“My inspiration is life and all its aspects,” says the designer and artist Frédérique Morrel. That may sound like a particularly broad subject matter, but Morrel’s work, which is crafted by covering three-dimensional objects with vintage tapestries, does have an all-encompassing approach to its pastoral aesthetic. And beginning today, her newest pieces will be on view at Bergdorf Goodman’s 5th Avenue flagship store in New York — the result of an exclusive partnership with the department store (“We share the same values of exclusivity, rarity and the love of well done savoir-faire,” she says). The shoppable exhibition (prices range from $900 to $120,000) also marks her U.S. debut.
On the seventh floor, the most striking of Morrel’s three-dimensional statues is the centerpiece: a life-size horse covered by images of the female form. “It’s a metaphor for the Trojan horse,” she says. “It’s only covered with women’s portraits because we conquer the world.” Though Morrel keeps her artistic methods a secret so as not to “unveil the mystery,” the raw materials of her work are sourced from across the French countryside. “All of them are made with antique furniture from France and vintage tapestries found in estate sales, thrift shops and flea markets,” she explains, noting that her found materials come from a long tradition of decorative needlework in France. “Embroidering used to be a very trendy hobby until the ’90s,” she says. Regardless of how the pieces come together, the resulting objects are both playful and unmistakably traditional at once. For the Bergdorf exhibition, Morrel wanted to explore the idea of what makes a house a home. “Furniture represents indoors as animals represent outdoors,” says Morrel. “We mixed them as if the animals came back from a lost paradise.” For Bergdorf, it’s also another opportunity to pair the stately with the surreal, something their inventive holiday window displays have long been known for. As Morrel says, “those pieces are made to enchant.”
The pieces are on view and available to purchase at Bergdorf Goodman, 745 5th Ave, New York, NY 10151, from February 20 through June 10, bergdorfgoodman.com.
An earlier version of this post, using information from a publicist, misstated the price range of Frédérique Morrel's collection at Bergdorf Goodman. It is on sale for $900 to $120,000, not $900 to $50,000.
