Design Museum Gent is presenting Maarten Baas’ “Hide & Seek,” an overview of the Dutch designer’s most important work over the past 15 years. The exhibition is on view through September 30, 2018.“Baas’ designs are at the cutting edge of art and design. They are theatrical sets, but made for real life: he creates humorous and rebellious furniture series, which cannot be produced on an industrial scale. Ever since he graduated, producing a series of charred furniture for his graduation project, Baas has gone against the grain of traditions and expectations, favouring provocation with his bold and adventurous moves. In this work, the new always clashes with the old, technology with craftsmanship, and acceleration with stillness. It is simply impossible to pin down the Houdini of Dutch Design. You must seek him somewhere between reason and emotion, between nature and culture, between freedom and limitations,” writes the museum.The earlier works on display include “Smoke” series of burned furniture, which marked Baas’ graduation from Design Academy Eindhoven. The playful and brightly colored “Clay” series, created from synthetic clay with a supporting steel structure, resemble furniture made by children using Play-Doh. “Baas is in Town” captures the designer’s love-hate relationship with the ‘circus’ of the Salone del Mobile.“There is no point in developing an object from A to Z and then presenting it in Milan, because ultimately its fate is to be nothing more than a photo that is posted on Facebook. While it is published everywhere, the product itself will probably never go on sale,” says Baas.According to the gallery, the passage of time plays an important role in Baas’ work. “In ‘Real Time,’ he visualizes time elapsing in his own unique way, making it look like someone is tracing the hands of a clock only to sweep them away immediately afterwards.”The recent works featured in “Hide & Seek,” include “Close Parity,” and “May I have your attention please?” installations, along with eight videos that will be shown for the very first time in Belgium. Maarten Baas has also created a new “Smoke” piece for the Ghent exhibition, using an item from the collection of Design Museum Gent which was no longer considered relevant.The exhibition is on view through September 30, 2018, at Design Museum Gent , Jan Breydelstraat 5, 9000 GentFor more information, visit: https://www.designmuseumgent.be/en/Click on the slideshow for a sneak peek at the exhibition. http://www.blouinartinfo.com/                        Founder: Louise Blouin   Read more