art revival
Fredrikson Stallard in Vienna
Opening Vienna Design Week with a ceremonial dinner, Swarovski and international designers Fredrikson Stallard debuted two new modern pieces —Prologue and Hurricane— showing at Vienna’s landmark museum, the Belvedere Palace. Attended by Nadja Swarovski, designers Patrik Fredrikson and Ian Stallard, and Belvedere director Dr. Agnes Husslein-Arco, the launch celebrated 10 years of Vienna’s now-established design week alongside the new installations. An impressive baroque building and UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Belvedere is one of Austria’s most renowned museums, and this is the first time design pieces will be showcased around Vienna Design Week in this venerable institution.
First unveiled at Art Basel Hong Kong in 2014, Prologue is an imposing standing circular sculpture weighing over one ton and holding 8,000 topaz-colored Swarovski crystal droplets. Created to mimic the shimmering sun, its circular form is both a powerful representation of new beginnings and an abstract symbol of life and rebirth.
The second piece on display, Hurricane, is a study about the past and present. Commissioned by Swarovski for the Belvedere’s Marble Hall, Hurricane is a set of two gold mirrors composed of crushed mirror-polished aluminum. Similar to Swarovski crystal, the pieces have a sublime reflective and refractive quality that both enhances and expresses the environment around them.
The Fredrikson Stallard installation will serve as a placeholder for two 1723 oil paintings by Ignaz Heinitz von Heinzenthal while they undergo restoration which is supported by Swarovski.
Swarovski’s design collaborations include work with the world’s leading artists, architects and designers who demonstrate the infinite creative possibilities of crystal. Past design collaborations include works with Ron Arad, Tom Dixon, Ross Lovegrove, Arik Levy and the late Zaha Hadid. The creative partnership between Swarovski and Fredrikson Stallard spans more than 10 years and includes jewelry, lighting, and loose crystal components.
