Jean-Claude FARHI (1940-2012) - Lot 62

Jean-Claude FARHI (1940-2012) Bookcase-shelf, special order for his friend Rossi. A rare piece in wood, metal, mirrors and glass, produced in a limited edition of only four for his friend Rossi, as part of a special commission. Architectural structure with assertive geometric lines, combining contrasting materials: wood and black metal, mirrors encircling the shelves, and red-tinted glass handles set in metal, bringing a vibrant touch to the whole. France, circa 1980-1990 H: 249 cm W: 175 cm D: 48.5 cm (The mirrors encircling the shelves are missing and have been restored) Provenance: Private collection Jean-Claude Farhi began his career at a very early age, exhibiting in the 1960s. He was part of the optico-kinetic art movement, alongside artists such as Vasarely, although he developed his own visual language based on the repetition of geometric motifs. He uses industrial materials such as aluminum, Plexiglas, polished metal and mirrors, giving his works an often shimmering, sculptural appearance, somewhere between sculpture and design object. He is primarily recognized as a French sculptor and visual artist, rather than as a designer strictly speaking. He has had a singular artistic career, marked by works with geometric, repetitive and modular forms, at the crossroads of kinetic art and abstraction. Although not trained as a designer, he has occasionally created furniture or functional objects in very limited editions, often for close friends or as an experiment. This bookcase is a good example of this crossover between art and furniture, an approach close to that of certain artists of the 70s and 80s who blurred the boundary between sculpture and design (Garouste & Bonetti come to mind, as do certain works by César and Arman in furniture).