her furniture, where the timeless, tactile and sensual elements of wood are emphasised, while playing with form and thinking in function. In this work, she appears as a designer who at once challenges, but also has a clear starting point in the Nordic furniture tradition”
September 21-26, 2021
Preview day September 20
Design Miami/ Basel
Booth C/01
Hal 1 Süd, Messe Basel
Reflected Surroundings designed by Danish designer Maria Bruun is an immersive installation and collection of new furniture pieces consisting of full body mirrors in solid walnut, a stainless steel dining table with soft leather upholstered swivel chairs, stackable boxes in walnut and mouth-blown glass vases.
As a small microcosm the full collection is titled ‘Reflected Surroundings’, because through the objects I want to encourage reflection – upon oneself and upon one’s belongings. Aesthetic self-awareness becomes possible when inviting the viewers into this sensuous space where every detail is carefully crafted.
The Design Council is the think tank of the Danish design field. Our purpose is to promote Danish design by conceiving and exploring new perspectives on design. We call it design freethinking.The purpose of the Danish Design Council is to explore the concept of design and to show public and private decisionmakers how design creates intelligent solutions and new possibilities in our lives. Through new initiatives and discussions of value, we wish to qualify the public debate about design, influence design policies and create solid connections between design and society.
“Maria Bruun is rewarded for her approach to wood and a strong understanding of the paradoxical. The Wilhelm Hansen Foundation particularly highlights her Nordic Pioneer furniture, where pure, slender minimalism meets rounded plinths that almost pulls the table and armchair to melt against the floor. It is perfectly proportioned and lovingly detailed. A bold stool in the furniture series literally turns the entire upside down, with its lozenge-shaped seat carefully shaped in solid wood, but with reminders of an over-upholstered sitting experience,” says scenographer Steffen Aarfing, who is a board member of the Wilhelm Hansen Foundation.
New Digital Exhibition Launches 16 June
Through videos, photos and visuals, The Mindcraft Project’s digital exhibition will unfold a curated selection of artistic, research-driven and experimental design projects by:
Ane Lykke / Cathrine Raben Davidsen / FOS / Jonas Edvard / Kasper Kjeldgaard / Krøyer-Sætter-Lassen / Maria Bruun / Mathias Bengtsson / Norm Architects / Tanja Kirst
Photo by Anders Sune Berg