JB Blunk: Continuum

JB Blunk: Continuum presents the first retrospective of JB Blunk’s works in Europe, on view at the Fondation d’entreprise Martell in Cognac, France, from June 8–December 29, 2024. The hardcover exhibition catalog is designed by Kajsa Ståhl of Åbäke, longtime collaborator of the JB Blunk Estate and the graphic designer of the exhibition.

A joint foreword by Mariah Nielson, Director of the JB Blunk Estate, and Anne-Claire Duprat, Director of the Martell Foundation, orients the exhibition around renewed and broader interest in Blunk’s life and work. Anne Dressen, curator at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, incorporates new archival research into six section texts tracing Blunk’s trajectory from Japan to Northern California, his work from ceramic to stone to wood, and his interests from ecology to ancient archetypes.

Never-before-seen photography and correspondence from the JB Blunk Estate archives present new perspectives, alongside rarely-exhibited maquettes from Blunk’s studio and objects that normally live in the Blunk House. New photography of the objects in situ in the medieval town of Cognac and the remarkable installation, designed by London-based Martino Gamper exclusively for the exhibition, mark this as both a specific moment in Blunk’s legacy and an ongoing collaboration of this innovative artist with with his audience around the world.

JB Blunk: Continuum is edited by the JB Blunk Estate and the Fondation d’entreprise Martell, designed by Kajsa Ståhl of Åbäke, and printed by die Keure.