Wu Guanzhen created 3 large Coromandel screens for this year’s Chanel Mademoiselle Privé Shanghai exhibition, in a fitting tribute to Coco Chanel's love for Oriental art.
The apartment of French couturier Coco Chanel at 31 Rue Cambon, Paris is a breathtaking space teeming with eclectic, inspiring art. Her love for Oriental bric-à-brac is palpable, particularly evident in the many Coromandel screens she proudly called her own.
These screens are a great source of inspiration, be it for Mademoiselle Chanel herself or in more recent years, when the creative minds behind Chanel’s high jewellery chose to pay tribute to Coco’s object of obsession by putting together the Coromandel collection.
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At the Mademoiselle Privé exhibition that’s currently taking place in Shanghai, the screens once again made a special appearance. In one of the exhibition rooms that house the high jewellery collection, the screens were beautifully reinterpreted by Wu Guanzhen, a rising star in the contemporary art scene in China.
Wu’s body of work is a juxtaposition of ancient lacquering technique and small lashes of contemporary accents. Here, he shares his experience working on the Coromandel screens and how he stays true to the traditional art form despite the many challenges.