Portfolio
Pierre Charpin
A designer and visual artist born in 1962, Pierre Charpin graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts de Bourges in 1984. Since the beginning of the 1990’s, he has been focusing on objects and furniture. Pierre Charpin runs research projects—such as those with CIRVA (1998/2001) or CRAFT (2003/2005)—as well asproduction design collaboration projects with internationally known companies such as Alessi, Arita 16/16, CeramichePiemme, Design Gallery Milano, Hay, Hermès, Japan Creative, Ligne Roset, the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, Post Design, Taiyou&co, The Wrong Shop, Tectona, and Venini. Charpin’s exclusive collaboration with Galerie kreo started in 2005 with the creation of original pieces in limited edition. Several solo exhibitions have beendedicated to his collections at the gallery in Paris and London.
Charpin has been granted many awards for his work. In 2004, Charpin designed a water carafe in cast glass for a competition held by the Société Eaux de Paris: he was named laureate of the competition and 10,000 copies of the glass carafe were made. In 2005, his Venini-produced “Triplo” vase was part of the “Compasso d’Oro” award’s official selection. In 2017, he was named “Creator of the Year” at the Maison& Objet fair in Paris.
In 2012, Charpin was selected by the Institut Français du Japon to be a resident artist within the framework of the Villa Kujoyama programme in Kyoto.
Pierre Charpin is also a scenographer. In 2010, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs entrusted him with the scenography of the “mobiboom” exhibition. The same year, the Milan Triennale entrusted him with that of the third version of the Design Museum, “Quali cose siamo”. In 2007, he designed the scenography of the “Oh Couleurs!” exhibition at the Musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design de Bordeaux.
A number of monographic exhibitions have been dedicated to Charpin:”Pierre Charpin, 20 années de travail” at Grand-Hornu Image (Belgium), “Villégiature” at Villa Noailles (within the framework of the Design Parade Festival), “La part du dessin” at Ecal (Switzerland), “Atmosfera” at Sfera Exhibitions Kyoto (Japan), and “From the studio” at Designart Tokyo (Japan).
The work of Charpin is part of numerous cultural institutions and museums, such as the Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, the Centre Pompidou and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. In 2014, the publisher JRP Ringier released his first monograph: Pierre Charpin.
In parallel to his work as a designer, Charpin taught design at the École supérieure d’Art et de Design de Reims from 1998 to 2008 and at the École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL-Switzerland) from 2006 to 2015.
After living in Milan at various intervals during the 1990s, Charpin works in Ivry-sur-Seine and lives in Paris.
For his first collaboration with Galerie MiniMasterpiece in the fall of 2018, Pierre Charpin has conceived a series of 3 jewels, “Gioielli”, in sterling silver (necklace, ring and earrings). These first jewels have been edited exclusively for the Louis Vuitton Foundation Library.
Necklace, 2018
Sterling silver
Edition of 75 + 5 AP
Édition Galerie MiniMasterpiece
This piece is part of the CNAP collection since 2020
(French public art and design collection)
Earrings, 2018
Sterling silver
Edition of 100 + 5 AP
Édition Galerie MiniMasterpiece
Ring, 2018
Sterling silver
Edition of 100 + 5 AP
Édition Galerie MiniMasterpiece
Necklace, 2019
Sterling silver plated 18k yellow gold
Edition of 30 + 3 AP
Edition MiniMasterpiece
Earrings, 2019
Sterling silver plated 18k yellow gold
Edition of 30 + 3 AP
Edition MiniMasterpiece