“Résonances artistiques” Alexandre Benjamin Navet, Arthur Hoffner et Van Cleef & Arpels

The fine jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels, a partner of Design Parade Toulon since 2016, gives carte blanche to two artists it met during the festival and with whom it collaborated on many occasions: Alexandre Benjamin Navet, winner of the 2017 Design Parade Toulon Grand Prix, and Arthur Hoffner, winner of the Design Parade Hyères Prix du Public in the same year. On the first floor of the former bishop’s palace [ancien évêché], the visitor is immersed in their mischievous and colourful worlds, through an exhibition that will run until 5 November 2023.

In the heart of a scenography inviting you to stroll, their creations are revealed, born of this special bond forged with Van Cleef & Arpels since 2018. Alexandre Benjamin Navet’s spontaneous, vibrant line, that freely diverts the repertoire of classical architecture, transforms shop windows and boutiques into gardens invaded by multicoloured butterflies. As for Arthur Hoffner, he plays on the laws of physics with humour, creating small geometrical theatres to wittily showcase the Perlée jewellery collection. The two designers, who have both become masters in the art of redesigning spaces by infusing them with a touch of dream, reinterpreted some of the themes dear to the House on Place Vendôme, with freshness and lightness throughout their projects.

Photographs, objects, films, models, painted volume vases and sketches are brought together in this four-handed exhibition, plunging you back into this creative effervescence, taking you behind the scenes of event installations at the crossroads of art, design, and interior architecture.