The Afridi Gallery announces ‘Sandy Jones: Stepping into the Light’, a selling exhibition of carpets by designer Sandy Jones held at the Chelsea gallery from 14th May until 14th June 2019. Sandy is considered by many to be one of the best living contemporary carpet designers, who has worked closely with her husband, interior designer Chester Jones, for many years. This exhibition will focus on the highlights of her work and collaboration with Shahbaz Afridi over the last 20 years. 

 

Seen in their final form, the carpets become grand expressions of Jones’ vision, born of a characteristically unassuming talent, yet always remarkably bold. Any one carpet might take the form of slabs of colour, bold stripes or loose serpentine loops. Each an example of imaginative flair, they are expertly balanced and infused with sophistication to create a series of inviting harmonies. The exhibition will inaugurate an ongoing series that celebrates eminent living textile designers.

 

The display of these contemporary classics will be accompanied by her wonderfully detailed small-scale preparatory designs. Some are rendered in richly tonal watercolours, while others are inventive assemblages in the style of early 20th century collage. Each offers unique insight into Jones’ process, one that eschews digitisation in favour of experimental craft and the artist’s unfiltered intuition. The result is one of startling versatility.

 

Shahbaz set up the Afridi Gallery in 2016 with the aim to create an exhibition space for 'objects to inspire' and this will be the first exhibition showing the oeuvre of a textile designer. Sandy's carpets, contemporary classics, will be displayed against a backdrop of the Gallery’s beautiful collections of 20th century furniture, objects and works of art, highlighting the versatility of her designs and the extraordinary, yet remarkably modest talent behind them.

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Shahbaz Afridi says: “With a background in antique carpets I had not considered contemporary designs until I encountered Sandy’s work. Her understanding of how textiles occupy a space encouraged me to look at the whole picture, which for me is the harmony found in architecture, objects, furniture and carpets. It is this that we try to replicate with our carpets. Sandy's feel for colour is second to none, but her designs also have a lovely whimsical quality which complement serious art objects. The beauty of Sandy's carpets is that they have a great playfulness and her bespoke carpets will be important vintage pieces in the future.” 

 

Originally designed as bespoke commissions, the carpets have been re-made for the Afridi Gallery, where they await new life. The Gallery is specifically designed to let objects speak for themselves, creating an intriguing dialogue between different art forms, united by quality of design and mastery of execution.

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Afridi 76 Royal Hospital Road London SW3 4HN www.shahbazafridi.com

 

For more press information, to receive images or arrange an interview, please contact Anthea Roberts: anthea@shahbazafridi.com