Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

Posted by Fabio 1 March 2019

The brothers, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, have been working together since 1998. They sign their creations together whether for design brands, projects in public space or their ten solo exhibitions presented at Galerie kreo since 2001. This eleventh exhibition is therefore an event for them as well as for the gallery. It is indeed the first time they extensively exhibit together their respective personal drawing practices. Previously, the brothers have sporadically revealed these in museum exhibition contexts, the ‘Drawing’ book published in 2013 and on their Instagram accounts. Drawings for designs? Certainly not. By exhibiting them, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec offer a unique opportunity to deepen our knowledge of their universe. Far from being a simple extension of our support to their design activity, these drawings constitute a private element, detached from production contingencies. They are neither sketches nor reflexive exercises for the conception of objects. Such drawings do exist, in a limited quantity, but have a different status, closely related to the pieces they anticipate and/or accompany. Designers drawings? Certainly, since Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec are among the most influential designers active on the contemporary international scene. It is not only tempting, but also relevant to examine their common design practice and the autonomy of these drawing series in parallel. It is not a question of reducing the latter to their public activity, but of understanding how they express an intimate and decisive part of their creativity.