Saint Laurent Montaigne has opened its first exhibition, 1980 – 2023 – 2025, a selection of works by French artist Martine Bedin, curated by Anthony Vaccarello. The show runs from 3 July to 14 October.

Bedin was born in 1957 in Bordeaux and works between Paris and beyond. An architect and designer, she was a founding member of the Memphis group in Milan in the early 1980s, a movement that shifted the focus of design from function and production toward the expressive presence of objects. Her practice spans design, painting, and sculpture over several decades.

The exhibition brings together early Memphis drawings alongside recent pieces, where everyday objects are removed from their function and reconfigured as autonomous forms. Bedin describes them as “objects kept at the back of cupboards, which only come to life when needed.” They engage in a dialogue between reality and abstraction, shifting between presence and illusion.

Her work has been exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the Milan Triennale, and is held in collections including the Centre Pompidou, SFMOMA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, M+ Museum in Hong Kong, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. A selection of exhibited artworks will be available for sale.

Courtesy of the artist and Crèvecoeur, Paris.
Photo: Martin Argyroglo & Alex Kostromin.