Exhibition Review: Erwan Boulloud: Touching Time, at Twenty First Gallery

Craft meets cosmos in the designer’s first solo U.S. show in six years

March 21 - May 16, 2025
Twenty First Gallery, New York

Exhibition Design by Jean de Piépape. Photograph: my own

On a rainy April afternoon, the dull grey streets of New York quickly fade away the moment I step through the doors of Twenty First Gallery in Tribeca and am immediately transported to another realm. From March 21 to May 16, Erwan Boulloud presents his first solo exhibition in the United States since 2019. Known for its high-calibre collectible design, the gallery brings together 15 of Boulloud’s most recent creations – exploring, developing and refining concepts and motifs that have become central themes in his body of work. These include astronomical phenomena, such as the origins of creation, the expansion of the universe and solar system, microscopic images of cells and medieval jewellery, coming together in pieces which seem both ephemeral and eternal. 

The most striking aspect of the space, and the first thing you notice upon entering, is the quality of light. Illuminated from above by a careful configuration of gallery spotlights, Boulloud’s metallic surfaces throw dappled reflections onto the floorboards – subtle and shimmering patterns which animate the space and emphasise the materiality of the designs with a delicate transience that can only be fully appreciated first-hand. The lighting is warm, accentuating the gold tone of the patinated and polished brass pieces. The gallery walls are painted night sky blue and flecked with stars that look like tiny, scattered jewels – echoing the pattern of inlaid gemstones in several of Boulloud’s designs.

Photograph: my own

The furniture items are positioned, for the most part, around the edges of the space. Three mirrors and a pair of sconces hang as if in a hallway, a cabinet, console and enfilade hug the wall spaces below; floor and table lamps remain close to their wall sockets. Even an armchair, coffee table and vase – objects not inherently reliant on wall support – are placed at the peripheries. While the layout initially reads as sparse, it creates breathing room and invites the perception of space expanding, encapsulating Boulloud’s fascination with the expansion of the universe. 

Erwan Boulloud is first and foremost an exceptional craftsman, and this is strikingly evident in the quality of each piece on display. The French designer graduated in 1995 from the École Boulle – named after André-Charles Boulle, cabinet maker to Louis XIV of France. Boulle is renowned for his intricate marquetry of tortoiseshell, pewter and brass which came to be known as “Boulle work”, due to his unrivalled mastery of the technique. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that Boulloud demonstrates such delicacy and control in his own marquetry, particularly in works such as the Ecailles Enfilade (2024), arguably the star of the show.

Ecailles Enfilade, 2024. Patinated and Polished Brass Marquetry, Burnt Wood. Photographs: Harry Matenaer

Boulloud’s process is one that combines tradition with technology – “I am an artisan, but also a firm proponent of 21st Century craftsmanship”, the designer affirms. Casting and metal laser cutting are outsourced, but everything else – assembly, patinas, mechanisms, finish – is done within his studio in Montreuil. Consisting of around a dozen highly skilled artisans, the studio brings to mind the historic French Guild system, which was in place from the Middle Ages up until 1791. Boulloud employs people from all kinds of backgrounds – some received formal training at the École Boulle or the National School of Applied Arts and Crafts in Paris, some are journeymen, and others were trained by Boulloud from scratch. However, unlike the Guilds, where skills and processes were strictly divided, each workshop member has their own project and works on it from start to finish. 

Boulloud's studio. Photograph: from Twenty First Gallery

The Ecailles Enfilade reminds us of the dimensions of intimacy between object and user. The cabinet doors blend seamlessly into the design, with panel joints and locks hidden from sight. This desire for concealed or disguised elements extends back through history. In 18th century France, the development of increasingly private domestic spaces inspired the invention of complex mechanical systems for revealing hidden elements in furniture pieces. Operating these systems became a social spectacle, demonstrating the user’s graceful dexterity. Boulloud forgoes traditional hinges on the Ecailles Enfilade – rather, the doors smoothly glide open and closed on drawer runners, showing the elegance of the object in motion. 

Mechaical Reading, Writing and Toilette Table, by Jean-François Oeben, ca. 1760. Image: The Getty

Boulloud’s designs reference a myriad of design periods not just in the way they function, but also in the way they look. The Jupiter Console (2024), for instance, draws visual connections to Art Deco and even Neoclassicism in its form. French interior and furniture designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann admired the balance and proportion of Neoclassical furniture and the use of Greek and Roman motifs, such as the Ionic Order in his 1919-23 Dressing Table. Many of his tables feature curved legs which join at the base, echoing the form of the Curule chair used in the Roman Empire. The arched shapes created in Boulloud’s Jupiter Console draw attention to negative space as an important feature of the design, which can also be seen in Ruhlmann’s pieces. In both designers’ work, the bold, symmetrical geometry of Art Deco is paired with the refined delicacy of Neoclassicism, for example, in narrow, streamlined legs. 

