Blonde Embrace

John Makepeace OBE

2022
Oak
55 x 90 diam cm | 21.6 x 35.4 diam in.

John Makepeace OBE is internationally regarded as one of Britain’s most influential designer-makers. He was an early advocate for material innovation and sustainability, founding Parnham College for furniture designers in 1976 and initiating Hooke Park in 1982 as a School for Woodland Industries and Forestry Management. John was a founding member of the Crafts Council UK in 1975 and served as a trustee of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum from 1987–91. In 1988, he was awarded an OBE for his services to furniture design, and in 2004, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Furniture Society. His work was featured in the Victoria & Albert Museum's 2012 exhibition British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age, and he won the Prince Philip Designers Prize in 2016. John’s work is part of major collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, UK; Museum fur Kunsthanwerk, Germany; Art Institute of Chicago, USA; Fitzwilliam Museum, UK; Birmingham, Cardiff, and Leeds City Galleries, UK; The Royal Scottish Museum, UK; Templeton and Keble College, Oxford, UK; and Banque General du Luxembourg. He has exhibited at international art fairs, including FOG San Francisco, PAD London, and most recently, TEFAF Maastricht.

John’s works exhibited by the Gallery across the years are a culmination of the designer’s signature forms and distinct aesthetic language, forming part of the canon of British furniture while belonging to a quietly innovative approach. The Trine Series is a selection of 3 legged chairs, made from scorched English Oak, with internal metal connections adapted from NASA technology. They are both functional and ergonomic, a trademark of John's practice. The Strokes Chest, also made from English Oak, was created via CNC technology and hand-crafted processes. John’s pieces come from fallen and often historic wood; in this instance, the wood was planted at the Marquess of Bath’s estate in the 1740s and harvested in 1980. His Embrace collection, specially created for the gallery, reflects his interest in organic aesthetics. John enhances the innate beauty of English Oak by layering laminates and polishing them back to reveal the intricate cross-grain pattern of the wood.