Más pretensiones. Silla española

Nancy Robbins

21/01/91. (Sala 124)

Nancy Robbins, industrial and interior designer, came to Spain in 1972 from the United States and settled in Girona, where in 1984 along with her husband, painter Edward Robbins, opened their first shop called “Fénix”.

Narcís Comadira describes her in an article of a magazine called “Serra d’Or” in December in 1985 like this:

“The peculiar thing about this store is that all the furniture is designed by the Robbins and match their personal taste…Some paintings, collages, a simple bouquet of flowers, help create that unique environment which is immediately recognized, that unmistakable Robbins “touch”, spatial austerity, luxurious detail, metaphysical order in the arrangement of objects and a veiled tribute to Japan, Art-Deco, Pop Art and Minimalism”.

Nancy Robbins chose the Ensanche district when she decided to open a shop in Barcelona in 1986 and has continued in the same line of her Girona shop, however expanding her work as a designer in recent years. Furniture, lamps and some fabrics have been put on the market and manufactured by different firms, some of which have been selected and awarded on several occasions.

The pieces designed by Nancy Robbins all have a common characteristic: their great adaptability to different spaces or environments. They are pieces that can be interpreted in many ways and this is the idea behind this exhibition at La Sala Vinçon. Nancy Robbins presents 10 different exercises on the new piece she has designed: “La Silla Española” (The Spanish chair).

Through it she shows us that a valid design can have many interpretations. It appears with spots, a grey suit, with patterned fabrics but is always “pretentious”.

We want to mention the collaboration of the Duo group in this exhibition, formed by Amado Alfonso Fábrega and Alejandro Bedoya. This group founded in Caracas in 1975, proposes a hand stamping design on fabric for interior designs.

Hand painted fabric by “Uno” studio.
Photographs by Carme Masiá

Barcelona, January 1991