Marc Newson: “I design objects to learn”

At Château La Coste, the exhibition dedicated to Marc Newson opens without fanfare. A frosted glass armchair, cloisonné enamel pieces, a Carrara marble console table: nothing ostentatious, but a quiet precision. In the glass-walled auditorium designed by Oscar Niemeyer, the objects seem to float, suspended between technical achievement and enduring form. For forty years, Newson has pursued a simple and rare idea: to produce forms capable of standing the test of time without succumbing to the trends of the era.

The presence of the Lockheed Lounge serves as an anchor. This riveted aluminum lounge chair, designed in the late 1980s, now belongs as much to the history of design as it does to the art market. It reminds us of a simple truth: radicalism, when it endures, becomes heritage. With Newson, the object is never merely decorative. It is a trace, almost a proof.

Trained at the Sydney College of the Arts, having spent time in Tokyo and Paris before settling in London, he has forged a borderless trajectory. As the only industrial designer represented by Gagosian, he navigates between mass production and collector’s pieces, between industry and craftsmanship. This tension lies at the heart of his work. For behind the apparent simplicity of forms lies an almost invisible complexity. Years of research, revived techniques, recreated workshops. Chinese cloisonné, revived on a large scale in Beijing, becomes a living surface. Marble, carved from a solid block, seems to lose its density. The material is no longer a medium: it becomes the subject.

Newson willingly talks about process. That is where the essence lies. Luxury no longer lies in the object, but in the time required to create it. A form of deliberate slowness, almost going against the tide. The appearance of Electra, a six-meter-tall monumental sculpture, further accentuates this shift. The object tilts in space, dialogues with the architecture, asserts itself as a presence. Set against Niemeyer’s curves, design takes on a new status: it becomes a symbol. Here, the designer is no longer merely a creator. He acts as a cultural figure, straddling the boundary between art and architecture. And implicitly poses a simple question: what remains of an object as time passes?

For Marc Newson, the answer lies in a standard of excellence. That of the gesture, the material, the craftsmanship. Not to create something new, but to do it right. In a world that is accelerating, he chooses to slow down, and perhaps that is where true modernity lies today.

How did you choose the objects for this exhibition—just 14 from such a rich body of work?

Marc Newson. We selected them very carefully, one by one. I’ve known Paddy (the owner of Château La Coste, ed.) for a long time; we’re friends. We’ve wanted to create a project together for a long time. I thought it would be interesting to take pieces made of different materials, from distinct eras, and bring them here. It’s a very different setting from the museums where I’ve had the opportunity to exhibit my work.

Where do these exhibited pieces come from?

I own very few of them. Only one comes from my own collection. Most of the pieces come from elsewhere, including some from my two galleries, Kréo in Paris and Gagosian, but also from a few private collectors. Château La Coste is a very prestigious venue. Everyone wants to lend them works.