By Jorge S. Arango
This summer the Château La Coste winery in Aix-en-Provence, France, presents “Pure,” an exhibition of design curated by Ralph Pucci. Photo by We Are Contents.
Château La Coste in Le Puy-Sainte-Réparde, just 20 minutes from Aix-en-Provence, offers more than gorgeous wine. It encompasses an auberge, various restaurants, and an art foundation, all set on a 500-acre open-air site. On view now through September 21 at the Château’s Oscar Niemeyer Pavilion (the last built work of the Pritzker Architecture Prize–winning architect) is “Pure,” an exhibition of sculptural furniture, lighting, and art, curated by Ralph Pucci, one of the pioneers of collectible design.
“I had read about Château La Coste [when it first opened]; my wife and I went to Aix and visited a few times,” says Pucci. “I was incredibly impressed.” Seven years ago, he and estate owner Paddy McKillen began discussing a show that would highlight Pucci’s sculpture studio.
The exhibition is a milestone for Pucci, commemorating 50 years since transforming his family’s mannequin-repair business into a boundary-bending gallery space.
“I was offered the Niemeyer or Renzo Piano spaces,” says Pucci of La Coste’s many architectural masterpieces by Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, et al (as well as artworks and installations by Sophie Calle, Andy Goldsworthy, Sean Scully, Richard Serra, and many others). “When we took the long walk to the Niemeyer pavilion, I saw the building come up with the sun beaming through, very white and fluid forms, piercing through nature, and I knew this was the place.” “Pure” features pristinely white works in Pucci’s proprietary Plasterglass by Elizabeth Garouste, Paul Mathieu, Patrick Naggar, Eric Schmitt and others from Pucci’s stable of artist-designers. For more information, visit chateau-la-coste.com.