Jupiter Console, 2024. Patinated and Polished Brass Marquetry, Hard Stones and Semi Precious Stone Cabochons. Photograph: Harry Matenaer

Writing table, ca. 1925, by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. Image: © V&A

Dressing table, ca. 1919.23, also by Ruhlmann. Image: © V&A   

There is a strong sense of Boulloud’s designs as ornamental, decorative art objects, as well as functional pieces of furniture. In several pieces on view, patinated and polished brass marquetry is adorned with cabochons of hard and semi-precious stone. Boulloud cites cell structures as a primary source of inspiration, but what also emerges – whether intentional or not – is a visual affinity to Art Nouveau jewellery. René-Jules Lalique and Lucien Gaillard often avoided using precious stones, instead, combining semiprecious stones with more unusual materials such as horn, ivory and irregularly shaped pearls. 

Boulloud’s early experience working for glassmaker Laurent Beyne, crafting the metal parts of his designs, provides interesting insight into his design sensibility. While it may be a stretch to position Boulloud directly alongside glassmaker and jeweller René-Jules Lalique, the comparison illuminates a shared sensitivity to light and surface. From Art Nouveau jewellery to Contemporary future, the recurring themes of Naturalia and Animalia take form in these exquisitely crafted objects of desire. 

Left: Maasai Mirror, 2024, by Boulloud. Right: Moth Pendant, ca. 1900, by Lucien Gaillard. Gold, champlevé enamel, citrines, carved horn Photograph: The MET

Left: Jupiter Console. Right: Necklace, ca. 1897-99, by Lalique. Gold, enamel, opals, amethysts. Photograph: The MET

The final piece in the show worth highlighting is Boulloud’s Cholestérique Mirror (2023) hung directly above the Ecailles Enfilade. This curatorial pairing makes perfect sense – both objects rely solely on polished brass marquetry for decorative effect, showcasing the beauty of a single material. Much like the enfilade, the mirror’s design illuminates the evolution of decorative styles, and in this case an ornamental language spanning several hundred years. 

The mirror’s tendril-like brass forms curl around its frame in a way that unmistakably evokes ‘The Whiplash’ – the ornamental S-curve characteristic of Art Nouveau. These organic curves also gesture back to the Rococo, with its flowing forms serving as the stylistic foundation for Art Nouveau. The historical conversation extends back further still – to the Auricular Style. Originating in Utrecht in the 17th century, this organic style is characterised by its ear-like folds and slimy marine motifs which draw on the Italian Grotesque. While less commonly applied to furniture, Auricular ornamentation is expressed particularly well in silverwork and gilt leather. With a historically layered design, Boulloud’s Cholestérique Mirror is at once timeless and unmistakably contemporary. 

Cholestérique Mirror, 2023. Patinated and polised brass marquetry. Photograph: Harry Matenaer 

Poster advertising Job cigarette paper, Alphonse Mucha, 1898. The woman's hair curls like "the whiplash". Image:  © V&A

Art Nouveau style cast iron door grille, by Hector Guimard, before 1907. Image: Saint Louis Art Museum

Rococo style mirror, by Thomas Chippendale , 1762-65. Image: © V&A

Auricular style Silver Ewer, by Adam van Vianen I, 1619. Image: The MET 

“I appreciate how Erwan’s patterns always have a purpose… they are both intriguing and meaningful” notes Twenty First’s founder and director, Renaud Vuaillat. The exhibition design nods to Boulloud’s thematic inspirations, the deep blue, star-flecked walls providing a fitting celestial backdrop to the polished, metallic works. What would have made the exhibition even more enriching is the placement of other designer’s work alongside Boulloud’s – perhaps pieces which counterbalance the high-finish of his own pieces. This is, though, less a critique of the solo show, and more a suggestion for future presentations of Boulloud’s work at the gallery. Still, for those who appreciate exceptional craftsmanship or, like magpies, are irresistibly drawn to things that glimmer and shine, this exhibition is not one to be missed. 

“Erwan Boulloud: Touching Time” is on view at Twenty First Gallery until May 16, 2025. 

Sources: 

Brittanica, Auricular Style, online: https://www.britannica.com/art/auricular-style

Erwan Boulloud, website: https://www.erwanboulloud.com/

Hellman, Mimi. "Furniture, Sociability, and the Work of Leisure in Eighteenth-Century France." Eighteenth-Century Studies 32, no. 4 (1999): 415–445.

Lalique, the story of Lalique, online: https://fr.lalique.com/en/pages/story-of-lalique# 

The MET, Extravagant Monstrosities: Gold- and Silversmith Designs in the Auricular Style, museum website: https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/extravagant-monstrosities-gold-and-silversmith-designs-in-the-auricular-style 

Twenty First Gallery, Erwan Boulloud: Touching Time, gallery website: https://21stgallery.com/exhibitions/37-erwan-boulloud-touching-time

V&A, The Whiplash, museum website: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-whiplash?srsltid=AfmBOooeB8atsdRh16j_CD1rIwqW_RExizEPvkv4_EgyUnXB80CeJhv