Reka, now based in Berlin and becoming a leading figure in the contemporary art scene of Europe, was flown to Singapore to create this unique one-off piece of art and lend his inimitable style to apaiser’s design and bathware presentation.
In keeping with apaiser’s belief that bathing is “an art form” rather than simply a function, the painting of the bath was commissioned as the feature of their award winning stand within the first staging of the prestigious MAISON&OBJET Asia 2014, an anchor event of the Singapore Design Week. As a core component in apaiser’s global expansion strategy, apaiser’s participation with MAISON&OBJET ASIA 2014 was timed to coincide with launching a signature apaiser Singapore showroom.
The talking point of the show however was clearly the artwork on the eye catching apaiser Sentosa bath, which was undertaken by Melbourne’s own contemporary Australian artist based in Berlin, James Reka. His character work has come to represent the beginnings of a new style of street art: clean, unique and not necessarily on the street. Surrealist, abstracted creatures emerge from the depths of Reka’s mind, communicating through strong lines, dynamic movement and bold colours.
In just the past 2 years, Reka has had successful solo shows in London, Denmark, Melbourne and San Francisco as well as exhibiting at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in Bristol as well as pieces appearing in New York, Munich, Denver and Cologne. This year he was invited to participate at Pow Wow in Hawaii, contemporary Art Festival and he has completed several private commissions. On the streets, his characters adorn the walls of cities around the world from Japan to Milan and Paris to Brooklyn. Reka’s works have recently been acquisitioned by the National Gallery of Australia for their permanent collection, cementing his place as one of Australia’s most respected contemporary street artists.
apaiser celebrates the arrival of this one of a kind statement in bathware at apaiser’s Richmond showroom.
apaiser bathware
apaiser.comabc
The talking point of the show however was clearly the artwork on the eye catching apaiser Sentosa bath, which was undertaken by Melbourne’s own contemporary Australian artist based in Berlin, James Reka. His character work has come to represent the beginnings of a new style of street art: clean, unique and not necessarily on the street. Surrealist, abstracted creatures emerge from the depths of Reka’s mind, communicating through strong lines, dynamic movement and bold colours.
In just the past 2 years, Reka has had successful solo shows in London, Denmark, Melbourne and San Francisco as well as exhibiting at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in Bristol as well as pieces appearing in New York, Munich, Denver and Cologne. This year he was invited to participate at Pow Wow in Hawaii, contemporary Art Festival and he has completed several private commissions. On the streets, his characters adorn the walls of cities around the world from Japan to Milan and Paris to Brooklyn. Reka’s works have recently been acquisitioned by the National Gallery of Australia for their permanent collection, cementing his place as one of Australia’s most respected contemporary street artists.
apaiser celebrates the arrival of this one of a kind statement in bathware at apaiser’s Richmond showroom.
apaiser bathware
apaiser.comabc 
B&B Italia’s research and development team worked with original designer Mario Bellini to reimagine the design classic, and the result is the perfect synthesis of design and architecture that characterises Bellini’s work, and has been imbued with the sustainability that drives B&B Italia.
“At the beginning of the 1970s, upholstered furniture for the home had stagnated into the tired traditional stereotypes and radical-provocative elitist forays into the future that, although stimulating, rarely challenged the relationship between the evolution of new patterns of behaviour in the home and the types of furniture available on the market at the time” says Bellini on his intentions on the original design of the Camaleonda.
[gallery type="rectangular" ids="107591,107590"]
Camaleonda’s design sees a sofa intended as an architectural element; capable of transforming the landscape of the space it inhabits. Knowing that our interior spaces are landscapes that are neither immobile nor permanent, the modular, chameleon-like nature of the sofa invites a sense of transformation and evolution as our spaces change.
Camaleonda’s 2020 relaunch preserves the elements that made it a design classic – including the 90x90cm seat module, together with the backrest and the armrest. These faithful to the original design elements were then used as inspiration for new changes for the sofa.
The generous polyurethane padding that forms the characteristic capitonné design remains unchanged, still manufactured with the innovative system of cables, hooks and rings created by Bellini in 1970. Naturally, the modules can be unhooked and recombined at will, as Bellini intended with his original design, allowing for the sofa o adapt to evolving tastes and the dynamic needs of those using it.
This modularity gives the Camaleonda a sort of enormous pixel quality in aesthetics. By hooking and unhooking seats, backrests and armrests, the sofa can evolve and change as many times as desired, a concept which is dear to Mario Bellini: “Of all the objects I have designed, Camaleonda is perhaps the best in terms of its sense of freedom. There are infinite number of possible configurations.”
The interior and manufacturing is where the 2020 changes really shine. New padding has designed by B&B Italia’s Research & Development Centre, making the sofa even more comfortable. The marriage of the rigorous geometry of the body of the sofa, and the welcoming roundness of the padding is a juxtaposition that invites deep relaxation.
While a 50 year relaunch, this new edition of the Camaleonda does not look to the past, but to the future, especially on matters of sustainability.
The sandwich-like structure of Camaleonda is made up of recycled or recyclable materials, while the seat, backrest and armrests and bases are made of wooden panels, and the sofa itself rests on the floor on a series of Forest Stewardship Council certified beech wood feet.
The padding of the seat, the backrests and the armrests are made of polyurethane in various levels of density and firmness, which are protected by a removable cover made of Dacron – a synthetic fabric that is entirely made of recycled PET, the same material used to manufacture plastic water bottles.
Available in Australia through Space Furniture, the Camaleonda can be upholstered with B&B Italia’s entire textile and leather collection, allowing for another variable in the multitude of possible combinations.
Space Furniture