ANSELM REYLE FOR DIOR Exclusive interview with Anselm Reyle for Canvas Anselm Reyle in his Berlin studio working on Mauve Earth , one of two artworks created for the House of Dior. The worlds of fashion and art converged in Miami at the unveiling of German- born artist Anselm Reyle’s accessory designs for the House of Dior on 29 November 2011. Glitterati from the two worlds descended on the eve of Art Basel Miami Beach’s vernissage to view over 50 accessories designed by the Berlin-based artist. Represented by Paris’s Galerie Almine Rech and Gagosian Gallery, Reyle’s career has seen him exhibit all over the world, including the Kunsthalle in Zurich, Modern Institute in Glasgow, Tate Modern in London, Palazzo Grassi in Venice and Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in New York. His works can also be found in esteemed collections such as the Saatchi Gallery in London, Daimler Collection in Berlin, the Fondation Pinault in Venice and the Rubell Family Collection in Miami. Reyle’s Dior project, conceived two years ago, saw the 41 year-old artist apply his trademark approach of gathering everyday objects and whipping them up in a frenzy of bright colours, neon stitching and camouflage print. And as if that were not enough, the luxury House set up a pop-up store in Miami’s Design District which displayed Reyle’s designs, including his remake of the classic Dior chair, much to the delight of many an art enthusiast who repeatedly asked how they could acquire one. A limited number of the chairs will be on display in select Dior boutiques around the world. Two artworks created especially for the House were also on show – a foil work with ‘Dior’ in neon lettering, and a mixed media piece incorporating fabric. A replica of a portion of Reyle’s Berlin studio was also set up, featuring a three-column shelf lined with bottles and buckets of bright acrylic paint. Reyle’s accessories hit select Dior stores around the world on 9 January. For more information visit www.dior.com Fashion and art have long been inspired by one another. How do you feel this collaboration between your art and the House of Dior merges these two realms? It’s quite untypical for an artist to work for a fashion house or a design project even if this restriction did not exist in the past, if you look at the Bauhaus for example. That’s why I first had to think about it. But I had some ideas very soon, so I thought this could make sense. For me, it was an interest- ing challenge to make something that exists outside of the traditional art field. However, it turned out that the process was quite similar. In my own work, as well as here, I use found things that are further developed and modified, espe- cially regarding their surface and effect. How did your approach differ for this collaboration in comparison to your approach when creating artwork? I often work with found objects from everyday life, for example elements of subculture, architecture and design. It is a starting point and this process is often based on a simple idea and intervention. During the cooperation, I discovered an echo between the palette of elements, the research into materials and the colours that Dior craftsmanship involves, and my own artistic research. I found it amazing that such a big fashion label develops its ideas similarly to the way an artist does in the studio. Their archive was inspiring to me. A lot of the accessories include the camouflage pattern. What attracted you to this? I took the camouflage motif because I was interested in how it has been adapted by the world of Pop from its military background and how it has lost its original meaning. It remains a kind of empty surface. Usually the camouflage hides something, but here it’s the opposite – it is very visible because of the signal neon colours. How did the incorporation of the neon stitching come about and what do you feel it adds to the final products? Q&A wIth ANSELM REYLE Anselm Reyle at his Berlin studio while working on the Dior project. Delphine Arnault, Deputy General Manager of Christian Dior and Anselm Reyle. Anselm Reyle. Mauve Earth . 2011. Mixed media on patterned fabric. 242 x 191 x 8 cm. When the Dior team came to Berlin to see how I work in my studio, together we developed the idea to create two all-over designs based on my own artistic style, including materials, forms and colours of Dior. Over the past few years, different textures, haptic surfaces and neon colours have become an important language for my own work. I tilted the classical signature of Dior – the Cannage , which might be considered as a kind of intervention and deconstruction of their traditional heritage. As I am interested in psychedelic and dissonant colour combinations, I chose the neon stitching to underline the pattern and to put it in contrast to the shape of the bag and its colour. You are known to give banal objects an [artistic] function. How did it feel to offer your art a function that entered the realm of fashion? I think these two fields, fashion and art, have a lot in common, but at the same time they are quite different as well. They are not based on the same motivations and intentions. Art usually functions in another way than fashion. It requires a message, a kind of general validity. Maybe there is another difference, as I usually find things that are fascinating to me for some reason. I come across them often by chance, unexpectedly. However, the bags here are an important, pre-existing part of the design project itself. You had mentioned in an interview with Art Review that the paint blot which became a signature of your work was accidental but seemed to “loosen up the strictness”. From the Dior project’s inception to the finished products, were they any such accidental encounters? No, this did not happen that much during the cooperation. We did indeed try out a lot of things, but there were no accidental elements included in the final product. However, because we worked in a team, some unexpected things happened, which spurred us into a new direction. “I found it amazing that such a big fashion label develops its ideas similarly to the way an artist does in the studio.” Andre Saraiva and Sam Keller. Anselm Reyle and China Chow. Michael and Eva Chow. Aaron Young and Laure Heriard Dubreuil. Stefano Tonchi, Delphine Arnault, Almine Rech and Larry Gagosian. Dasha Zhukova, Wendi Murdoch and Misha Zhukova. Mathilde Meyer, Diana Picasso and Klaus Biesenbach. Camille Miceli and Pharrell Williams. Zaha Hadid and Craig Robbins. Anselm Reyle. Untitled. 2011. Mixed media on canvas, neon, cable and acrylic glass. 87 x 61 x 21 cm. An exclusive dinner, hosted by Delphine Arnault, Deputy General Manager of Christian Dior, and Stefano Tonchi, Editor-in-Chief of W Magazine was held in the Design District to celebrate the unveiling of Reyle’s accessories for the House of Dior. All images courtesy Christian Dior.