Ronan Bouroullec Teams Up With Mutina for Ceramics Exhibit

Studio Bouroullec has long partnered with ceramics manufacturer Mutina. In 2021, brothers Erwan and Ronan Bouroullec crafted the Rombini vase for the company, and last year, they enveloped a 250-square-foot pavilion in its Pico tile. Today, Ronan Bouroullec, the artistic complement to his sibling’s technical expertise, has joined with Mutina again for “Les mains à l’argile (Hands to Clay),” an exhibition at Galerie du Canon, TPM in Toulon, France, featuring dozens of new pieces—vases, bas-reliefs, abstract sculptures—that reveal his intersecting interests in drawing, painting, and ceramics. “My work is increasingly moving toward producing objects that are functional, certainly, but also looking for a kind of elegance, of pleasure,” says the designer, who also has a book, Day After Day, publishing by Phaidon in October. “And ceramics are about desire, sensuality.” The items are alongside collections he’s done with his brother, such as their terra-cotta Bloc tiles and Sosei vases. All of it highlights the breadth of the studio’s work, which is informed by industrial processes like 3-D printing as much as handcraft.