With the exhibition “Ornementation Brutaliste”, French designer Mathias Kiss demonstrates his virtuoso handling of gold in a series of dazzling installations. Ornamentation which is said to have got stuck in the 18th century, with the figure of the craftsman applying gold leaf, and the acanthus-leaf motif; and on the other, Brutalism which came out of Modernism with its angles and straight lines, its minimalism and rigour. I try to propose, in both cases, a free and contemporary approach. “I don’t want to draw a line under the past, but rather to adapt it to contemporary culture.”
Mathias Kiss